We are determined to operate as sustainably as possible and for this reason, sustainability guides our day-to-day decision making. We are committed to living in harmony with our environment, and we like to put into practice at camp as many of the sustainability initiatives that we teach in our communities.

These sustainability initiatives are only some of our many projects in the community and at camp. If you would like to see some our sustainability initiatives for yourself, we invite you to enjoy a complimentary back of house tour in between your safari adventures.

Explore some of our sustainability initiatives…

No Plastic Policy

We have developed a comprehensive strategy to minimize our plastic waste with the aim of being plastic free by 2030. We have made a conscious decision to revise our procurement principles to ensure that they sustainable, in line with our objectives for The Long Run and wherever possible eliminate plastic. We have stopped purchasing plastic water bottles and instead provide our guests with refillable glass bottles that they may use throughout their stay.  Our drinking water comes from a deep underground aquifer that has passed through a reverse osmosis filtration system resulting in delicious water that is pure and safe to drink.

An important part of sustainability is learning how to utilize and recycle what is already in circulation. Where we aren’t able to eliminate our plastic usage, we ensure that all plastic that is brought into camp is reused. We reuse plastic bottles as an alternative to bricks in eco-building in new infrastructure development projects in the community and back of house buildings at camp. We have also incorporated plastic weaving into community projects by our women’s groups who recycled the plastic into beautiful bowls and place mats.

Vegetable Garden

We have developed two organic gardens for vegetables and herbs that are picked and served daily to our guests. While our gardens can’t yield sufficient produce to satisfy the camps full requirements, we focus on sourcing our fresh produce and anything that can’t be grown in our gardens from the local community. We work closely with our local suppliers and community projects to ensure that every product is organic and hormone-free.  It is important for us that our local community can benefit too while our guests enjoy eating gourmet meals made from locally sourced produce.

Solar Electricity

We are taking steady steps to reduce our carbon footprint with the aim of being carbon neutral by 2030. At the end of 2019 we completely solarized our Head Office in Harare. We have big plans for the camp too and have started our phased conversion from a reliance on the national grid to an eventual 100% solarized camp. We have begun by installing solar energy to heat water for some of our back of house areas including our laundry department and our staff accommodation.

Organic Cleaning Products

We have made a conscious effort to ensure that all of our cleaning products used throughout camp are eco-friendly and do not damage the fragile ecosystem in which we operate.

Recycling and Waste Management

All waste at the camp is sorted, weighed and recorded. This information is used to monitor the waste and set targets so that we are able to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible.

The food waste is fed to our worm farm and composted on site and then used in the camps organic vegetable and herb gardens. The glass is sorted and crushed on site. The unique coloured bottles (blue, white, black) are taken to the Hwange Recycling Centre in Dete where The Hide Community Trust has trained a group of women to recycle the bottles into beautiful glass beads. Learn more about the Hwange Art and Recycling Project. The remaining glass bottles are crushed and used as a substitute for sand in building at the camp and in our community projects.

The drink cans are melted down into nuggets by the Hwange Art and Recycling Project and sold to a local business who make them into recycled aluminium homeware products. These homeware goods are then purchased to be used in camp and to be sold in the curio shop. While you are enjoying your safari with us, you may notice some of these homeware products throughout camp.

Other recycled materials are used for eco-buildings by combining pressed earth and plastic bottle bricks. We recycle our paper and cardboard into “fire bricks” that are used in the guest fires at night to reduce our firewood usage. We are also installing rocket stoves at the staff accommodation to reduce firewood usage in the staff compound