Kudos flow for water saving push by Reflections

Reflections Holidays’ efforts to implement energy-saving and sustainable initiatives at its 40 Crown land holiday parks is reaping rewards as it seeks to become a “low carbon holiday destination”, with a Northern Rivers county council naming Reflections as a leader in its Sustainable Water Partner Program.

Rous County Council based at Lismore has recognised eight Reflections Holidays parks between Evans Head and Brunswick Heads for their commitment to water efficiency, saving up to 8.9 million litres – the equivalent of almost four Olympic swimming pools – each year.

As it develops a best practice eco-efficient park model, known as North Star Park, as a benchmark for all of its 40 parks in NSW, Reflections has also set a target to achieve B Corp status, requiring it to have high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.

Reflections achieved the recognition from Rous County Council for targeting immediate leakage issues in its parks, installing water-saving shower fittings and digital water metres to monitor and detect leakages.

The water-saving initiatives were just one part of a sustainability strategy by Reflections which also includes initiatives to improve energy efficiency across its parks. The strategy also involves:

• Establishing a Revolving Sustainability Fund (RSF) with an initial investment of $2.1 million towards sustainability programs. (In FY24, about $650,000 in savings across electricity, gas and water in its parks will be reinvested in the RSF, which increases annually as more sustainability projects bring new cost savings).
• Installing solar panels and data-monitoring devices in its parks to monitor and reduce energy use.

Minister for Lands and Property Steve Kamper said Reflections Holidays is the only holiday group in Australia that is a certified social enterprise.

“I congratulate Reflections Holiday Parks on its sustainability initiatives which are reducing power costs and environmental waste while driving innovation at NSW's Crown land holiday parks,” Mr Kamper said.

“Reflections offers nature-based holidays at some of the state's most beautiful locations and reinvests its profits back into the parks and Crown reserves it manages to contribute positively to regional communities across the state.”

Reflections CEO Nick Baker said the recognition from Rous County Council validated the organisation’s comprehensive work to make a genuine difference in its operations to protect the land in its care for future generations.

“As a Crown Land Manager which is privileged to not only manage holiday parks but also care for 45 nature reserves on behalf of the NSW public, we have a responsibility to constantly review our operations so we can save energy and help nurture the environment,” Mr Baker said.

“In addition, we encourage our guests to try and do their bit to support/help us reach our goal of being a true low-carbon holiday option.”

Cr Robert Mustow, Chair of Rous County Council, said that the Council’s Water Partner Program had been supporting businesses of the Northern Rivers to improve efficiency since 2009.

“Rous County Council is proud to partner with local businesses like Reflections Holidays who are committed to investigating and optimising their water consumption and improving their water sustainability,” he said.

“We acknowledge and congratulate Reflections Holidays for saving up to 8.9 million litres annually, the equivalent of almost four Olympic swimming pools per year through various water efficiency initiatives.”