The Sustainable Spirit of Mushara

Feb 28, 2023 | Sustainability, The Mushara Collection

At the heart of the Mushara Collection is a philosophy centered on sustainability, conservation and social responsibility.

However big or small, the Mushara family has always been striving to minimize the impact on the environment and optimize the natural resources they use. They are very aware of how their impact can have a negative effect on our environment.

In order to do this, they have a multiple-tier approach. All of the Mushara camps/lodges are run on a “solar grid feed system” – they can produce a maximum of 70% of all their electricity needs by solar – the difference comes from the power grid. All light globes are energy-saving/LED. Hot water geysers run on a timer – maximum time per day is 4 hours – geysers that are not used are switched off and this is managed daily.

All Mushara’s waste is recycled on the reserve – first of all, they have three different bin systems. One for material that burns, a second for material that does not burn, and a third for kitchen waste.

Their kitchen waste is used on their compost heaps. Mushara produces a significant amount of their own vegetables and herbs, and a smaller amount of fruit. All of these benefit from the compost.

Vegetable & herbs garden at Mushara Lodge

Vegetable & herbs garden at Mushara Lodge

Paper and plastic get burned in an incinerator and glass and metal get stored on a secure sight on the property. They do not believe in carting their burnable and non-burnable waste to the landfills in the next town as these landfills are not managed and they are a “disaster zone”.

Water is used wisely. All wastewater is treated naturally by bacteria in three-chamber French drains. The water flows from the first to the third chamber and once it is in the third chamber, it is clean enough to be pumped out into the veld, where it is absorbed by the soil and can filter into the ground.

Their way of reducing the carbon footprint is by using as much solar power as possible and reducing the usage of cars, trucks and generators.

With regards to sustainable procurement, Mushara source all vegetables and herbs that they cannot produce themselves, from local producers. Their fresh fruit juices come from a local farmer who also supplies them with local homemade jam and marmalade. All services are from local suppliers – refrigeration, electrical, and mechanical. When possible they employ staff from the surrounding communities.

The Mushara Collection are active with conservation efforts on their reserves and environmental sustainability is an ongoing effort at all the Mushara Lodges.

Written by Robbie Stammers