There's a million things you can do! It's so comprehensive that it's hard to know where to begin, so I suggest you start with knowing that for every material you use there's a green alternative. If you're doing any renovations you can incorporate green materials and designs.

I would suggest making a master plan for future renovations and when the time comes you'll have a good idea of how you're going to do it. I also suggest downloading a copy of the green building guidelines at stopwaste.org or builditgreen.org.

Dan

I would worry about the saline pool. Water is a big concern in the area. The pool could be an emergency water supply if it is not poisoned with salt. Is the pool safe from being flooded to overflowing during the monsoons? Hum "HI" to the red rocks for me.

Offer local foods as much as possible... maybe that ends up being prickly pear jam and desert honey, but at least its a start and eliminates the long distance transport. Plus its *sooo* much more satisfying purchasing food from the producer.

Be packaging concious of everything that you use.. if after recycling everything thats recycleable and composting the compostable stuff you are left with a lot of waste.. investigate the source of that waste.. maybe there's alternatives?

Compact Florescents/LED lighting.. though they sometimes give off horrible light color, there are versions that are equivalent to incandescents. Though there's always the what to do with the bulbs when they burn out issue..

If you are doing any remodeling or construction become keenly aware of passive solar/wind design. Super old technology that can reduce impact merely by implementing good ideas.. my favorite example comes from the middle east: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windcatcher

Solar water heaters and pool heaters of course would be wise as well.. take advantage of all that sun!

Thank you all so much for your suggestions! Most of what was suggested has been in effect for many years, but it great to know that we have been doing somethings right.

I am not sure what construction does. They are an entitey in and of themselves ^_^ But the majority of our construction works with the natural lay of the land and is designed to help us catch the water when it rains. Other than the old buildings from when we bought the property, everything seems to be working with the environment. I don't think we are perfect by any standards, though, so there is always room for improvement!

As for the saline pool, I think we should be okay. We have many ponds created from caught rainwater and our gray water system. Our concern was redusing the use of chlorine. But thank you so much for your concern! We'll see if the local health department lets us change over.

Thank you Story, for the comment about the Moroccan plaster. We currently are doing something similar with the supplies for plaster that come naturally to the local environment, but you are right, your friends work is gorgeous. I would be concerned that such pretty white walls would be need to have constant washing because of the red sand out here, though.

Also! Good news! Our entire housekeeping department is now using 100% eco-friendly products-- from the toilet paper to the floor cleaner. The bar soaps are going, and the little prewrapped cups, and they are being replaced by soap desepsers and reusable cups. My vision for the next month is to change our offices and front desk towards using 100% eco-friendly products.

If you have any other ideas, please do not hesitate to suggest them! They are so incredibly helpful to this process.

you might also check out the green hotel association's website. www.greenhotels.com/

i have read about hotels that require that the door key card be placed in another slot m once you are inside the room to turn on lights, ac, etc. this prevents lights and ac from being left on when no one is in the room.