Kijani - Green
Running a business on an island makes us aware that the challenges are greater than usual on mainlands.
Finding a balance between satisfying our customers’ needs and the pressure our business puts on the island's resources is not an easy task. But we need to try and be aware of our needs as well as the needs of the environment.
ISLAND​
CHALLENGES?
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Growing tourism sector increases the demand for (drinking) water, infrastructure like roads and electricity, adds waste and interrupts preservation of nature and culture.
We are super aware that by us being here, we add to that increase of pressure. We feel it is our duty to think about and attempt to relieve pressure on all aforementioned topics. So we try.
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WHAT DO WE
DO RIGHT NOW?
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Since our start we have decided to go plastic-free. Our drinking water comes from refillable hard plastic bottles that are collected by our supplier and refilled.
We supply water to our guests in glass water bottles that are provided for free to our in-house guests.
Our sodas (like coca-cola and fanta) are served in glass bottles only. It can be challenging to get these glass bottles sometimes on the island, but even when certain drinks are out of stock, we won’t buy plastic bottles. That is just against our policy.​
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FURTHERMORE​
Furthermore we have built a septic tank (for wastewater) based on the permaculture principles, trying to recycle the water for a second time use in the garden.
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During construction and for the interior we try to use as much local materials as possible. Not only to support our local neighbours, but also to reduce emissions from transport in general. We have a local carpenter who is capable of creating almost anything we need!
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CURRENTLY
We are building the structure to be able to put over 100 solar panels, allowing us to have constant power supply for the main parts and relieving pressure on the already overloaded electricity network.
The solar system should be up and running by the end of 2025!
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A LITTLE​
EDUCATION .. ..
Looking at preservation of nature and culture, we vetted a few local tour companies whose values are similar to ours. Who pay their taxes and licences, who care about the way they operate their business and tours and who respect nature. That's not an easy task as the educational level here is lower than in a lot of other countries.
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We also try to educate our guests on how to conduct themselves in the village and towards people that live here as well as how to dress when for example going to Stone Town. 95% of the people that live here are muslim and the long cultural history that Zanzibar has, made people cover most parts of their body up to respect the rules of the islam.
OUR DREAMS FOR THE FUTURE..
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Our dreams are big.
We would love to be self-sufficient. Collecting rainwater, install a biogas tank to convert our waste into cooking gas.
Create a beautiful garden based on permaculture principles that supplies our kitchen as well as gives our guests an opportunity to see all that Zanzibar’s nature has to offer up close.
Install a reverse-osmosis water filter so we can create our own drinking water and protect our equipment at the same time. All of this takes time, but we will get there!
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