Earthworms – who would have thought that they would be such an important part of the environmental drive. Cape St Francis Resort identified this and have made them a large and exciting part of their recycling programme by setting up an Earthworm Farm.
These amazing creatures have helped Cape St Francis Resort recycle literally tons and tons of waste over the years.
They have 20 baths of worms where they harvest the “’worm tea” and fertiliser. All of their soft waste from the restaurants, (excluding citrus and tomatoes), cardboard, newspapers, paper waste (which gets shredded ) is bagged daily and taken to the farm and fed to the worms – this makes these worms the best and most environmentally friendly rubbish collectors Cape St Francis have ever known!
The compost that is created at the Earthworm Farm is then used on the Cape St Francis farm located on the Kromme River where they grow fresh veggies and herbs for their kitchen. Most of the vegetables that are used in the two restaurants, Joe Fish Restaurant and Full Stop Café come from the farm, making the earthworms an integral part of this Farm to Table process.
This however is only one of the many initiatives that have been implemented at Cape St Francis as part of their ongoing drive towards sustainable and responsible tourism. Another key initiative is:
Bio fuel – another buzz word in the environmentally friendly world. Biofuel produce less greenhouse gases and thus helps in the fight against climate change. Cape St Francis take their used restaurant cooking oil from their award winning Joe Fish Restaurant and recycles it through Scope Oils, a company based in Port Elizabeth that converts it safely into bio fuel. Latest confirmation from Scope Oils indicates that Cape St Francis have made 3,000 litres of used cooking oil available over the past 12 months. Based on research the conversion has a yield of 83.36% meaning that they have produced 2 501 litres of bio fuel.
All of this and more has resulted in Cape St Francis Resort being awarded the coveted Fair Trade Tourism Certification. Over the last decade Fair Trade certification had become a sought-after label for those travellers opting for a more socially and environmentally responsible way of exploring South Africa, making endorsement by this non-profit organisation a leading determining factor for many tourists and increasingly important for eco-friendly hospitality institutions.
“We are thrilled to have ticked all the boxes for our Fair Trade Tourism Certification and have every intention of continuing our ethos of promoting local tourism attractions and respecting human rights, culture and the environment,” states General Manager Anita Lennox
The Resort holds a central location in the eco-friendly village of Cape St Francis, fringed by pristine beaches and nature reserves, staffed by home grown villagers and offering a host of excursions and attractions revolving around the local community, making Fair Trade Tourism certification a natural step in their evolution.
Anita says that besides being environmentally conscious and committed to fair practice, Cape St Francis also provides various day trips and tours aimed at the upliftment and development of the local community and protection of natural resources. “As part of our ‘We Care’ programme the Resort offers a three-fold tour, taking guests from the resident penguin rehabilitation centre to nearby children’s haven and ending off at a knitting co-operative aimed at empowering disadvantaged people through skills development,” she says.
A stay at Cape St Francis truly embraces an environment and socially aware beach tourism experience.