GreenStaySA Standards

Travellers are increasingly looking for ways in which to be more environmentally responsible when on holiday. Responsible travellers want to stay in accommodation facilities that demonstrate similar responsible attitudes to the environment, and are prepared to pay more for the assurance.

Download the GreenStaySA Technical Manuals : General Environmental Management.pdf Energy Use and Management.pdf Water Use and Management.pdf Waste and Chemicals Management.pdf

The guarantee that travellers want can only be provided by an independent verification, such as being a member of GreenStaySA provides.

There are four levels of environmental performance under GreenStaySA for accommodation providers.  These levels provide you with an indication of your current environmental performance and lay the foundation for the implementation of the national environmental grading standard, which is being developed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism and the Tourism Grading Council

Themes

GreenStaySA’s self assessment tool covers seven essential environmental themes:

• environmental management
• energy and climate change
• water
• waste avoidance, recycling and green procurement
• chemicals
• garden & biodiversity
• building design and construction

Process

The GreenStaySA certification and grading process begins when you register your interest in greening your accommodation establishment. You then complete a self certification questionnaire. This is followed by onsite verification by our independent assessors, depending on the grading level for which you qualify.
 
Assessors

We do an onsite assessment to verify your establishment’s green claims. GreenStaySA provides a world-class, independent audit of your facilities by partnering with Sustainable Energy Africa and over time will be training greater numbers of assessors and creating additional employment opportunities. 

The Four Grading Levels

Entry Level – These minimum requirements reflect a basic level of responsible environmental behaviour and are not difficult to meet.

Environmentally Aware – this is a more committed level of environmental performance. You will need to put some effort into reducing environmental impact reflected in reductions in water and energy use and waste generation, but your benefits include financial savings amongst others. It is relatively easy to achieve this level of performance.

Environmentally Responsible – this level indicates a serious responsibility towards the environment; you are prepared to commit to improving performance in all key spheres of impact. Environmental performance is fully embedded into all aspects of your operations.

Environmental Excellence – this level indicates that your establishment has excelled in environmental performance and has committed resources to this end. Your employees are aware of relevant environmental issues and management takes environmental performance seriously.