What makes an Eco-Retreat?
Our land was built and designed with ecologically friendly concepts in mind. Kutira and Raphael are firm believers in living harmoniously with higher beliefs, using the best and cleanest technologies available today.
Solar Panels & Wells
We are “off the grid” because our electricity comes entirely from solar panels. Our water is pumped up from 460-foot wells connected to an underground aquifer.
Bio-Diesel
Sometimes the sky is cloudy for days on end and our solar powered system runs too low. We then run our generator using bio-diesel, which is fuel made from vegetable oil. Bio-diesel is now becoming a popular fuel for diesel cars around the island. Some bio-diesel engines run on specially converted vegetable oil, and some run on filtered cooking oil (think huge vats of french fry oil from the local fast food joint!). Bio-diesel runs much cleaner than petroleum and comes from fast-growing sources such as corn, sunflower, or hemp oil.
Organic Land & Compost
We do not use any agricultural chemicals in maintaining our beautiful grounds. All organic yard and kitchen wastes are disposed in a compost bin where it slowly breaks down into very rich, fertile compost.
Recycling
We put an emphasis on recycling and make sure to recycle cardboard, glass, and plastic containers. We offer these environmental services and ask your support of our Planet Earth by washing out our recyclable material BEFORE placing them in the appropriate containers.
Vermiculture
All our extra office paper is shredded and put into a vermiculture
system where it is fed to worms, which convert it into extremely rich
worm castings, perfect for fertilizing the gardens.
Permaculture Gardens
Beekeeping
We have a bee hive with one queen bee and about 10,000 worker bees. The females are all the worker bees. The drones are the males and their main purpose is to mate with the queen. They pollinate all the fruit trees on the property. They are not dangerous and enhance fruit production for our pleasure. Their honey is pure and organic and is collected twice a year.
Ecotourism is:
"Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the
environment and improves the well-being of local people."
Ecotourism is about connecting conservation, communities, and sustainable travel.
This means that those who implement and participate in responsible tourism activities should follow the following
ecotourism principles:
- minimize impact
- build environmental and cultural awareness and respect
- provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts
- provide direct financial benefits for conservation
- provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people
- raise sensitivity to host countries "political, environmental, and social climate
Sustainable travel is:
"Tourism that meets the needs of present tourists and host
regions while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future."
