Earth Friendly Focus at Cedar House Inn & Yurts, Dahlonega, Georgia

Protecting The Earth

Eco/Earth Friendly, Green Lodging

We are sensitive to the Earth we call home and the utilization and conservation of our natural resources. We offer an alternative that has less impact on the Earth's resources than other types of lodging while maintaining a comfortable environment.

We feel that the Earth's resources are finite and all human beings should conserve them. Our water and air are the most obvious examples of resources that mankind has chosen to not care for. Clean water is becoming scarcer in many parts of the world and the air we breathe is becoming more contaminated with automobile exhaust and pollution created by manufacturing processes.

What have we done to preserve the earth's resources?

At the Cedar House Inn we are sensitive to the Earth we call home and the utilization of our natural resources. We strive to offer guests a lodging alternative that has less impact on the earth's resources.

Inn Design

The inn is designed using passive solar principles. The structure faces south to capture the sun's warmth with most windows located on the southern, eastern and western exposures. Larger than normal roof overhangs allow winter sunlight to reach inside the home and summer sun to be deflected. Quarry tile floors in the living room collect the winter sun's heat thereby reducing the need for conventional heating in the day time hours. An airtight wood stove in the living room helps in heating the inn during evening hours. We use only standing dead wood and newly fallen trees for our cord wood. Framing lumber for the inn was purchased from local saw mills.

Structures' Footprint

The yurts are built on decks elevated off the ground to minimize the footprint on the earth. Typical homes on concrete foundations disrupt the ground. The yurts also are fully insulated to reduce heating and cooling demands. When remodeling to add two guest rooms with private baths and the bath house, we stayed within the original footprint of the house and patio minimizing impact on the environment.

Wildlife/Landscaping

Prior to our purchasing the property all trees and shrubbery near the house had been removed for unknown reasons. We have planted over a hundred fast growing deciduous and evergreen trees and bushes to provide shade and to create a more favorable habitat for birds and wildlife. We will continue adding trees over time. The property is certified by the National Wildlife Federation as a "Backyard Wildlife Habitat". We have provided food, water and shelter for birds and wildlife.

Studies show that trees can produce savings of more than 50% in air conditioning use & associated energy costs & as much as 17% of heating bills. National Arbor Day Foundation

Our lawn is considered a "Freedom Lawn" where weeds and clover are allowed to grow with the various grasses. This eliminates the need for watering, fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides. Most homes have "Industrial Lawns" that require frequent fertilizing, pest control, weed control and watering which impacts the eco system in a negative way. (from the book by Herbert Bormann, "Redesigning the American Lawn", Yale University Press, 1993). We hope to incorporate wildflower/native plant areas in the future to reduce mowing and maintenance.

Energy & Water Conservation

In the rooms and yurts we have added low wattage fluorescent lights to lower electricity

The average Georgian uses 25% more electricity in their home than the national average. And more than 97% of the electricity generated in the state comes from non-renewable sources of energy.

consumption and limit the need for more power generated by electric generation plants that may use fossil fuels. The new lights also generate less heat than incandescent bulbs making cooling easier during the warmer months. Each light switch plate has "turn off the light" stickers to remind guests to conserve.

The baseboard heaters in the rooms, yurts and bath house use a silicone fluid to heat the area saving electricity in the process of generating heat. The portable air conditioners in

If every American home replaced just 5 high-use incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents, each family would save more than $60 every year in energy costs. Together we'd keep more than one trillion pounds of greenhouse gases out of our air – equal to the emissions of 8 million cars. That's a $6 billion energy savings for Americans, equivalent to the annual output of more than 21 power plants. Energy Star

the yurts have an EER (Energy Efficiency Rating) higher than 12 which is considered good.

The shower heads in the bathrooms are "low flow" and use only 1.5 gallons per minute. They provide a more comfortable and stimulating shower than conventional "low flow" heads by adding oxygen to the water. Aerators (1.5 gpm) are also installed on all sinks to conserve water.

We wash bed and bath linens with an EnergyStar rated washer, Fisher & Paykel Ecosmart model. During good weather a clothes line is used to dry guest linens. Sunshine serves as a great earth friendly bleach for whitening towels.

In the inn, storm windows have also been added to all windows and ceiling fans in every room to reduce heating and cooling needs. Caulking has been performed to minimize outside air filtration.

Low flow toilets & showerheads can save the average household about 30 gallons of water/day. the book "One Makes a Difference" by Julia Butterfly Hill

Both hot water heaters are propane and have been wrapped in blankets to hold heat longer.

In the future we hope to add solar hot water heating systems and solar electric.

