For the past few years the Hunebed Centre has been working to improve its level of environmental sustainability. The hard work has now paid off with the museum being awarded not just a Green Key but the highest – golden – level of the award.
Green Key is the leading international standard for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation in the tourist and recreation sectors. In order to achieve Green Key recognition a business must demonstrate the highest level of good environmental practice without compromising quality or the comfort of visitors. This often involves businesses providing levels of service exceeding those required by law or standard industry practice.
For the Hunebed Centre, the award is particularly important since the museum became an Information Centre for Het Drentse Landschap and now also houses the head office of the Hondsrug UNESCO Geopark. “As a museum we believe that it is very important to take an active part in the movement towards sustainability in which so many businesses are now involved. We try as far as possible to apply the principles of sustainability not only in our physical museum building but also in the way in which we communicate our message” says Museum Director Harrie Wolters.
New practices introduced in the last year include economising on the use of water and energy, the use of LED lamps for lighting, light sensors, environmentally-friendly cleaning materials, a larger selection of biological products on the menu in the museum café and collecting coffee grounds.
Another important aspect of the Green Key certificate is awareness. From the very start, all staff and volunteers have been involved in the process and kept informed of new developments. At the same time, the centre’s sustainability vision has been shared with visitors through events such as regular biodiversity days and an event focussing on the use of wool.
For more information about Green Key see https://www.greenkey.global/
