What Eco Means to Us
We hold great respect for our planet and deep love of nature and enjoy sharing this with our guests.
Discover Unlimited Beauty
Waters Edge Eco Lodge strives to practice environmental sustainability by making decisions and taking actions that are in the interests of protecting our planet. We are committed to doing our best to make responsible decisions that minimize our impact on the environment.
Having said this however, we do not claim to be the perfect example of environmentalism but we believe every act even small ones are beneficial to sustaining our earth. It is our hope that we may bring awareness to the environment and conservation practices.
What does Eco Mean to us?
🌱 Locally Sourced
🌱 Reclaimed Lumber
🌱 Reduce Energy Loss
We have triple pane windows to reduce energy loss.
🌱 Geothermal Heating
Geothermal heating and cooling is used to harness energy from the earth, which reduces our fossil fuel consumption.
🌱 Reduce Power Consumption
We use LED and fluorescent lighting to reduce power consumption.
🌱 Water Conserved
Water is conserved whenever possible.
🌱 Showers
Guest rooms have showers not bathtubs since generally, showers use less water.
🌱 Low Flow
Water faucets and toilets are flow restricted.
🌱 Energy Efficient
Our Washer, Dryer and Dishwasher are water and energy efficient.
🌱 Recycle, Reduce, Reuse
🌱 Organic Garden
Our on-site organic garden produces a fresh, healthy, sustainable food source and allows us to reduce transportation pollution.
🌱 Composting
Composting is practiced to reduce garbage and to provide an ever ready source of organic material to enhance soil fertility.
🌱 Chemical Free
Chemicals are not used in the organic garden.
🌱 Healthy Soil
Crop rotation, cover crops, and companion planting are practices that are used to maintain healthy soil.
🌱 Mulching
Mulching is practiced for weed control and water retention.
🌱 Organic Produce
Organic produce is purchased when possible to support agriculture without pesticides and fertilizers.
🌱 Local Goods
Local goods are sourced and purchased whenever possible.
🌱 No Disposables
We do not use disposable plates, cups, napkins, and tablecloths in the Lodge or Event Venues or allow the use of these items when the Event Venues are rented out.
🌱 Less Waste
Wash cloths are used to dry hands in our public washrooms to reduce paper towel waste.
🌱 Natural Personal Care
Soaps and lotions are purchased in bulk from Green Cricket, a Canadian company that specializes in 100% Natural personal care products and put in decanters to reduce disposable containers.
🌱 No TV
TV’s are not provided – reducing power consumption and encouraging enjoyment of nature and participation in activities.
🌱 Heat & Cooling
Guest rooms are not cooled in the summer months and the heat is reduced in winter months to a minimum if they are not rented.
🌱 Landscaping
Landscaping is at a minimum to reduce fossil fuel emissions from lawn mowing and reduce disturbance to the natural environment allowing native Saskatchewan species to flourish.
🌱 Harmony
We live in harmony with the wild animals on the land and try not to disturb them.
An appreciation of our natural world is encouraged to those who visit the Lodge
Construction On The Land
The process of construction is generally not very environmentally friendly however efforts in our actions and use of materials reduced some of the negative impact involved. Here are a few examples of our efforts at sustainable construction and operation;
- Product packaging and empty paint cans were taken for recycling,
- We retained leftover construction material for future use,
- Local labour and local materials were used as much as possible,
- Reclaimed lumber was incorporated into our design,
- We stayed in campers on-site as often as possible to reduce travel from Meadow Lake during the construction process.
Disturbance To The Land
Every effort has been made to minimize the disturbance to the land. The ground has been restored to a natural state as the wild grasses, plants, & flowers have been allowed to come back in abundance. During excavation no mature trees were taken down. Invasive plants not native to the region are being removed as requested by Sask Parks.
We have used the existing landscape as much as possible and natural species native to the area have been preserved and planted to showcase the beauty of all that Mother Nature has to offer. Walking paths will be mowed through the wild grasses as an alternative to extensive landscaping.
Energy From The Land
Waters Edge Eco Lodge is proud to have a Geothermal heating and cooling system to harnesses the energy from the land through underground loops. Solar energy is absorbed by the ground resulting in a constant moderate year-round temperature below the surface of the ground. This system allows us to reduce our fossil fuel emissions significantly.
Food From The Land
Our on-site organic garden provides in-house catered events with healthy food from the land. We use a gardening technique called the Lasagna approach to gardening which allows us to build rich organic soil. Our garden is comprised of raised garden beds that have been layered with peat moss, cardboard and newspaper, top soil, dried grass or hay, manure, and mulch. We maintain compost bins to use in the garden as it provides an ever ready source of organic material to enhance soil fertility allowing us to avoid using chemicals. Crop rotation, mulching, cover crops, and companion planting are practices that are used to maintain healthy soil.
The 3 R’s-Recycle, Reduce and Reuse
Recycling, reducing and reusing were at the forefront of our thoughts during the construction, design, and operation of Waters Edge Eco Lodge. Many recycle bins are located around the lodge, available to store recycled materials before they are hauled to recycling depots. Waters Edge Eco Lodge takes measures to reduce wherever we can. This may come in the form of using cloth napkins to turning off lights to conserving water.
In design and operation, the lodge reuses as often as possible. Some examples of this are making signs from the old tin found on site, using old bottles and jars found during excavation in the décor, and composting and finding uses for leftover construction material. The 3 R’s and an awareness of environmental sustainability are encouraged.