At Giba Gorge, sustainability is a top priority. We operate out of a conservancy and as such, being environmentally conscious is critical to the ethos and integrity of who we are and what we are about. Chris Harburn, the owner of Giba Gorge, is passionate about sustainability and works hard to “go green” wherever possible. So let us have a look at the sustainable practices that have been implemented at Giba Gorge thus far, as well as what we plan to do in the future.
Giba Gravel
Our “Giba Gravel” quarry has recently reopened in the Giba Development. The quarry has an approved Environmental Management Programme (EMP). This EMP ensures that quarried areas are rehabilitated into platforms for future commercial and industrial use. Evidence of our EMP would be Giba Gorge Adventure Park, Giba Gorge Business Park and the Giba Conservancy. The land that has been quarried up until now has been rehabilitated into tourism and business park zones. The remaining mound being quarried as we speak will soon be the foundations of an upcoming development. It is important that the land we quarry does not go to waste after it has been “used up”. Rehabilitating this land means we are using every acre to its full potential.
The gravel itself has been classified as “energy efficient material” by professionals in the field. Waste material from the quarry is used to make our own “green” building blocks, which have been used to build Giba Gorge from the ground up! Many of our buildings around the park have been built using this waste material, such as our Giba Storage facility.
Solar Efforts
An ongoing sustainable effort at Giba is a movement towards being solar powered. The first phase of our solar journey was an installation to power the Giba Storage facility. The storage facility was designed to be north facing to optimize the solar opportunity. We have since expanded our Solar facilities by installing solar panels on the RMS building, and the BASF building; two factories operating within the Giba Business Park.
Water Harvesting and a Grey Water System
More environmentally friendly practices Giba Gorge has implemented is water harvesting & a grey water system. A Biodigester is used to clean the grey water in the park. Giba Gorge is looking to purify the water to a potable standard.
Recycling
At Giba we have our own recycling plant, and we encourage all the tenants to recycle and make use of the facility. We also embrace having “green” tenants! Our current tenant group is comprised of a number of companies that share our passion for sustainability. Examples of this are; BASF, Mecosol and Container Conversions. BASF creates organic chemicals that contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. Mecosol’s core business is recycling old pallets and a part of Container Conversions’ operations entails repurposing old shipping containers for various reasons.
Job Creation and Empowerment
Finally, an important aspect of our sustainable efforts at Giba Gorge is the empowerment of the community around us. Most of our Giba Gorge family comes from the community surrounding Giba Gorge and job creation and empowerment are a core focus in our operations.
Sustainability is a major part of the Giba Gorge mission. Our earth needs all hands on deck, meaning that any step, big or small, is a good one. This is the idea driving sustainable operations at Giba Gorge. The practices mentioned above are a very simplified outline of the extensive efforts being made to ensure sustainable operations at Giba Gorge. More in-depth information is available in links below.
http://www.stockvillequarries.co.za/
http://www.gibabusinesspark.co.za/
https://www.basf.com/us/en/careers/why-join-basf/basf-at-a-glance.html