Eco-Friendly Casa Laguna

Early on, the owners of the Casa Laguna recognized the importance of consuming less, recycling and reusing more and preserving the special environment the hotel occupies. The Casa Laguna was the first hotel in Laguna Beach to join the Green Hotel Association of America.

The hotel was one of the first of its size in California to offer guests the option of an e-mail confirmation in lieu of a paper based one. There was an immediate conversion to more than 75% paperless confirmations when we introduced them in July 2003. Since then, steady progress has gotten Casa Laguna to more than 98% paperless confirmations for the past six months.

We have been active members of the Slow Foods movement since 2002. The movement is dedicated to the utilization of fresh, local (requiring less transportation), organic (requiring less water and pesticides), ingredients. Many of the vegetables and herbs used in the breakfast prepared at Casa Laguna are grown on property. A majority of the remaining ingredients used come from around Laguna Beach.

The Inn is actively engaged in an Energy Efficiency Program with the help of Southern California Edison reviewing all aspects of our operations, from how we clean the pool, to how we make reservations, to how we store food & beverage supplies.

Other areas in which we have made progress toward becoming the most earth-caring hotel in California include:

• In areas of new construction we have used recycled and/or sustainable materials where ever possible
• We replaced all windows with double paned, argon filled windows for insulation
• We have blown insulation into all walls, ceilings and floors
• Casa Laguna was the first hotel in Laguna Beach to comprehensively replace old lighting technology with compact fluorescent bulbs in 2003.
  
• We were the first hotel in Southern California to introduce a Staber, water-saving washing machine into our laundry processing.
• We use low flow showerheads and sink aerators
• We were the first hotel in Laguna Beach (and maybe Orange County) to introduce ‘on demand’ water heating systems for our rooms
  
• All our bedding and spa linens are made from 100% sustainable bamboo.
• We are transitioning to a line of all organic spa products
• We joined a program called “Rise Above Plastics” published by the Surfrider Foundation. We have also committed to eliminating the use of plastics in our food and beverage operations.
• The hotel has also made a concerted effort to reduce and eliminate the use of non-biodegradable detergents in laundry, room cleaning and food & beverage sanitation