Eco-Friendly Practices at River Ridge Lodge

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We strive to implement progressive eco-friendly practices. Our goal is to minimize our use of natural resources while still providing an exceptional lodging guest experience at our Mahone Bay Bed and Breakfast. Sustainability is always top of mind for us, in both our professional and personal lives. We realize that going green is a journey and welcome any suggestions our guests have that will enhance our quest to minimize our impact on the environment and become more eco-friendly.  Below is a list of actions we’ve taken to reduce our environmental footprint. 

Energy:

• Installed 32 solar panels (10kW system) on our barn, which now generates more electricity than we use
• Improved the insulation of the house to save energy
• Almost all landscape lighting is solar-powered
• We ordered heat pumps in January 2022 to decrease the use of the oil furnace and to replace the mobile ACs in the guest rooms

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 
• Reused 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
• 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
• Serving as much organic and local food as possible
• Drinking water is treated with 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 kilometers 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 nine beehives in 2020