At Kurà, we have made the conscious decision to banish all plastic water bottles from our resort. It’s been like that since day one. Plastic bottles take vast quantities of fossil fuels to produce, and are non-biodegradable. More often than not, used bottles don’t get recycled either. Water in Costa Rica is 100% potable and we instead encourage our guests to use the reusable bottles we have available at the hotel.

We have also replaced single-use plastic straws with locally-made bamboo stalks. They’re compostable which helps us reduce the amount of non-recyclable waste produced at the resort.

Onsite we have an organic garden greenhouse which grows some of the herbs and veggies we use in our tasty dishes. Supported by our Japanese Takakura compositing system, our little garden yields the likes of microgreens, kale, peppers, basil, spearmint and more. Growing in the safety of a greenhouse, there are no pesticides involved either – the garden salad is back!

These four Rs are the pillars of solid waste management at Kurà. We refuse certain items that could turn into trash like single-use plastic water bottles and straws. We reduce waste wherever possible by working with our suppliers to cut our unnecessary packaging, calculating exactly how much food we need for the restaurant and so on. And whatever can be recycled or reused certainly always is. Our restaurant leftovers for example are composted onsite.

From our plush king sized beds to our restaurant tables, we’ve used a lot of teak wood around the resort. Teak wood is fast growing and considered a sustainable building material. What’s more, it doesn’t require wood finishers or any harsh chemicals, helping us keep our furniture as natural as possible.

Kura is a member of the Cayuga Collection of Sustainable Luxury Hotels & Lodges, which as a group was awarded the accolade of Earth Changers at National Geographic’s World Legacy Awards in 2017. The accolade recognizes cutting-edge leadership in environmentally friendly business practices and green technology, from renewable energy and water conservation, to zero-waste systems and carbon-emissions reduction.

The Cayuga Collection also won the People Award in the 2018 Tourism For Tomorrow awards, recognizing us as a company that firmly supports our staff in their professional and personal growth, and our wider communities in their sustainable development.