King Parrot Cottages and Events Centre is surrounded by the Otway National Park. We are huge nature lovers and know that everyone of us must do our bit to reduce our impact on this beautiful earth. We are always thinking of ways to improve. This takes time and money and will be an ongoing process, but we wanted to share what we have done so far.
- installed a 25kW solar system
- for what energy we do consume, we are a Carbon Neutral electricity customer, therefore our emissions are offset to equal zero
- installed an EV charger so guests with a EV vehicle can charge their vehicle on site
- installed energy effaced inverter type split system heating/cooling units which use less power than the existing wall heaters
- Only use high quality environmentally friendly cleaning products (extra bonus is that they smell amazing too)
- All water captured on site, no town water connection
- use refillable dispenser bottles for soap and dishwashing
- Supply Emotions Toilet Paper, paper towel and tissues – forest friendly and tree-free. 50% of their profits is donated to mental health charities. For more information please see end of blog.
- composting bins provided in each cottage
- installed LED efficient lighting
- our coffee beans are supplied by speciality roaster, Hello Coffee who are based in Apollo Bay for use in a French press provided. No pods; no waste.
- we hire our linen from a family run local linen company
- we have planted many native trees throughout the property
- we are continually removing weeds and blackberries
- replaced throw away hand soap bottles with refillable containers
- we had a local business, Be Backyard Eco Ecology install some wildlife boxes using sustainable resources
- Kal and Maggie have a bee hive which has been growing. Their bees do an amazing job of pollenating. Bees can travel up to more than 1.5km from their hive!
- some of our furniture was hand made when the cottages were originally built with timber from onsite. We also try and furnish with restored furniture when furniture needs replacing
- we have committed to maintaining the bush area of the property (approx. 160 of our 194 acre property) as in its natural state. King Parrot land is home to some amazing Otways wildlife and flora
We are going to change over the gas hot water systems in our smaller cottage’s to an electric system which is more energy efficient, this will be done within the next couple of months. We will not be able to do this in the larger cottage’s though as the electric system will not provide enough hot water for larger groups all wanting to shower one after the other.
Sustainable suppliers
Emotions Toilet Paper. Their packaging showcases an emotions chart, their toilet paper is made in Melbourne from bamboo which is forest and tree friendly with no inks, dyes or scents, packaging is biodegradable and best of all they donate 50% of ALL profits to Beyond Blue, Black Dog Institute and Lifeline!
Some information about Emotions. product packaging is a nod towards emotions, mental health and being human. Our mission is to redirect spending on these everyday items and then donate 50% of the profit to Beyond Blue, Lifeline & The Black Dog Institute who support everyday prevalent mental health issues. For more information about their story and to buy their products please visit https://emotions.org.au/
Pure Earth – a family owned Australian business with a mission to sustainable excellence. For more information please visit https://pureearth.com.au/
Koala Eco – made with Australian Essential Oils, packaged in recycled bottles. These products work fantastic and smell amazing!
Abco Green Cleaning Products
T2 Teas – 100% ethically sourced and a B-Corp Certified company
Social Conscious
We have made the decision not to charge our guests who charge their vehicles at King Parrot. Rather than charge the guests, we have worked with our local Deans Marsh CFA to have a QR code created. We are asking guests that they scan this QR code and make a donation to the local CFA for the amount that they would expect to pay when charging their vehicle at a paid charging station.
We hope that with the continued popularity of EV vehicles that this venture will help raise some funds for our amazing local CFA team
We are proud sponsors of our local Birregurra Football/Netball Club
We gift a jar of artisan local jam from The Otway Kitchen, made by the team at GenU. GenU are a wonderful organisation that “help people with a disability by teaching them new skills inside and outside the kitchen” – https://www.genu.org.au/services/business-and-community/food-services/the-otway-kitchen/