Singita has been using the One Planet Living sustainability action plan since 2012 to help cut greenhouse gas emissions, save water, improve waste management and recycling. This program sits alongside Singita’s other work to boost the local economy and conserve endangered Savannah wildlife.
The One Planet Living framework sets a high bar. “We are monitored and evaluated on a regular basis,” Singita Founder Luke Bailes said. “We’ve done this for many years and made huge progress, but there is still a long way to go. All our staff and lodges are committed to One Planet Living.”
As part of the international network of organizations using Bioregional’s One Planet Living guidelines, Singita aims to embed One Planet thinking throughout its operations so that it becomes a natural part of how it conducts business, strategizes, builds new properties and creates guest experiences.
The One Planet Living approach is based on 10 guiding principles of sustainability, which serve as a framework onto which targets can be identified and monitored. “The ultimate goal is to become a carbon neutral operation, which is achieved by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving water, improving waste management and recycling, as well as having a positive impact on the local economy and conserving Africa’s (and the planet’s) precious resources,” Bailes added. “This includes head office operations and inspires our staff to live more sustainable lives.”
As part of its commitment to One Planet living, Singita has created multiple sustainability targets to reach by 2025:
1. Energy: Our off-grid lodges to be 80% powered by on-site renewable energy and on-grid lodges 30% powered by renewable energy
2. Water: Reduced water used per bednight by 30% from baseline year
3. Transport: 100% electric game viewers within three years of commercial availability, and 80% of balance of fleet within four years of commercial availability
4. Food: 50% of fresh produce procured within a 100km radius
5. Materials: elimination of single-use plastics in 2020
6. Waste: send only 10% waste to landfill by 2023
“For us in Africa, probably the most important of those goals is water, because they say wars will be fought over water,” Bailes said. “With climate change, there are going to be more and more droughts and floods. And we’re really starting to experience that. So water management, I think, is absolutely fundamental, because without water the animals die.”