Your August Lady Elliot Island E-Newsletter No Images? Click here RACQ PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS | SOLAR JOURNEY | CLIMATE ACTION LEADER WIN A $5,000 RACQ QUEENSLAND TRAVEL VOUCHERLady Elliot Island Eco Resort has entered the ‘Steve Irwin Award for Ecotourism’ in the annual Queensland Tourism Awards. This year, a new category has been introduced called the RACQ People’s Choice Award which is open to public voting! Click the 'VOTE HERE' button below and vote for Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort as your favourite Tourism Experience! Voting will close at 5pm on 17 September. Don’t miss your chance to vote for your favourite Island Paradise! Once you’ve voted. Send an email to ‘[email protected]’ with ‘People’s Choice Awards’ in the subject line and the nominee you voted for in the body of the email. RACQ will then enter you into the draw to win a $5,000 Queensland Travel Voucher. Make sure to include your full name and contact number for RACQ can contact you with the good news! FROM LITTLE THINGS BIG THINGS GROWOur solar journey began with a 21kW PV Hybrid Solar Power Station System and two 4000Ah battery banks. With the help of Enertech Solar we have grown our renewable energy supply to support 80% of our Resort's energy use. We now have a total of 472 solar panels and 108 batteries over 4 battery banks consisting of lead acid and Aquion’s most environmentally friendly salt water carbon neutral batteries. Check out a short video produced by FunTrvael TV for Enertech Solar showcasing our solar array on Lady Elliot Island. CLIMATE ACTION LEADER CERTIFICATIONLady Elliot Island Eco Resort is excited to announce that we have achieved ‘Climate Action Leader’ certification under Ecotourism Australia! A Climate Action Leader is; Businesses that have incorporated strategic climate change responses across all relevant levels of business planning and operations. They are measuring and auditing their carbon footprint via a creditable system; have undertaken an advanced level of adaptation, emissions reduction and offsetting strategies; and are working towards becoming carbon neutral. We have made remarkable progress on many environmental initiatives, some examples during the past 12 months include; 1. Increasing our solar contribution to 472 solar panels supplying 80% renewable energy to the resort 2. Introduction of composting technology to ensure environmentally sustainable management of our food waste 3. ‘Flying Green’ Carbon Offset Program in partnership with Greenfleet to offset the carbon emissions from flights to and from the Island by planting native forests at the Barolin Nature Reserve, adjacent to the Mon Repos Turtle Rookery in Bundaberg 'PLASTIC FREE SEA' COMPETITIONIn July, we ran our first ever Instagram Competition in the hope to inspire people to eliminate single-use plastic from their everyday lives. The response was fantastic, with over 150 entries of support and amazing pledges to environmental protection. The winner Cami pledged “Another step on the path to make my toiletries bag zero waste. I crochet these pads, in the bottom of the picture. I use them instead of single wipes, mostly for removing makeup. Recently I also switched my bottled shampoo out with a bar. I have tried different ones - all have done the job. The bamboo toothbrush has accompanied me for quite a while, just as #janeiredale, who make makeup. Next time I need a new powder, I only have to buy the actual powder not the whole case to carry the powder in, as this one is made for reuse. Last but not least thanks to #siennabyronbay for making no toxic and vegan nail polish with a wooden cap. Alone you make a difference, together we make the world" What incredible efforts everyone who entered the competition are doing - head on over to #leicompjuly to be inspired on how to reduce single-use plastic in your everyday life! MARINE DEBRIS REMOVAL DEVICESea Turtles Forever have kindly donated the below Marine Microplastic Debris Removal device! They have designed this easy to use clean-up solution for coastal communities to adopt in beach remediation efforts. The Microplastic Filtration System uses static charged filtration (SCF) technology to remove micro plastics as small as 100 micrometres in size (the size of a grain of sand). On Lady Elliot, we have incorporated the device into our Marine Debris Clean-up tour which is free of charge to all guests to educate everyone on where the plastic we consume ends up! Next time you're on LEI, join in the tour and learn from our Activities Team the importance of eliminating single-use plastic from your everyday life! WHALES WHALES WHALESGuess what? It’s that time of year again and we have seen many incredible incidental whale encounters on Lady Elliot Island this season! We love it when the majestic Humpback Whales grace our waters off Lady Elliot Island. Keep an eye out for the Humpback Whales on their annual migration during the scenic flight to/from Lady Elliot Island. If you’re lucky you might also see them from the glass bottom boat on the Island or hear the beautiful whale song underwater. ​Video: Colin Baker |