The traditional custodians of the Blue Mountains are the Gundungurra and Darug people.Chris Tobin, Darug Custodian, performed an Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony with Mountain Whispers – “MW” Collection owner, Lorraine Allanson, across all four properties – acknowledging Lorraine’s personal journey, and paying respect to country and its people.  

Being located in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains carries with it a sense of responsibility. As a business, Mountain Whispers – “MW” Collection has a strong commitment to social and environmental sustainability.

This responsibility also influences our day-to-day business operations, and is underscored by our participation in the following initiatives:

• Participating in the Blue Mountains Heritage Institute’s “Low Carbon Tourism – Building Sustainable Communities” program.  This initiative is an economic and behavioural change program being trialled in the Blue Mountains, and is based on the premise that             Blue Mountains communities live and work within a highly sensitive World Heritage region. Their long-term financial, social and                 ecological sustainability relies on maintaining a low carbon environment to support and promote a ‘clean green image’.  In turn,               this will assist in building economic resilience, and a sustainable hospitality and tourism sector as the region’s major economic                   driver
• Buying 50% Green Power across all our properties
• Ensuring our properties are energy-efficient by improving insulation and reducing draughts that can occur in houses of a distinguished age
• Installing limit switches to central heating units, ensuring temperature settings don’t exceed 21 degrees
• Closing central heating vents and unoccupied rooms to ensure heating is directed only to occupied rooms
• Setting all exterior lights to timers and installing sensor lights at all entry points
• Setting floor heating to timers in all bathrooms and dining areas
• Replacing existing lighting with more energy efficient LED lighting (where possible) and reducing average wattage
• Installing water-saving devices with temperature control pads for hot water units
• Operating ceiling fans, where possible
• Using wood heaters in winter
• Replacing dishwashers with the ‘WELS’ (water efficiency rating) rating scheme.

Within our office, sustainability practices include:

• Refilling or recycling all toner cartridges
• Recycling single-use batteries
• Storing correspondence electronically
• Downloading software rather than buying hard-copy manuals, thereby reducing paper waste
• Establishing recycling stations for all paper
• Hosting our website with a 100% Eco Friendly Green Business. This offers an environmentally responsible means of powering our website, enabling Mountain Whispers to play a positive part in climate change with any affect on the day-to-day operations of our business.

What our Guests can do to help:

• Our luxurious curtains are not just aesthetic – they also help retain room warmth if they are drawn at the end of the day, along with the blinds
• Switching lights off when going out or retiring for the evening saves energy and reduces CO₂ emissions
• Switching off appliances like the TV and set-top box when not in use
• Turning central heating off when going out or retiring for the evening
• Only turning the dishwasher on when full
• Only using the towels you require and leaving clean ones on the rail

Ensuring all scraps and rubbish are appropriately disposed of via the recycling bins we provide.