Press release from The Hermitage, Aoraki Mt Cook
24 March 2011

Base camp at Aoraki Mt Cook turns off for Earth Hour

An iconic New Zealand hotel is joining individuals, businesses and governments around the world to acknowledge their commitment to the planet by switching off their lights for one hour.

The Hermitage Aoraki Mt Cook is scheduled to participate in Earth Hour (8.30pm on Saturday 26th March) by switching off all non essential power and lighting for the hour.

Hermitage General Manager Steve Kirkpatrick said dinner service will be enjoyed by candlelight at Aoraki Mt Cooks’ base camp this Saturday evening as it demonstrates its ongoing commitment to environment and social responsibility.

“Our success as a destination depends on the beauty and quality of our spectacular environment. As a result we are strongly committed to reducing our environmental impacts,” he said.

“The Aoraki Mt Cook National Park is within a UNESCO World Heritage Area location – a unique position we take very seriously. We work closely with the Department of Conservation (DOC), to preserve our highly sensitive environment.”

Mr Kirkpatrick said it’s timely that DOC’s Local Body Programme had recently retro-fitted the Aoraki Mount Cook Village road and walkway system with a combination of efficient LED and solar lighting.

“The new lighting system supports the theme of ‘Natural Dark’ which is something that we promote in the park. This system puts out far less ambient light pollution due to the new, efficient technology and downward-pointing light shading. It is also far more cost-effective than its incandescent predecessor due to the reduction in total power consumption,” said Mr Kirkpatrick

During Earth Hour hotel guests will dine by candlelight in the Alpine Restaurant, Snowline Lounge and Panorama Room while noted Japanese Opera Singer, Emi Scheele, will perform in the Snowline Bar.

Guests checking in at hotel reception will do so by candlelight and accommodation corridor wings and outside lighting will be reduced. Guests heading to Mt Cook Backpackers can enjoy food and drinks in the Chamois Bar and Grill while watching Rugby (essential power!) – all in the ambience of candlelight.

The hotel is proud of its Qualmark Enviro Gold status and engages in several sustainable practice initiatives including using a separator to remove any chemicals from the coach (tour bus) wash run-off; the provision and servicing of recycling stations for the whole Mt Cook village; the sending of all food waste to a dedicated compost maker in Twizel; and the collection of all cooking oil for conversion into bio diesel for their fleet.

A spectacular 55km drive from the Lake Pukaki / State Highway 8 turn-off between Christchurch and Queenstown, The Hermitage is four hours from Christchurch (272km) and three hours from Queenstown (330km). The range of accommodation, facilities, restaurants and bars at The Hermitage is the perfect base camp for any occasion and suits different budgets and tastes.

About Earth Hour
Earth Hour is organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organisations. Its mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and build a future where people live in harmony with nature.

ENDS

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