At Skamania Lodge, our environment is part of our identity, and we intend to protect it. Skamania Lodge continues to take steps toward sustainability and be a leader in environmental best practices. Continue reading to learn what we've done and more importantly, where we're going.
Igniting Change
We all enjoy a large crackling fire, but did you know that each cord of wood burned in our Gorge Room fireplace created up to 81 pounds of pollution? By converting all our fireplaces to gas, we have significantly reduced our emissions from 12,960 pounds to just 5 pounds per year and saved more than 100 mature trees in firewood.
Every Drop Counts
Skamania Lodge uses AquaRecycle, a laundry water recycling system with specialized filters and UV systems that reduce water usage by 80%, eliminate 90% of wastewater discharge, while cutting energy costs by 50% or more.
When your backyard is as big as ours, it's important to limit water consumption. The decision to re-purpose parts of the property from golf to other uses has resulted in a reduction of our water usage. The new Gorge 9 short course and Little Eagle 18 hole putting course encapsulate about 15 acres of irrigated area with artificial greens that reduce our water usage by 15% and eliminate the use of fungicides needed.
Green Light
Skamania Lodge's panoramic windows bring in loads of natural light. But to supplement our sight, we converted all lighting to energy-efficient LED bulbs.
When we're not in action, neither are our lights. Skamania uses motion detectors in meeting rooms, back hallways, restrooms, and closets to be energy efficient.
Drive electric? Park in one of our eight electric vehicle charging stations.
Using Less Useless Plastic
In our effort to move to zero SUP’s (single use plastics) on property, our in-room toiletries shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, hand soap, and lotion use spa quality products and are dispensed from wall-mounted fixtures which keeps approximately 80,000 single use plastic bottles out of our landfills every year.
We've taken an unprecedented lead in the events industry to remove all plastic bottles from our convention areas and restaurants. Guests who wish to have single packaged water, juice, etc., will be given a non-plastic option. We've also eliminated the use of plastic kids cups and replaced them with stainless steel reusable tumblers and silicone lids in all our restaurants. Lastly, we've set up water stations throughout the hotel, including a water bottle fill stations located on each guest room floor.
Reducing Stay Over Cleaning
Through the past two years we have learned that by reducing our stay-over cleaning we can reduce your carbon footprint. Forgoing daily housekeeping room services reduce water consumption, electricity usage and the amount of chemicals used daily. We are grateful to our guests for their support.
Making this choice at our hotel, we together save...
Enough electricity to operate your tablet for 5 days
45 Gallons of water – enough annual drinking water for a 15 pound dog
The same amount of natural gas needed to bake five dozen cookies
Fewer cleaners which mean less chemicals released into the environment
Food For Thought
Skamania Lodge is an industry leader in sustainable restaurant dining and catering practices. We have made a meaningful effort to lessen our environmental footprint through three main categories:
1.Sustainably Sourced Ingredients
It's vital to us and our guests that we serve the most local and sustainably sourced ingredients possible – from the vegetables in your salad, to that beautiful fish on your plate. All of Skamania's Steelhead is sustainably sourced right here in the Columbia River Gorge. We get our produce from sources as close to us as possible. Nearly 100% of our protein is grown and sourced by the 15 family ranchers of Oregon's Country Natural Beef.
2.Fry Smarter, Not Longer.
After incorporating the advanced frying system Frylow, Executive Chef Zac Jansen and the culinary team can extend the lifespan of cooking oils by nearly 400%. This has resulted in less environmental waste, reduced electric consumption and lower gas costs. Not to mention it significantly reduces cook times and drastically lowers Skamania's carbon footprint.
3.Minimizing Food Waste
Skamania is a leader when it comes to managing food waste. Our executive Food & Beverage team has released a comprehensive e-book outlining the best food waste management practices for each hospitality department to follow. Learn more about our food waste management program.
