Sustainability means different things to different people. The following is intended to communicate what it means to our organisation, and the steps we are taking on our journey towards sustainability. Being sustainable means considering environmental, economic and community impacts now and in the future.
Our vision is that Riverton/ Aparima's unique cultural heritage is preserved and celebrated through the artefacts/taonga and stories of yesterday and today, for tomorrow. Our mission is to provide innovative Museum services and visitor attractions to connect locals and visitors to the heritage of Riverton/ Aparima and districts. We value honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ethics, professionalism, collaboration, inclusivity and sustainability. One of our key strategic priorities is to ensure the viability and sustainability of Te Hikoi's Museum and Visitor Centre premises and operations.
The following are actions we already undertake in this regard:
• Produce approximately two thirds of our own electricity use through 20kW of solar panels on our roof.
• Use of energy-efficient heat pumps and electronic equipment e.g. motion sensor and timers on equipment.
• Switched to energy efficient LED lighting in our retail area.
• Our carbon footprint for the 2022/23 financial year was 0.89 tCO2-e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)*.
• Reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible – particularly with packaging that our retail items come in. We use Bokashi for composting kitchen waste.
• Encourage the use of sustainable transport for visitors (we have a bike stand outside, EV charger at supermarket across the road).
• Promote environmental initiatives, such as monitoring of local dolphin population (we display brochures free of charge to encourage others to document what they see, and work with researchers on exhibitions); promoting marine mammal viewing rules on our noticeboard. This is important because Hector's Dolphins live locally and numbers are in decline.
• Support local fundraising efforts by offering complimentary museum passes for raffles etc., for schools and sports groups.
• Support local artists and authors, by selling their work, and hosting an annual art challenge.
• Support the local community newspaper by providing them a space to operate.
• Offering diverse work experience and volunteer opportunities to interested community members.
• Being inclusive (refer to accessibility actions).
• Advocate for environmental appreciation and protection through the stories we share in our permanent and temporary displays where appropriate.
• Sharing the principles of the tourism industry’s Tiaki Promise with visitors.
The following are further actions we are working towards:
• Developing a proactive pest management strategy to adapt to changing climate and risk of new pests in collection.
• Retrofitting the rest of our lighting to more energy-efficient LED technology.
• Designing and implementing a sustainable procurement policy.
• Considering sustainable design in building extensions/renovations.
* Our emissions were measured using the Ministry for the Environment's carbon calculator tool with the help of Great South at a decarbonisation workshop in 2024. Our emissions were comprised mostly of our electricity use (Scope 2) and fridge gas (Scope 1). Under Scope 3, our waste was too small to be measured, and data was not available for the suppliers, or commuting (travellers, staff and volunteers).
Our vision is that Riverton/ Aparima's unique cultural heritage is preserved and celebrated through the artefacts/taonga and stories of yesterday and today, for tomorrow. Our mission is to provide innovative Museum services and visitor attractions to connect locals and visitors to the heritage of Riverton/ Aparima and districts. We value honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ethics, professionalism, collaboration, inclusivity and sustainability. One of our key strategic priorities is to ensure the viability and sustainability of Te Hikoi's Museum and Visitor Centre premises and operations.
The following are actions we already undertake in this regard:
• Produce approximately two thirds of our own electricity use through 20kW of solar panels on our roof.
• Use of energy-efficient heat pumps and electronic equipment e.g. motion sensor and timers on equipment.
• Switched to energy efficient LED lighting in our retail area.
• Our carbon footprint for the 2022/23 financial year was 0.89 tCO2-e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent)*.
• Reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible – particularly with packaging that our retail items come in. We use Bokashi for composting kitchen waste.
• Encourage the use of sustainable transport for visitors (we have a bike stand outside, EV charger at supermarket across the road).
• Promote environmental initiatives, such as monitoring of local dolphin population (we display brochures free of charge to encourage others to document what they see, and work with researchers on exhibitions); promoting marine mammal viewing rules on our noticeboard. This is important because Hector's Dolphins live locally and numbers are in decline.
• Support local fundraising efforts by offering complimentary museum passes for raffles etc., for schools and sports groups.
• Support local artists and authors, by selling their work, and hosting an annual art challenge.
• Support the local community newspaper by providing them a space to operate.
• Offering diverse work experience and volunteer opportunities to interested community members.
• Being inclusive (refer to accessibility actions).
• Advocate for environmental appreciation and protection through the stories we share in our permanent and temporary displays where appropriate.
• Sharing the principles of the tourism industry’s Tiaki Promise with visitors.
The following are further actions we are working towards:
• Developing a proactive pest management strategy to adapt to changing climate and risk of new pests in collection.
• Retrofitting the rest of our lighting to more energy-efficient LED technology.
• Designing and implementing a sustainable procurement policy.
• Considering sustainable design in building extensions/renovations.
* Our emissions were measured using the Ministry for the Environment's carbon calculator tool with the help of Great South at a decarbonisation workshop in 2024. Our emissions were comprised mostly of our electricity use (Scope 2) and fridge gas (Scope 1). Under Scope 3, our waste was too small to be measured, and data was not available for the suppliers, or commuting (travellers, staff and volunteers).
