Case Study: The Wickaninnish Inn
The Wickaninnish Inn is a world-renowned property because of its amazing location, service and cuisine. The award-winning hotel is also one of Tofino’s largest employers.
When stage two water restrictions were introduced in Tofino in July, the Wickaninnish Inn responded immediately by aiming to reduce overall water consumption by at least 15 percent.
General manager Charles McDiarmid said they more than reached that goal when they reduced their overall water consumption by 18 percent in early August – thanks to a variety of measures.
Communicating a water conservation message to the guest upon check-in has been key to the Inn’s overall water use reduction, said McDiarmid. One of the ways staff does this is by offering bottled water when checking in. Signs in guestrooms also alert visitors to water reduction efforts, and what they can do to help conserve water during their stay in Tofino.
The Pointe Restaurant began offering bottled water at a reduced rate to guests, less as a cost savings measure than as an educational tool.
“You might only save a little bit, but it really lets people know there is a conservation plan in effect,” said McDiarmid.
In the kitchen, the staff has stopped using running water to defrost food items, placing them instead in fridges to defrost.
Overall, the Inn has reduced its water pressure, meaning a water savings. Older toilets in the Pointe building at the Inn were adjusted to save roughly one litre of water per flush, while all the toilets in the newer Beach building are already low flush. McDiarmid said they have also outfitted staff washrooms with dual flush toilets.
Laundry times at the hotel were also adjusted so that guests’ laundry was being done outside of the peak hours of 3pm-6pm. It is at this critical time that the district’s reservoirs are in the process of refilling.
The Wickaninnish Inn offers the use of beach cruiser bikes to guests during their stay, but McDiarmid said they’ve disallowed beach biking so that the bikes don’t have to be rinsed off after use.
Keeping the issue at the forefront of staff’s mind is an integral part of reducing water use.
“We’re alerting all the staff with constant emails and messages in the back of the house - not just while they’re at
the Inn but also when they're at home – to reduce,” McDiarmid said.