40 Knots Winery in Comox has been certified as a GreenStep Sustainable Tourism platinum business.
Platinum is the highest ranking, given to businesses that score 90 per cent or higher on assessments conducted by a panel. An assessment consists of 87 questions related to areas of sustainable tourism operations.
“We are most proud of our achievement,” 40 Knots owner Brenda Hetman-Craig said. “We are only one business of four in Canada to have achieved this level, and we are committed to maintaining it with regular recertification.”
The certification demonstrates that a business is doing good things for the world, and has the credibility to prove it.
Hetman-Craig says GreenStep has helped 40 Knots “in a big way.” The winery had considered numerous sustainable programs before deciding to work towards certification with the consulting firm.
“We wanted a ‘cradle to repurpose’ program that looked at each process, each purchase and every usage,” she said. “We believe that sustainability has three pillars: environmental, social and economic. We needed an affordable program that delivered results and we needed the support of professionals. GreenStep delivered. Not only was it the most affordable program, the costs that we saved by sustainable choices positively impacted our bottom line. The program paid for itself in the first couple of months.”
Despite achieving the highest level of certification, she said 40 Knots will never be finished.
“This is not just a program that rewards achievements at a point in time, it is a way of doing business,” Hetman-Craig said. “We commit to continuous work that has a positive impact on those three pillars…We do this because of our personal beliefs that as business owners and community members, we have an obligation to our environment, our community, and to our employees and suppliers.”
reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
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