'DOING OUR BIT to save the planet'

WITH THE PLANET FILLING UP WITH TOXIC WASTE AND OUR ECOSYSTEM SLOWLY DYING, THESE WOMEN HAVE MADE THE DECISION TO LIVE MORE CONSCIOUSLY

- NOLWAZI DHLAMINI

GREEN LIVING

Debbie Nortje and her husband, Marc, run a serene holiday villa that’s both eco-friendly and luxurious

Having been in the hospitality industry for most of her 24-year career, taking this next step in her life felt natural to Debbie, an events manager and trained chef who’s also worked as an overland tour guide for Cape Town-to-Rwanda trips. (Talk about a Jill-of-all-trades!).

‘I ran a lodge on the Breede River for two years before heading up the events division at a marketing and events agency for 18 years,’ she says. Her experience with people, travel, and culture fuelled the conception of Treedom Villas & Vardos Wilderness. ‘I was inspired by Pete Nelson from Treehouse Masters and his passion for living up in the trees. Since then, our dream has been to live in a forest and be elevated among the trees too.’ Marc, who spent 22 years in the film industry working with colorful people doing logistics, operations and problem-solving, brings in much-needed experience for this kind of business. Together their skills and outgoing personalities were all training for Treedom and the life they wanted.

‘After leaving Cape Town and making the decision to purchase land and build this dream, we also wanted to be as self-sustainable as possible and have a complete change of lifestyle. This new way of living included eating organic food grown on our own land and reducing our contribution to landfills,’ the couple explains.

So the construction of the Wilderness, Western Cape villa, as well as the Nortjes’ home right next door, included facilities that would make the place more environmentally friendly. They installed four tank water purification systems, so they’re able to recycle used water for their gardens, in addition to the water harvesting tanks on the premises.