La Costa Resort and Spa Green Initiatives
La Costa Resort and Spa Green Initiatives
Affirming its commitment to bringing a new level of environmental consciousness to San Diego County, La Costa Resort and Spa has earned a certification from Green Seal, which provides science-based environmental certification standards across vast industries. La Costa is the 17th certified hotel in California and the only certified hotel in San Diego.
La Costa saves 180 tons of food waste from the landfill…
In an effort to continue to reduce, reuse and recycle, La Costa has installed two industrial compost machines which turn kitchen scraps into a nutrient-rich compost suitable for use on the golf course and in hotel plant and flower beds.
These compost machines turn 182,000 pounds of food scraps generated in the production kitchen per year into a product that ultimately enhances the beauty of our resort. La Costa is one of the first kitchens in San Diego to install the eCorect Food Waste Decomposition System, which dehydrates food waste to produce a humus-rich soil in approximately 18 hours that is suitable for landscape use. Each day, approximately 40 pounds of compost is produced and given to the grounds keeping team to use around the property. The food waste is heated to 180° F in a decomposing chamber without the use of enzymes, by-product, fresh water or venting, resulting in zero sewer and landfill impact. These machines are stainless steel, stand-alone units, and require very low energy usage.
La Costa is a Leader!
La Costa is one of the longest standing users of reclaimed water in San Diego. We use 2.2 gpm faucets and aerators, 1.6 gpf toilets and 2.5 gpm showerheads and have a plan to replace current fixtures within 2 years. We use plants and trees tolerant to local conditions and natural water available and control time and adhere to location limitations on watering. We set dishwashing equipment on coolest effective setting and fill to capacity and perform preventative maintenance on heating and cooling system, in-room units and kitchen appliances.
This is cool…
The resort features “smart” thermostats in most guest rooms, which saves energy in unoccupied rooms. When equipment is replaced, we upgrade to energy efficient models for office and room equipment, all heating and air conditioning equipment and kitchen equipment. We use energy-efficient lighting, including LED lighting in most public areas. The resort has installed web-based computerized controls on pool and spa heaters to minimize gas use. All golf course equipment uses only biodegradable oil.
La Costa has worked hard to reduce the amount of electricity, gas and water usage on property from past years. In 2010 La Costa’s electric (kilowatts) was down 2.1% from 2009 and 11.7% from 2008, Gas was down 7.0% from 2009 and 13.4% from 2008, Water (golf gallons) were down 11.3% from 2009 and 12.1% from 2008 and Water (resort gallons) were down 8.3% from 2009 and 34.6% from 2008. Through aggressive use of computerized energy management systems, green lighting and staff training, La Costa saved enough electricity in 2008 to power 200 homes.
How are guests and staff involved?
La Costa offers a recycling program for guests and staff, recycling all materials that are accepted locally. All recyclable material including paper, metal and plastics are separated and recycled; bins will be provided in conference areas. La Costa minimizes disposable food service items including dinnerware, cutlery, glasses and napkins are all reusable.
Another day at the office…
La Costa uses environmentally preferable cleaning products. The laundry department recycles 50 to 80 percent of all water. We set printer/copier default on double-sided and avoid single-use products, purchase in bulk, and use concentrated cleaning products. We donate leftover food and minimize disposable foodservice items. We include EPP in dealings with suppliers and consider life-cycle costs in purchasing decisions. We use environmentally preferable paper with the maximum amount of PCR% practical. La Costa uses quality, reparable durable goods and find and use suppliers that take back packaging and pallets. We minimize the use of products with packaging that isn’t reusable or recyclable.
Can we help conference service groups go green?
La Costa Resort and Spa can cater to any of our conference service groups by providing local and/or organic foods at the conference meal functions, if requested by the group to reduce the packaging waste associated with meals, it is possible to serve condiments in large containers (such as sugar in a bowl) rather than in individually-sized packets to reduce a group’s carbon footprint. Groups and guests are able to request not to have their news paper delivered. Sunday papers are by request only.