NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, ONT.— Plastic is on its way out at White Oaks Resort & Spa. Following in the wake of many top brands and destinations worldwide, The Green Team at White Oaks has eliminated plastic straws resort-wide.
Guests will be able to request a straw and an earth friendly compostable option will be provided. Along with straws, starting this month, all plastic water bottles will be replaced with a water program from Naturizzata Bottle Co.
“Instead of arriving at your meeting with unlimited bottles of water on the table, or in our continuous coffee break fridges, beautiful custom etched glass water bottles with glass wear will be set up,” said Traci Luongo, Director of Conference Services and Chair of the White Oaks Green Team. “All filtered right here on-site, both still and sparkling options will be available.”
David Cassidy, Director of Food & Beverage was responsible for vetting and selecting a plastic bottle alternative. “We chose Naturizzata to partner with because of their dedication to preserving the environment,” says Cassidy. According to the Naturizzata website, “…we have designed the most eco-friendly water systems anywhere on the planet. Our commercial water purification systems can prevent thousands of single-use glass or plastic bottles from littering our landfills, oceans, and parks. We believe even small steps to becoming a greener company can lead to big changes. That’s why we can bottle our fabulous tasting water right at your establishment, reducing the pollution created by traditional manufacturing and transportation processes. We are very proud of the fact that our pure water is not only great for your health, but also the environment!”
The new program plans to phase in across the resort to other areas too. “The Naturizzata program is very exciting and we plan to install units in our conference center, spa and kitchens,” said Richard Reid, General Manager. “Our restaurants, LIV and Play will now carry our own custom still or sparkling water as options and our Spa can create beautiful non-alcoholic mocktails and sparkling options. The versatility of this program is perfect for our property. Our conference clients can even have the glass bottles custom etched with their company name, or brides can have a custom message or their names on bottles presented at the tables. The benefits of this program are fantastic.”
“We truly believe in making changes that reflect our commitment to a greener world wherever we can,” Luongo said. “Even our coffee breaks and our coffee cream counter at Grow Kitchen & Café feature our own honey from our bee hives. This week we installed a butterfly habitat in our gardens. It’s small actions that can really add up to make a difference.”
