Environmentally friendly
lodging in Freeport, Maine
What does 'Environmentally
Friendly Lodging' mean?
For us at White Cedar Inn it means a commitment
to reduce our footprint on the Earth. We are the first B&B in Freeport to be awarded the Environmental Leadership
Certificate in Green Lodging by the State of Maine. To achieve
this certificate we needed to review the processes surrounding our running of
the Inn and to choose the best practices we could to reduce our impact on the
environment.
What 'best practices' did we focus
on?
We chose to focus our initial efforts on:
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Water consumption
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Electricity consumption
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Trash reduction
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Fuel Oil consumption
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Cleaning supplies and
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Allergen reduction
Because we are a
small B&B we do not have the large electricity or water consumption problems of
a major hotel, so we chose to focus on areas that everyone could do at home. In
that way, using our Inn as a model for all of our guests.
Water: What we did-
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Installed a low water usage
washing machine.
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Repaired all toilets and leaking
faucets.
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Replaces showerheads with
adjustable low flow models.
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Lawns and gardens are not
watered. Only window boxes and new plantings are watered.
Water savings in 2007 were 10,472
gallons.
Electricity: What we did-
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Switched 50% of the inn's light
bulbs to CFL's. This is an ongoing project.
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Put all office equipment
possible on power strips that are turned off at night.
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Put high electricity usage
equipment (coffee maker, parking lights) on timers.
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Added an old fashioned,
non-portable phone to the front desk for guest use. (Non-portable phones do
not require electricity to run, they run off the line voltage from the phone
company. Thus, they work even during a power-outage.)
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Switched our linens from all
cotton to poly-cotton which reduces ironing.
Due to record occupancy rates last year, we held steady on the electricity consumption, rather than having an increase as would have been expected.
Trash: What we did-
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Recycling. Something easy to do
most anywhere. We
will recycle your shoe boxes, shopping bags, beverage containers,
newspapers, and whatever the transfer station will take!
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Compost. Starting this spring we
will begin composting where possible. This includes fruit and vegetable
parings and yard wastes.
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Bottle redemption- Maine is one
of the only states that allows all beverage containers excepting milk and
juice boxes to be redeemed for cash. This wasn't our idea but we take full
advantage of it!
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Building supplies are recycled
to the ReStore, Habitat for Humanity's recycle center. We've taken light
fixtures, cabinet knobs and 2 dorm-size refrigerators to them this year.
What we saved: We
have gone from having trash pickup of 2-50 gallon trash bins once per week to
having the trash picked up only twice per month. Which basically means we are
now recycling 50% of what was formerly tossed in the landfill.
Fuel Oil: What we did-
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Each room has its own thermostat so the entire building is
not heated for one guest room.
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Each room has toasty warm duvets so the heat can be turned
down at night.
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We do not pre-heat rooms for you. It takes about 10 minutes
to get the room up to 'room temperature' once you arrive.
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We ask that you turn the heat down to 60 degrees when
leaving for more than an hour.
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Common areas thermostats are set at 60 degrees after 11 PM.
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Added adjustable flow showerheads.
What we saved: Again due to record occupancy, the fuel oil consumption held
steady, rather than rising.
A project we are researching is 'on demand'
hot water for showers and sinks to eliminate the constant reheating of water in
the water tanks.
Cleaning:
We make a conscious effort to
buy cleaning supplies which are non toxic.
Linens: What we did-
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We use a combination of cotton and poly-cotton for the
bedding to eliminate the use of petrochemicals in cleaning.
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Quilts, duvets, mattress covers and blankets are washed regularly in hot
water to reduce dust mites and allergens.
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We eliminated the use of fabric softeners which many people
now find contain skin and eye irritants.
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Table linens are cotton or linen.
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Bed linens (sheets and pillowcases) are not changed everyday
of your stay.
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Towels are changed every other day of your stay unless you
request otherwise.
We recycle all old, clean linens to local homeless
shelters. This includes quilts, blankets, sheets and towels. We also donate the
older mattresses to the same shelters.
We are continually looking for more ways to save energy and reduce waste. We
hope these few items give you some food for thought on what you can do around
your own house!
Concerned about traveling and carbon emissions? We know lots of guests
(and ourselves included) are not really sold on carbon offsets. But we do have
some suggestions for 'off setting' your trip to Maine this year:
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Walk or bike to work or school covering the distance you
will drive to Maine and home again.
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Do you drive your kids 100 feet to the bus stop and then sit
idling your car? Let the kids walk! It burns calories for them and saves you
money.
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Do your teenagers (all 5 of them!) drive themselves to
school each in their own car? Is there a big yellow school bus driving the
same route to school past your house? You know where I'm going with this...
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Plan your trips in the car. Just like a grocery list helps
you save money, a 'driving plan' will cut down on wear and tear on the car
and your nerves!
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If public transportation exists in your area, use it. If it
doesn't exist, find out why.
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Get rid of the gas-powered/electric weed whacker, leaf
blower, lawn mower. Get the kids outside with a rake!
Find out more about other businesses which have been awarded this certificate and the requirements to obtain it at the
state website.
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