Sustainability
Blue Oyster Hotel &
Social Responsibility
People are the very core of our hotel.
The Blue Oyster Hotel would not be what it is without our incredible team.
Therefore, it is one of our main priorities to ensure the well-being, motivation, safety and happiness of our employees. Our low employee turnover supports this very notion, we aim at providing our staff with long-term and stable employment. To ensure the health and safety of our employees and the community, we provide each of our employees with a health- and medical insurance, which also covers five additional members of their family. We adhere to all legal regulations set by the Tanzanian government, when it comes to salaries, annual holidays, working hours and so forth. We strive at keeping everyone in our team satisfied and motivated. Additionally, we are actively and directly supporting local entrepreneurs by providing them with a place to carry out their business within our hotel. Meaning that these individuals, such as Captain Zapy and local sisters, Zena and Kazja, keep all profit earned from their businesses themselves, which enables them to further invest their earnings into their business, support their families and be financially independent.
Want to know more about our social responsible practices and local support?
Sustainable Practices
Solar Heating
We use a solar heating system to supply all hot water used in the hotel. The thermal energy needed is produced by the sun, and the technology is very environmental friendly and sustainable as it heavily reduces the emissions usually generated by most heating processes.
Plastic / Single-Use Items
We are highly focused on limiting the use of any plastic or single use items in our hotel, as these are responsible for a significant amount of waste on our beautiful island, and plastic waste specifically releases toxins into the environment. This is implemented through the use of refillable toiletries, metal straws only, refillable glass bottles in all rooms and many more.
Greywater System
Our greywater system redirects used water from our beach bar, kitchen and laundry into an irrigation system, which filters and cleans the water, which is then used for watering our tropical trees, flowers and plants. This sustainable water recycle provides us with approximately 2000 litres daily.
Food Waste Management
During our daily operations we are trying to reduce the amount of food waste created in the hotel through different processes. For example by asking for early dinner orders (2-3 hours before) from all guests, which allows us to prepare and plan well in our restaurant, along with composting any biodegradable food waste created.
Compost
All biodegradable waste produced at the hotel is composted to be used as fertilizer in our garden, which includes exotic plants and flowers along with fruits and vegetables that we use in our restaurant. We are for example growing mangos, banana, kale and mint leaves directly on our property.
Sustainable Souvenir Shop
In our smaller souvenir shop you can find a selection of fair trade, ethically made and up-cycled souvenirs and artisanal products. We source our products from sustainable organisations or directly from individual people on Zanzibar or from mainland Tanzania. With your purchase you can be proud to support local livelihoods.
Waste Management
As stated by Zanrec, the Zanzibar archipelago generates over 96,000 metric tonnes of waste a year. Due to a lack of proper waste management, an equivalent of the weight of a Boeing 747 gets dumped uncontrolled into Zanzibar’s environment every day, contaminating the environment and causing serious implications and dangers to public health and the economy.
In order to ensure that our waste is managed in a sustainable way, we are collaborating with Zanrec, a waste management company that collects, separates, recycles and up-cycles the waste produced by both the industrial and private sectors on the island. Read more about Zanrec and how you, as a tourist on the island, can help here ♻︎.
Additionally, instead of simply disposing empty glass bottles, we partnered up with Chako, a company that is giving new life to the waste produced within the hospitality industry. Chako up-cycles empty glass bottles to beautiful products. You can also purchase their products at our hotel, and who knows, maybe that bottle of wine you had in our restaurant will be your next candle holder. More about Chako and their products you can read here ♻︎.
