Member Spotlight: Gros Morne Inn

The Gros Morne Inn is setting the bar high for eco-conscious hospitality. As a certified GreenStep Gold business, the inn has demonstrated a deep commitment to sustainability—minimizing its environmental footprint while providing an exceptional guest experience. Discover how the team is leading the way in responsible tourism:

Why is sustainability important to you/your business?

Sustainability is at the core of Gros Morne Inn, which adheres to a circular business model by composting of unused foods, transitioning towards electric and hybrid vehicles, eliminating the use of single-use plastics, and utilizing renewable energy sources like solar and hydroelectricity.

These combined efforts resulted in Gros Morne Inn being named as one of the top 20 Eco-lodges of the world in 2022.

Through our partnership with the Atlantic Healthy Oceans Initiative (AHOI), our restaurant, Taste, has become one of the only Ocean Wise Certified Seafood Partners in the province.

Our goal is to work towards net zero emissions for all our operations and tours.

Why did you join Sustainable Tourism?

We know the importance of having a circular business model that allows for minimal impact on the physical and social wellbeing of the land and communities that surround us. The well travelled visitors to our area expect to experience a national park without impacting the environment in a negative way and our experience allows for this kind leave no tracks travel and I some ways leaving a place better then when you arrived. Our market demands it and we need to meet the vision of future visitors.

What sustainability related projects, policies or initiatives do you most want travellers to know about?

We are built Eco-Friendly.

The Inn was renovated with natural materials and as much as possible was repurposed from the original structure. To avoid synthetic materials, the new floors are maple hardwood instead of laminate, and the bathrooms have ceramic tiles instead of vinyl as well as low flow toilets. All bedding is made of 100% organic materials including cotton and down. Furniture has been upcycled with a fresh layer of paint, and light fixtures are supplied with energy efficient bulbs. While propane is on demand for the lobby fireplace and kitchen, other energy comes from hydropower and more efficient heat pumps.

What are some goals and/or actions you plan to take in the future to further increase the sustainability of your business?

We look to additional ways to work with local artists to showcase more creative ideas at the inn and find ways to support them in a meaningful way.

Additionally we are working on what a solar power plant would look like for our needs and how to build it without creating future waste concerns.

Meanwhile we work with the local community to encourage the use of our large capacity composting system, which allows locals to drop off organic material to go in our commercial digester to create soil for the locals gardens.

Every year we look for a new project to keep us moving forward in our sustainability goals.