Going Green
Protecting the Environment is a Top Priority
At the Camden Maine Stay Inn, we are quite concerned with the adverse effects of pollution on our environment. While much press is devoted to climate change and plastics in our water, there are many other insidious ways in which people cause harm to the environment on a gradual, daily basis. We believe it is our societal duty to seek out ways to protect the environment, particularly by reducing our usage of natural resources, decreasing the waste that we generate, and minimizing our greenhouse gas emissions.
With these environmental goals in mind, we recently have implemented several green initiatives at the Inn, including the following:
- Heating and Air Conditioning – We installed energy-efficient, mini-split electric heat pumps throughout the Inn to provide both heating and air conditioning for the comfort of our guests. The heat pumps allow us to reduce our consumption of heating oil and propane during the cooler months and eliminate our reliance on inefficient, noisy room air conditioners during the warmer months.
- Water Bottles – We eliminated a major source of pollution by replacing single-use, plastic water bottles in our guest rooms with refillable, reusable glass bottles.
- Recycling – We recycle substantially all plastic, metal and paper used at the Inn, thus avoiding the need to incinerate or dispose of these products.
- Food Waste – We pay close attention to our guests’ breakfast appetites in order to provide them with only the desired amount of food. We also divert practically all of our food waste from the town’s landfill through our participation in a community-based composting program.
- Bath Linens – We give our guests the option to reuse their bathroom towels, washcloths and mats for multiple days, thereby lessening the need to launder these items on a daily basis and consequently decreasing our energy, water and chemical consumption.
- Light Bulbs – We are transitioning our indoor and outdoor lights from incandescent and fluorescent bulbs to LED bulbs which use significantly less electricity and last much longer.
- Appliances – We removed individual coffee makers from our guest rooms, and have not deployed individual mini-refrigerators in these rooms, instead opting for a single communal coffee maker and refrigerator in the Inn’s open kitchen, all with the objective of reducing our electricity usage and plastic waste.
- Food Sourcing – We purchase various foods (including coffee, fruit, eggs, sausage and maple syrup) from local suppliers whenever practicable, thereby reducing transportation-related energy costs as well as supporting local, employee-owned and family-owned businesses in coastal Maine. We also maintain an organic herb and vegetable garden in our yard to reduce our reliance on outside food suppliers and to have a more sustainable supply of fresher, tastier food ingredients.
- Tesla Charging Station – We have partnered with Tesla Motors to allow the Inn’s guests to charge their Tesla electric cars at our destination charging station. Our destination charger provides up to 13 kW (kilowatts) of electricity and is essentially the same as a home charger.
- Road Salt – During the winter, we no longer use road salt to melt snow and ice on our driveway and sidewalks, thus eliminating a common form of ground, surface water and groundwater pollution.
- Paperless Communications – We reduce our paper usage and carbon emissions and streamline the guest experience by sending reservation confirmations, reminders, receipts and other communications to our guests by email.
By taking these and other green initiatives, we hope to minimize the Inn’s impact on the environment without compromising our guests’ vacation experiences. Indeed, our guests appear to support the actions we have taken to protect the environment, and they feel good about their role in this meaningful effort. There is a common recognition that every step taken to protect the environment counts and, in fact, is crucial.