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Earth-Friendly in the Great Land
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Your Hosts: Wray & Cindy Kinard
Email:
info@castlealaska.com
Telephone: 907-345-7296
Anchorage Alaska Bed and Breakfast - Alaska's North Country Castle B & B
14600 Joanne Court • P.O. Box 111876 Anchorage, Alaska 99511
| Earth Friendly Action Areas* | What We Do |
Description |
|
|
|
|
Yes! |
Florescent bulbs for indoor lights used over 1 hour a day |
| NA |
LED bulbs for lights used over 4 hours a day (as available) |
||
| Yes! |
Timers/Light/Motion sensors for outdoor lights |
||
| SOON |
Easy turn-off switch for always-on remote-controlled fixtures (TV, DVD player, etc.) |
||
| Yes! |
Space heating with gas |
||
| Yes! |
Water heating with gas |
||
| Yes! |
Cooking with gas |
||
| Yes! |
Microwave oven with infra-red/moisture sensor |
||
| Yes! |
Clothes drying with gas |
||
| NA |
Renewable electricity (wind, solar) |
||
| Yes! |
Energy star Refrigerator/Freezer |
||
|
|
SOON |
High efficiency heating equipment (92+% efficient) |
|
| NA |
High efficiency (75-90% efficient) wood stove |
||
| SOON |
Boiler-mate hot water heater |
||
| NA |
Solar hot water collector |
||
| Yes! |
Extra-insulated water heater(s) |
||
| Yes! |
Energy star clothes washer |
||
| Yes! |
Energy star dishwasher |
||
| Yes! |
Clothes dryer with moisture sensor |
||
| Yes! |
Clothes dryer freqent lint removal |
||
| Yes! |
Clothes drying on indoor racks/outdoor lines |
||
| Yes! |
Heating thermostats set to 65 degrees or lower |
||
| NA |
Programmable thermostats |
||
| Yes! |
In-floor radiant heat |
||
| Yes! |
Weatherized, or blower-tested doors and windows |
||
| Yes! |
Low-e or triple-glazed windows |
||
| Yes! |
Insulated foundation and basement walls (R-10 or more) |
||
| Yes! |
6-inch wall construction/fiberglass insulation |
||
| SOON |
Super insulated ceilings (R-40+ attics) |
||
| NA |
Heat exchanger |
||
| NA |
Convection oven |
||
| SOON |
Low-flow shower heads |
||
| Yes! |
Maximize south, east, & west facing windows for solar gain—90+% of window area |
||
| Yes! |
Minimize north facing windows—less than 15% of window area |
||
|
|
Yes! |
Minimize lawn area –no lawn |
|
| Yes! |
Minimize driveway/off-road parking (unvegetated)--Less than 10% of lot area |
||
| NA |
Radiant heated driveway/parking surface |
||
| Yes! |
Minimize trimmed hedges—None! |
||
| Yes! |
Manual leaf removal |
||
|
|
|
Yes! |
Fuel efficient cars (20 MPG or more) |
| Not Yet |
Hybrid car (35 MPG or more) |
||
| Yes! |
Low business mileage— <5000 miles per year |
||
| Yes! |
No roof-top gear/racks |
||
| NA |
Walking to shopping |
||
| Yes! |
55 MPH top highway speed |
||
|
|
Yes! |
Fuel efficient cars (20 MPG or more) (concierge rentals) |
|
| Yes! |
Hybrid cars (30 MPG or more) (concierge rentals) |
||
| Yes! |
Tire pressure check offering |
||
| Yes! |
On-site/walkable activities/eating |
||
| NA |
Bicycle offering |
||
| NA |
Bus route offering |
||
|
|
|
Yes! |
Bulk buying |
| Yes! |
Reuseable shopping bags/storage containers |
||
| Yes! |
Concentrated ingredients |
||
| Yes! |
Cloth vs paper napkins, towels, etc. |
||
| Yes! |
Unlined waste baskets/reused liners |
||
| Yes! |
Reusable eating utensils, bathroom glasses, plastic bottles |
||
|
|
Yes! |
Bags--plastic & paper shopping bags, etc. |
|
| Yes! |
Cardboard boxes |
||
| NA |
Grey water |
||
| Yes! |
Copy paper—print on back side of used paper, use for note paper, etc. |
||
| Yes! |
Use recycled paper goods—100% |
||
|
|
RECYCLE: | ||
| Yes! |
--Newspaper |
||
| Yes! |
--Mixed paper and flat cardboard |
||
| Yes! |
--Glass |
||
| Yes! |
--Plastic bags |
||
| Yes! |
--Plastic bottles |
||
| Yes! |
--Corrugated cardboard |
||
| Yes! | |||
| COMPOST: | |||
| Yes! |
--Yard waste—weeds, leaves |
||
| Yes! |
--Kitchen scraps-veggie & fruit trimmings, paper towels, etc. |
||
|
|
|
Locally produced=LP, Organic=O, Wild=W |
|
| O,W |
--Fruits/juices |
||
| O, LP |
