Environmental and Sustainability Initiatives of True Key Properties

Making a serious commitment to sustainability in the hospitality industry is no longer optional. From the beginning, we’ve committed to running an environmentally savvy and sustainable business at each of our resorts because environmental stewardship is at the heart of all True Key properties. By working hard to reduce our emissions through energy conservation and green initiatives – both in our company and the community – we’ve obtained numerous certifications that we pride ourselves on. With resorts across BC in varying ecosystems, our resorts take a unique approach to ensure minimal impact is made to our beautiful surrounding environments. 

At Bighorn Meadows Resort, Harrison Beach Hotel, SookePoint Ocean Cottage Resort and Sunrise Ridge Waterfront Resort, each guest contributes $1 per night through an environmental fee. This fee is used to invest in projects to help remove, reduce and eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. The fee is also used to renew and refresh existing recycling programs, breathe life into innovative green lifestyle services and tackle alternative in-room energy reduction solutions. 

Throughout each resort, we use environmentally sensitive cleaning products that are safe for the environment. If you stay overnight at one of our resorts, you’ll notice our low-flow toilets, sinks and showers. These systems are great for minimizing our water consumption and outflow. While some sustainability plans work for all resorts, the remoteness of some of our resorts enables us to take a different approach to sustainability there. Here are just some of the unique initiatives taken at each True Key property.  

Harrison Beach Hotel

Our focus at all properties, but specifically Harrison Beach Hotel, is to reduce the amount of single-use products available and repurpose them when we cannot. We recycle bottles, papers and plastics that have been used. At the same time, unused shampoo/conditioner and lotions, linen, computers, and furniture are donated to social services programs to increase their lifetime use and help our community. We also opt for sustainable landscaping that is native and non-intrusive to the land. The hotel is located on the beautiful banks of Lake Harrison, so we want to keep the environment as natural as possible.  

Bighorn Meadows Resort

At Bighorn Meadows Resort, we focus on workplace waste reduction. This means that we operate our day-to-day business as green as possible. We do this by decreasing our paper use for promotional purposes and instead opt for e-marketing and e-copies of promotional materials like brochures, information packages, etc. While we try our best, some printing is still required, which we do on 30% post-consumer recycled paper using energy-efficient printers and ENERGY STAR certified copiers. 

Sunrise Ridge Waterfront Resort  

Travelling in an electric vehicle (EV) can sometimes be tricky, leaving you torn between an eco-friendly road trip or convenience. Just steps away from the ocean, Sunrise Ridge Waterfront Resort offers 2 EV charging stations, allowing guests with EV’s to rest and recharge worry-free while their car does too. Sunrise Ridge has taken initiative to reduce their resort’s energy consumption by encouraging a staff-wide behavioural change. This is done by ensuring unnecessary lights are switched off during room checks, in empty offices and at times when meeting rooms and lounge areas are empty.

SookePoint Ocean Cottage Resort

The Developer at SookePoint Ocean Cottage Resort has commissioned an EcoFluid wastewater treatment plant based on new technology that the United Nations Industrial Development Organization claims is “an important environmental process revolution,” and the California Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering rates as “the highest ranked biological treatment system out of almost seventy technologies reviewed.” This new wastewater treatment utility is subject to legally binding regulations, financial security and regular monitoring to ensure it meets or exceeds environmental targets.

Nootka Marine Adventures 

Moutcha Bay Resort, Newton Cove Resort & Nootka Sound Resort

At Nootka Marine Adventures, we continually strive to reduce environmental impact by incorporating sustainability in every avenue of our business – from environmental stewardship training to monitoring our ecological performance. Regardless of how we care for the environment, we always hold ourselves accountable for taking care of our surroundings.

Our Green Team at Nootka Marine Adventures meets regularly to identify where energy can be conserved and waste reduced. Some tactical practices to come out of our meetings include installing state-of-the-art tertiary waste and water treatment systems, increasing the use of solar power, integrating a composting system and implementing proactive fuel spill protocols. 

Unique to Nootka Marine Adventures, our tour guides practice and teach tourism activities like ethical catch and release fishing when possible and adhere to strict DFO regulations. We take this same mindful approach to living off the land, within our means, by sourcing our food locally from Seaview Farms, our sister company. We also source from many local Vancouver Island suppliers who share the same values as us. At Moutcha Bay Resort, we work with Davey Tree certified arborists on forest management to ensure a robust, sustainable on-site woodland. We recently attained Green Marine certification at our resorts through a rigorous, voluntary certification process in 2021.

Our head office at Nootka Marine Adventures is a certified Ocean Friendly Business through Vancouver Island Green Business Collective. Some of our initiatives include: 

• We divert as much waste as possible by recycling
• All office equipment is ENERGY STAR certified
• Reusable dishware is in place of disposable
• All food waste is composted
• Cleaning products are eco-friendly and locally sourced where possible
• Paper products are made with at least 50% post-consumer recycled content

Our sustainability doesn’t stop at the day-to-day. All of our employees volunteer at least 1 day per year of community charitable activity on company time and we urge them to commute and bike to work when possible. We work with the community to create a clean, green future by being active members of the Sport Fishing Institute and participating in our local Sport Fishing Advisory Committee. We also support Nootka Sound Watershed Society, an organization that actively supports the local salmon enhancement and habitat restoration through fundraisers; all of the proceeds of these events go to Nootka Sound Watershed Society and Pacific Salmon Foundation. Per year, we proudly contribute $100,000 to the Nootka Sound Watershed Society alone; these funds directly support the health of the salmon population in the region – contributing to the successful addition of 1.8 million Chinook and 150,000 Coho into the marine ecosystem annually. 

No matter which property you choose to stay at, you can rest and relax knowing you’re making a difference and supporting a bright, green future that will be enjoyed by future generations. To learn more about each True Key Property, visit their respective website. For more information on our sustainability initiatives, please contact us via email.