Composting Toilets

The yurts have composting toilets that require no water. Ninety per cent of the waste that goes into a traditional toilet is liquid and ends up in a septic system or sewage treatment plant with the possibility of contaminating the water that we all eventually drink. The composting toilets evaporate the liquids and create a usable compost at the end of the composting process. Composting toilets also do not require a septic system that often requires the destruction of trees and vegetation for drain fields.

Greywater Systems

We would have a greywater system for the property but it is illegal under Georgia codes. It's unfortunate that Georgia has chosen to outlaw greywater systems since they not only preserve the groundwater (that we all drink) but also give a source of water for irrigation of plants. Summer water restrictions could be eliminated if homeowners could water their lawns with greywater from their showers, sinks, dishwashers and clothes washing machines.

We do use a bucket in our personal shower to catch the colder water before it turns warm to keep it from going down the shower drain. We use the water for watering houseplants or flushing the toilet in our bathroom.

Office Supplies

We use copy paper that has recycled content. We also recycle our printer cartridges. We do not print brochures in order to save trees. We place shredded paper from mail and documents in our garden composter.

Recycling, Composting & Gardening

Recycling bins are located in each room and yurt.

Americans dispose of 810,000 aluminum cans/year. If they were recycled 730 million gallons of oil would be saved by not making new cans from scratch. Sierra Club

We make a frequent trips to our local recycling center for bottles, cans, plastics and paper.

Paper napkins guests use at breakfast, paper towels and toilet paper are made from recycled paper to conserve trees.

We have started using reusable grocery bags on many trips to the grocery store. Sometimes we forget to bring them and resuse the plastic bags as trash can liners.

Cooked food waste is disposed in our solar food composter. Garden, vegetable scraps are composted in our Sun Mar Garden Composter. Our small vegetable garden uses biointensive techniques to minimize the need for weeding and insect control. Herbs from the garden provide seasoning. We hope that the garden increases in size over time to provide more of the ingredients needed for breakfast. In the meantime, wild blackberries already add sweetness to summer meals.

If every household in the U.S. replaced just 1 roll of virgin toilet paper with just 1 recycled roll 424,000 trees would be saved. Kleercut.net

Housekeeping Methods

Earth friendly cleaning products are used to

The average home contains 25 gallons of hazardous chemicals - a major portion of these can be found in household cleaning products. Deirdre Imus

clean the inn and do the laundry. Laundry and dishwashing detergent is from Trader Joe's. We make most of our own cleaning products (see some recipes below).

Plastic grocery bags are recycled for trash can liners as previously noted.

Soap and shampoo dispensers reduce waste in guest bathrooms (no little plastic bottles or unused soap bars to throw away).

Our Favorite Natural Cleaner Recipes

ALL PURPOSE CLEANER:

1 qt. Warm water, 1 tsp. Liquid soap, 1 tsp. Borax

¼ Cup undiluted white vinegar. Mix ingredients and store in a spray bottle. Use for cleaning countertops, floors, walls, carpets and upholstery. *We use this for windows too.

SCRUBBING POWDER (for grimy stoves, countertops, pans, and showers):

Baking Soda, Vinegar or Lemon Juice. Punch holes in a jar lid for sprinkling baking soda from jar. Sprinkle baking soda on grime and then sprinkle with vinegar or Lemon Juice. It makes a volcano just like your5th grade science project!

FURNITURE POLISH:

Mix one part lemon juice to two parts vegetable oil. Then add water (2 to 4 parts) and a few drops of lemon oil for fragrance. Shake before using.

* The original recipe called for just lemon juice and oil. This caused a build up problem after a few dusting. Adding the water takes care of that problem and makes the polish work well on Formica countertops, and many other hard surfaces.

What can you do as a guest?

As a guest we want you to be as comfortable as possible and enjoy yourself.

© 2007, Cedar House Inn. All rights reserved Photos by Zahora Photography

resources.

Turn off lights when leaving your room, yurt or bath house. If in a yurt turn off or turn up the thermostat on your air conditioner while you are out for a few hours or for the day. In the cooler months turn off or turn down the thermostat on your heater before leaving the rooms and yurts.

In a yurt keep the astrofoil window covers over the windows in cold weather to maintain the warmth created by the heaters.

Bed and bath linens are not changed on a daily basis to conserve water. If you need linens please let us know. Also hang towels after bathing and we will dry them on the clothes line (weather permitting).

Please use recycling bins for plastic, cans, glass and paper that tears.

Your participation is greatly appreciated.

At your own home consider the " 5 R's, Rethink your purchases, discover your consumer power; Respect life; Reduce the amount you purchase; ReUse what you already have; Recycle to save energy and water (keep paper glass, plastic and aluminum out of overflowing landfills)". from the book "One Makes a Difference" by Julia Butterfly Hill

Thanks for helping us conserve and preserve our natural resources.

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