We lead our practices with sustainability and innovation in the parks industry
Recreational Services is at the forefront of bringing many greener technologies to New Zealand, for example Weedingtech’s Foamstream technology, a chemical-free alternative to glyphosate.
A first for New Zealand, Recreational Services imported two Foamstream units in 2018. This was achieved following an 11-month process to get the units into the country, ahead of Weedingtech establishing a base in New Zealand. In 2016 a resolution was passed in Christchurch, and Auckland in 2017, to ban glyphosate usage to ensure all public areas are kept chemical-free. The Foamstream units use hot water and a biodegradable insulating foam to kill weeds, which avoids the use of herbicides altogether and thereby makes it safe for use around people, animals and delicate environments.
Recreational Services was the first New Zealand company in 2016 to import Mean Green commercial mowers, which are 100 per cent electric, ride on, 60-inch mowers with the added advantage of having a roof charging panel that helps top up the batteries' state of charge during daylight, delivering up to nine hours of mowing per day. Other benefits of these mowers include having zero emissions, low noise and vibration levels, and do not use diesel, as most commercial fleets would normally run on. Since bringing these mowers on board, the team has collaborated with Te Tari Tiaki Pūngao (Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority) to offer monitoring and benchmarking data to the industry.
In 2008 Recreational Services achieved Enviro-Mark Diamond Status through Toitū Envirocare. Toitū Enviro-mark diamond certified organisations exceed the requirements of ISO 14001, one of the world's best known environmental standards. We've continued to maintain this status to date, with the addition of 8 additional sites also Enviro-mark certified and work from this benchmark to ensure we meet the highest environmentally friendly performance standards ongoingly.
In 2017 we were awarded the Outstanding Performance Award by Toitū Envirocare, which celebrates the best of the best when it comes to carbon emissions reduction and environmental management.
In 2020, Recreational Services started the process of becoming Carbon Reduce certified through Toitū Envirocare in accordance with ISO 14064-1. We are proud to announce that Recreational Services is officially a Toitū carbon reduce certified organisation and have been recertified recently making us certified for the third year in a row.
