The Boulders Resort To Go Organic
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04.30.06
The pics we can peruse of The Boulders Resort would suggest at least some environmental sensitivity, given that it blends in rather well with the surrounding Sonoran Desert of Arizona. It looks as if they want to do more than that though. Becoming “100 percent organic” no less. The new general manager, Michael Hoffmann, suggests that already, “The fish are line-caught, the veal is corn- or grass-fed, the vegetables are organically or naturally grown, with no chemicals used in production.” (Well, in one of the restaurants anyhow). Plus they carry a goodly supply of organic wine. But now, as well getting food from local organic farmers, the resort is setting up its own garden and anticipates harvesting fruit, vegetables and herbs come autumn 2006. Organic soap, candles and even linens are also on the plan, right down to the mini-bar goodies and the choccies on the pillow. Wonder if we can convince them to apply the same principles to their golf course — after all, the Kabi Organic Golf Course did! ::The Boulders Resort, via The East Valley Tribune.
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Not bad, but the fact that this place has a green golf course in the middle of Arizona still sorta negates the whole effort in my book!
And how is that lawn managed? I hope they choose to go pesticide-free with their lawn care. www.pesticide.org has information about the hazards of pesticides and information on alternative methods.
"...the veal is corn- or grass-fed"
Gimme a break! So is caging small animals in growth-preventing crates more environmentally sound than letting them do pesky things like WALK?
Glad they're trying to go more green, but really, serving veal seems contrary to a holistic earth ideology.
the real question is, when will we see a resort like this that your average treehugger can afford? not the kind that serves veal (corn fed or otherwise). and as the commenter above implied, an organic garden that produces fruit in arizona is still UNSUSTAINABLE. i'm glad to hear that more people and places are going organic, but it feels like a resort destination in a desert community (which shouldn't really exist there- hello it's the desert), and that i have to fly too, is not the treehugger ideal i ascribe too. i love this website!!, really i do, - but sometimes i don't agree with the the items you pick as "treehugger".
I am a permaculture designer and I have been designing vegetable, fruit gardens and even mushroom cultivation huts for resorts for two years - in many ways it is commendable - it supplies fresh fruit and veg with minimal food miles (particularly things liks herbs and salad crops which need to be refrigerated over long distancea) and if done in combination with a kitchen waste composting program and chipped garden waste mulches it can reduce landfill space. If you want to go the whole hog like I am doing on my latest project you keep some chucks for manure and use greywater or harvested rainwater in drip lines for the irrigation - to me that is not unsustainable. I think it can be very easy to criticise companies ecological credentials but at the end of the day it is environmental business practices that are going to be an essnetial element in pushing the green agenda forward in the years to come. In the hotel industry that needs to be concentrated on resource use and abuse, energy efficiant building design, renewables and food production. Efforts may not be perfect and eco spin abounds, but the important thing is to present an alternative model to render conventional thinking obsolete and who knows what the reprecussions will be on the rest of society once people see what can be acheived via the media?
Kate, it's a fair question. And one we get heaps around here. Our mission is to bring a sustainable lifestyle to the mainstream. It's an unfortunate fact that we are unlikely to get there in leaps and bounds, rather small, tentative and incremental steps.
If Lamborghini introduce a hybrid sports car, we'll report on it, not because any of our readers can afford it, but because it acts as a signpost along this journey that humankind desperately needs to take. It sure ain't the destination, but it points towards it.
Unless I'm mistook, the Anasazi Indians practised at least plot gardening in Arizona long before Christ pulled on sandals, and I doubt they had synthetic fertilisers then. With careful land management it is possible grow food in seemingly inhospitable climes, such as deserts, as Louis above point out.
The resort itself is just out of Scottsdale, a city of over 220,000 people. And that's in the middle of the same desert. Not that makes it right, that's just how it is. Like much of the Middle East and Northern Africa is now desert.
But I empathise with your concerns. It's just that we find it more useful to highlight the positives, where we see them.