Green Postcards: Clean energy cabanas on the Tulum beach, Part 1

For you regular Green Postcard readers, you know Tulum is a bit of an affordable eco-destination paradise. The small beach village is close to Mayan archeological ruins and has a growing hotel zone, mostly made up of clusters of hammock-strewn cabanas. Cabanas La Luna is one such beach-front outpost, just outside of town, distinguished by its commitment to sustainable travel.

La Luna’s five cabanas (which can be rented separately or as a collection to sleep up to 16) and its four-bedroom villa run entirely on renewable energy. The resort’s solar and wind power systems were built to accommodate the existing guest quarters, plus any future expansion. Current owners Victor Bartels and Hanne Jesca Bax use both new technology and centuries-old practices to keep the resort’s energy use low: They only use one refrigerator for their restaurant. Guests have ice-chests. Efficient light bulbs and timers that shut off community-area lights at midnight keep electricity use at a minimum, as do the candle-holding sculptures that light the resort at night.

They watch their collective gas use as well: Guests can rent bikes at La Luna to cut down on taxis and car trips. They also buy local produce for their restaurant from a local farmers’ market, which limits the miles their food travels from farm to table.

Even with all these clean energy efforts, La Luna manager Rene is most proud of the resort’s wastewater system. For starters, their water pump (run by generator for only 25 minutes a day) shuts off automatically when the reservoir is full. Their water comes from a natural well, and is recycled and filtered through a wetland system. Renee explains:

“The black water from our toilets is … filtered in a tank, which is buried in our garden. When this tanks fills up, the left-over water flows in the next tank -- during this process we are getting rid of the smell! When the second tank is … filled up, all the water flows into our wetland. The banana trees will vaporize most off the water through their leaves. The left-over water will end up in another tank, which when totally filled up will irrigate our front garden automatically.”

La Luna is currently working on sourcing non-toxic cleaning supplies from nearby Cancun and nurturing their new garden. They’d also like to increase community tourism cooperation with a local hotel alliance that would share equipment like back-up generators, laundry, and transportation services.

In addition to your classic beach-lounging activities and bike rides to Tulum to get a taste of the local culture, La Luna guests also have an opportunity to interact with the Yucatan’s wildlife. The resort now offers tours to Centro Ecologico Sian Ka’an (CESiaK), a nature reserve and eco-education center close to Tulum. The resort’s beaches are also a key breeding area for sea turtles. During the breeding season (spring and summer), La Luna helps its guests keep the resort a safe place for the turtles. “We ask our guests … to limit their light usage in the cabanas and close all the curtains in order to block … light and create a turtle-friendly hatching area on our own beach,” say Victor and Hanne. They also give guests red foil to cover their flashlights because the turtles seem to be less disturbed by red light.