--Veggies |
||
| W |
--Meats |
||
| O, LP |
--Breads, baking products |
||
| O, LP |
--Dairy (milk, cheese, butter, eggs) |
||
|
|
Recycled=R, Locally produced=LP, Organic= O, Non-petroleum content= NP |
||
| NP |
--Linens—towels, sheets, robes, napkins |
||
| R |
--Paper products—towels, TP, printer paper, bags |
||
| R |
--Plastic products—bags, eating utensils |
||
| NP |
--Carpet |
||
| NP |
--Hard flooring |
||
| O, LP, W |
Landscape elements—trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, paving, decking |
||
|
|
|
Yes! |
Use organic soil amendments –Fertilizers, minerals, etc.—and use on-site compost |
| Yes! |
Use no pesticides or only bio-friendly ones (such as Safer Soap brand) |
||
| Yes! |
Use no herbicides. |
||
|
|
Yes! |
Use native and/or adapted plant species to lower watering needs |
|
| Yes! |
Use leaker hoses and drip irrigation systems |
||
| Yes! |
Preserve and maintain original/native vegetation on site |
||
| SOON |
Create “rain gardens” to capture roof & paving run-off on-site |
||
|
|
 |
Yes! |
Work to inform B&B Association members of need and methods for eco-friendliness |
| Yes! |
Encourage B&B Association members to become more eco-friendly & create eco-search option for prospective guests on Association sites |
||
|
|
Yes! |
Inform Guests of ways B&B is eco-friendly, how Alaska has been changed by global warming |
|
| Yes! |
Offer Guests on-site eco-opportunities—linen reuse, recycling |
||
| SOON |
Offer carbon off-set certificates to Guests |
||
| Yes! |
Concierge for Guests for eco-friendly tours, activities, & educational venues |
||
|
|
Yes! |
Work with/help educate church community as Good Stewards of the Earth |
|
| Yes! |
Donate used linens, excess soap, shampoo, furniture, etc., to homeless shelters, etc. |
||
| Yes! |
Work in & donate to larger organizations with eco-friendly purposes—Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Bioneers, Oxfam, Habitat, Heiffer, etc. |
||
|
* --Almost every choice of actions we make will affect energy use, carbon footprint, and pollution impacts. |
|||
With Cindy’s profession of Landscape Architect and her work as an Environmental Specialist, Wray & Cindy have always been tuned into earth-friendly actions:
• Installing their lawn-free/native low-water landscape
• Building an energy efficient, solar-friendly home
• Encouraging sustainable landscapes in Anchorage government & commercial
projects
• Driving energy efficient cars
• Re-cycling
More recently we’ve joined www.Bioneers.com and have learned many more ways in which each of us can contribute to Green Earth Stewardship. We have read books like Paul Hawken’s Natural Capitalism and Blessed Unrest, and Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire and Omnivore’s Dilemma to help us take additional eco-friendly steps.
We are working to become more energy efficient, recycling many more types of material, incorporating more natural materials into our home, providing guests and ourselves with locally grown and organic foods when available, and encouraging our guests to enjoy eco-friendly tourism (and save money!) while they enjoy the great scenic beauty of Alaska.
We hope our small efforts will combine with those of others to save Alaska, the “Great Land”, for our guests and their children’s children to enjoy for all of time.
To help enlarge the impact of our eco-efforts, we have joined with others in the Anchorage and the Alaska Bed Breakfast Associations to inform and encourage all Alaska B&Bs to become better Green Earth Stewards.
Please scroll on down to see the details of our efforts so far!
A Journey toward Eco-Friendliness
Featured In:
•
Inn Traveler Magazine
June, 2006
•
Best in Alaska, 2004, Inn Traveler Magazine
•
Arrington's B&B
Journal, 2003
• Country Magazine
• The Rough Guide to Alaska
• Lanier’s Bed & Breakfasts
• Best Recipes from American
Country Inns and Bed & Breakfasts
•
CharmingCountryInns.com
• Green Eggs & Ham Web Eco-Article
• Trip Advisor