Playa Hermosa surf lodge in Costa Rica

As a company we support the local church and help with donations to the church to help poor people for example at Christmas we help with funds to buy children toys. We also support the local school with charity drives for example lotteries, and collect plastic for them which they sell to the recycle plant.

We support all the local tours and help guests organise tours to these attractions. We have a restaurant at the hotel, which is run by local people, and encourage the guests to eat there.

We get our electricity from the state run electric system, they produce most of the electric from water power and also wind power. We also use all flourescent light bulbs to reduce electric demand and turn off all electric fans and lights in rooms when not in use. Costa Rica tends to have a problem with excess water which causes problems. We separate grey water to reduce contamination and recycle this water for irrigation. We use natural soap and disinfection for cleaning purposes, and we only change sheets and laundry every second day to reduce washing.

We separate all plastic and send it to the local school, they sell it to the recycle plant and use the money for school projects. I also work from home and my office is in my home so I do not travel to the office. We use a minimum of paper here. We have banana trees and nut trees which encourage birds and macaws to the property. We also supply information on all local projects that support the natural environment.

All my staff are local and I train them all on site. They come from the neighbouring town Jaco. All contractors that we use are from the town next door Jaco this would be electricians, plumbers , carpenters etc. My manager informs the guests of all the local sites of interest and helps them to get there if they want to see the areas. The restaurant at the hotel, which is rented out, buys all local produce and locally caught fish products.