Eco-Friendly Practices at River Ridge Lodge

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At River Ridge Lodge, we are all about embracing sustainable practices that reduce our impact on the environment. We take proactive steps whenever possible toward reducing natural resource consumption without sacrificing an exceptional guest experience for you! 

Our journey is ongoing, and your ideas are always welcome - let us know how you think we can be even more eco-friendly! Here's a snapshot of what else we're already working towards reducing natural resource use to provide green lodging experiences.

Energy:

• Installed 32 solar panels (10kW system) on our barn, which now generates more electricity than we use
• Installed heat pumps to decrease the use of the oil furnace and to replace the mobile ACs in the guest rooms
• Improved the insulation of the house to save energy
• Almost all landscape lighting is solar-powered

Appliances: 

• All appliances are energy-efficient (Energy Star)
• Low-flow toilets and low-flow showerheads in all bathrooms
• Energy-efficient light bulbs are used throughout the house, barn and bunkie
• Upgraded the furnace to a computer-optimized  more energy-efficient Boderus furnace

Materials/Supplies: 

• Use of  non-toxic natural wood preservation products on the barn exterior 
• Reuse and/or recycle as much material as possible during our extensive renovations
• All bathroom amenities are eco-friendly
• Guest rooms are equipped with glass carafes instead of plastic water bottles to avoid waste
• Installed a water treatment system to decrease acidity to extend the life of pipes and appliances
• Use of only ecological cleaning products or vinegar and baking soda; only non-toxic cleaning products are used
• No use of air fresheners with chemical scents 
• All wall paint used is Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) free or very low VOC
• Use of eco-friendly laundry soap
• Use of mostly organic cotton sheets

Practices: 

• We send an online breakfast order form to guests who choose to add breakfast to avoid food waste
• Using indoor drying racks instead of a conventional dryer as much as possible
• On-site recycling of all paper, plastic, glass and metal; egg cartons are given to farmers to re-use
• Composting all left-over food and biodegradable materials
• Source organic, local and fair-trade food as much as possible
• Drinking water is treated with a reverse osmosis filter and UV light rather than chemicals or buying drinking water
• Encouraging guests to reuse towels and sheets
• Recycling of all batteries and light bulbs 
• Combine trips as much as possible to reduce vehicle kilometres travelled
• Promoting bicycling into town by providing complimentary guest bikes
• Guest rooms are equipped with blue recycling boxes and sorting of garbage to recycle as much as possible
• Encouraging the bee population by avoiding mowing some of the fields to let wildflowers grow; not using pesticides, and creating bee habitats by creating piles of branches 
• We added beehives in 2020
• Use digital registrations and email receipts instead of printing physical copies