At our eco friendly Vancouver Island B&B, we make a sincere effort to be ecologically responsible. Have a look at some of the ways we have found to help mitigate our carbon foot-print:

We have a vegetable garden to grow some of our own peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and the like, which we use for our guests' garnishes in season.

We attract birds and butterflies and bees to our gardens, which takes care of caterpillars, aphids and other small nuisances.

We have a kitchen garden with our herb garnishes, and seasonal fruits such as strawberries, blueberries and grapes.

Our heat is electric, with a thermostat in each room of our house.

Our garden flourishes with TLC. The edible flowers that we serve with your breakfasts are pesticide-free. (Those west coast slugs are hand-picked from the garden - yuck!)

When we cook our delicious Canadian sausages and bacon, we dispose of the grease separately instead of dumping it down the drain.

We strive to buy produce and products that are shipped from the least distance, buying farm-fresh as much as possible. This involves regular trips to the Red Barn farm market on Vancouver Island, an experience in itself!

Our laundry detergent is environmentally friendly, and requires a very small amount for each load with our West Coast soft water.

We use the new fluorescent bulbs wherever possible to reduce our energy consumption, and turn off as many lights as we are able. (While still running a high-end B&B!)

We walk to the local store between large shopping trips instead of hopping in the car. Each day we need fresh supplies.

We use our own re-usable baskets when shopping, and recycle those unavoidable plastic bags when we do use them. We refuse bags if we consider them unnecessary.

Our recycling bins are fuller than our garbage cans on pick-up day.

We use both sides of paper, and ask our guests to leave in-room information sheets for the next person. We shred and recycle confidential papers.

We save the water used to rinse vegetables and fruits, and water pots of flowers with it.

When we have to drive, we always multi-task, saving several small errands for one trip.

All our scraps go into the compost - this nutrient-rich "gold" is invaluable.

We take the items the recycle truck doesn't accept to the appropriate drop-off centre. Milk cartons are an example of this.

We ask our guests to consider whether their towels really need replacing after one use. No, we are not being frugal - this is part of being environmentally responsible.

On our ferry trips to the mainland, we try to remember our own mugs for coffee.

Our cleaning agents are as environmentally responsible as possible, while still capable of disinfection.

We provide "real" glasses, dishes and cutlery in-room as well as disposable, to give guests the choice between these and the more convenient plastics.

We dig out the cursed dandelions from the grass, and we hand-pick weeds, and you should see the size of the garden areas!

When garden furniture or wheelbarrows are no longer useable, we recycle them into flower-pot stands.

Rather than use an endless number of water bottles, we provide a water cooler for your convenience.

We hang the hot tub robes to dry in the clean coastal air.

We have found that our guests are craving healthier foods. They prefer us to use low-fat milk, healthy cooking oils and organic foods where possible. Have a look at our breakfast page for more information on what we serve.