Green boat gets an award to prove it

Wanganui's Spirit of the River Jet is as green as a jetboat business can be and has received an award to recognise that.
Spirit of the River Jet operates on the whole length of the Whanganui River, taking cultural tours to the Bridge to Nowhere, The Flying Fox and to various marae. It's owned and operated by Claire and Brent Firmin.
It has received a Qualmark Enviro-Silver Award. Mrs Firmin said that was the highest environmental award a jetboating business could get. They're not eligible for the gold award because of the way the boats chew through petrol.
Mrs Firmin said their boats used low octane fuel and were regularly tested for emissions.
The boat only went out when it had a full complement of guests, and was not run in harsh conditions when it would need more fuel.
Visitors can choose to plant a tree to offset the carbon emitted by the fuel the boat burns. The Firmins are developing a wetland at their lifestyle block near Lismore Forest, where the trees can be planted. Their GPS location can then be pinpointed and they can be monitored online through Google Maps.
The Firmins also make sure clients keep to tracks, don't light fires and take away their own rubbish as well as any other litter they may find.
Mrs Firmin provides them with homemade food, with some of the meat and vegetables from their own land and her husband's hunting, and as much as possible from local growers and shops. The cups and plates that clients use are washed and reused.
They work with local marae to host visitors, and get them to experience hangi and help plant trees. All the trips are guided by tangata whenua and the family has connections with Pungarehu Marae.
Their tours can be for just a few hours, or overnight, and use either kayaks or jetboat. Ned Tapa helps out with the canoe tours.
"Because we are a small operation we have to be flexible and work with others," Mrs Firmin said.
Their busy season runs from October to April. There were fewer employee groups this year, but plenty of New Zealand and Australian visitors.
Spirit of the River Jet was ranked the best New Zealand jetboat business on the rankers.co.nz website in both of the last two years.
Qualmark is New Zealand tourism's official mark of quality, and 700 businesses have achieved Enviro Award status so far.