In the midst of South Africa’s worst drought in more than two decades, water conservation is on everyone’s mind in the city of Cape Town; you can do your part to help conserve this limited resource by reusing the towels in your hotel, turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth and minimizing the length of showers. 

In a city like Cape Town, there are tons of dining options, but why not make your meal count by feasting on fare that’s locally grown. The CGF promotes healthy eating options on-site at the global summit. Additionally, find out more about the sustainability of the seafood you’d like to eat by referencing the SASSI List (South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative) and remember to satisfy your appetite by eating green.

The Westin Hotel in Cape Town lets guest opt into their Make a Green Choice (MAGC) sustainability program that helps the hotel reduce its environmental footprint. Any guest at a participating Starwood property can MAGC by foregoing full housekeeping for up to three days in a row (excluding their check-out day).

For each night a guest opts into MAGC, they save up to 49.2 gallons of water, 0.19 kWh of electricity, 25,000 BTU of natural gas per night (may vary by brand and region).

Southern Sun The Cullinan Hotel has made a commitment to introduce environment initiatives to reduce their impact on the environment and to encourage employees, guests and local communities to embrace greener behaviour for the well-being of the planet. They partner with Generation Earth to support local youth by developing green thinkers who are tomorrow’s global leaders.

You can save on fossil fuels by using an eco-friendly solution like The Green Cab to get from point A to point B. The Green Cab offers leisure tours, point-to-point transfers (pre-booking is essential) and transit options for business travelers and corporate clients. All of the company’s cabs use fuel polishers that clean up the diesel and thereby reduce the release of pollutants, and the enterprise counterbalances any residual carbon generated by planting trees.

Striving for a more sustainable consumer goods industry is one of the primary objectives of the Consumer Goods Forum. On the occasion of the 60th Global Summit, the Green Event Guidelines have been implemented to make this and future summits more sustainable. See sustainability at work during the conference through the use of sustainable products, conservative energy use, waste reduction and management, and an overall healthy approach.

To counterbalance your carbon footprint while in the Cape, volunteer at environmental social enterprise Greenpop and plant trees in under-greened communities for a day (it’s possible to gift a tree, too).

We’d be remiss if we didn’t recommend the CGF-sponsored winelands excursion to the historic town of Stellenbosch. Sustainable practices of local vineyards boost the appeal of South African wines.

Nederburg Wine Estate: Recognised as one the world’s five major wine actions, the Nederburg Auction is the industry platform of choice for buying South Africa’s most rare and sought-after wines and it’s sustainable.

Boschendal Wine Estate: The key to their conservation commitment is the preservation and restoration of the environment through biological farming practices that enrich the soil and promote a habitat of biodiversity both in the vineyards and surrounding vegetation.