Sustainability in Practice
At The Quail, we believe in providing memorable experiences for guests without sacrificing our core tenets of sustainability. Our three-way approach to sustainability includes intentional decision making regarding our business, our environment, and our finances. We follow all common eco-friendly practices, making sure to be mindful of natural resources and sourcing sustainably from local farms wherever possible.
We’ve made an even deeper commitment to be a leader in three key areas: Elimination of Plastics, Energy, and Water Conservation.
Elimination of Plastics
We work with vendors and suppliers to ensure that, wherever possible, we use products free of plastics that are made with other materials such as paper, bamboo, or biodegradable alternatives. Some examples include:
- Paper straws instead of plastic straws
- Laundry returned without plastic covering
- Paper laundry bags instead of plastic
- All deliveries are plastic-free
- As of May 1st, 2021, plastic bottles on property were eliminated and replaced with aluminum bottles.
Water Conservation
Water scarcity is a problem that the entirety of the Monterey Peninsula, and California at large, deals with daily. Some of our current efforts in combating water scarcity include:
- Drawing well water from our land for irrigation
- State-of-the-art drainage systems in our golf course design that recycles water back into our irrigation system
- State-of-the-art rain forecasting technology in golf course that minimizes the need for irrigation
- Low flow faucets, toilets, and showers across all guest rooms and public bathrooms
- Ongoing staff training to ensure faucets are turned off, water lines are inspected regularly for efficiency when washing, cleaning, and sanitizing
- Opt-in program for guests to reuse sheets and towels in order to conserve water usage
- All washers run on low flow and cold-water cycles to reduce water usage
- Dishwashers are calibrated quarterly for proper water usage settings
Energy conservation
Energy reduction has a direct impact on our carbon footprint. We strive to minimize ours as much as possible and do our part to take California to the Carbon Neutral Standard by 2035. Our current energy conservation efforts include:
- LED lighting across the entire property
- Ongoing staff training to ensure lights are consistently turned off and rooms are not set with lights on prior to guest arrival
- Guest rooms are set to 66-68 degrees in the winter and 73 in the summer to reduce heating and cooling energy requirements, respectively.
- Lights are turned off in areas where natural light is sufficient such as the Lodge lobby, Clubhouse ballroom; all meeting spaces have ample natural light options
- All service closets and rooms have been fitted with motion sensors to turn lights on and off automatically
- Bi-annual energy audit that highlights areas of improvement that should be addressed to reduce energy usage
- Lithium battery technology for our golf cart fleet that increases energy performances and reduces loss by 50%
- All-electric maintenance and utility vehicles
- An 835 kWh 1920-panel solar field was installed in October of 2020. The field produces 113% of our current energy usage, and a life performance monitor has been placed in the Lodge lobby for guests to visualize the energy generated and fossil fuel saved