Yesterday as part of our first Challenge, the Buenos Aires Challengers interviewed the Casa Calma hotel staff in an effort to promote ecotourism. And what we unearthed was truly an Argentine jewel!
The Casa Calma stands on a crowded street surrounded by office buildings in the heart of Buenos Aires’s downtown. At first you might pass it by; it is so calm and unassuming. But then you will notice the green ivy climbing up balcony upon balcony, and the delicate white letters spelling its name in loopy and beckoning letters.
When you step inside, the noises from downtown Buenos Aires are drowned out by the double-paned glass windows. The hotel lobby looks like my family’s living room, with chairs and comfortable cushions welcoming you, and bookshelves lined with a variety of reading materials, mostly books about living “green”.
Just past the homey lobby is the again very home-like restaurant, which looks more like a slightly large family dining room rather than a formal restaurant. A handful of tables sit next to a long counter-space covered with bowls of fruit, freshly-baked pastries, organic teas, an espresso machine, and two refrigerators–one filled with bottles of beer and one filled with healthy snacks and juices.
One wall is dotted with small whiteboards assigned to each room number. This is the “Honesty Bar,” which allows guests to take whatever they want from the refrigerators and trusts them to record their goodies on their whiteboards. At the end of the day, the hotel staff records each white board and charges each room accordingly.
The other wall is a glass pane shielding a vertical garden. The ivy and green plants stretch up-up-up. No chemicals are used in the care-taking; simply a cloth to clean pollution from the leaves, and good old-fashioned water. The vertical garden cuts down on the hotel’s energy consumption as it keeps out heat during the summer and keeps in heat during the winter. And, as an extra treat, it also helps to improve breathing quality of the surrounding atmosphere. Que buena!!
Then there is another very important part of the restaurant: the cuisine. Oh, it is richer than rich! Made fresh from scratch every day with organic and as-local-as-it-gets ingredients, the nutty whole-wheat breads, crisp and flavorful salads, softly marinated meats, and gently sugared scones will leave you pining for Casa Calma comida in the dreadful days following your stay…
After we finished our amazing meals, Agustina, the hotel manager, explained to us the origins of the Casa Calma. The hotel was founded by an Argentine architect and an Argentine investor, both of whom believe strongly in investing in their own country. This is a very special point because many investors take their money abroad, believing that better economic opportunity lies outside of Argentina. That may be true, but Argentina’s economy will never recover without the trust and financial backing of its citizens. Thus, the Casa Calma is a beautiful effort at restoring the faith in economic opportunities in Argentina (hmmm, I’m feeling social entrepreneurism vibrations…).
Furthermore, the Casa Calma founders ALSO believe in bringing the environmental movement to Argentina: this is the VERY FIRST eco-friendly hotel in Buenos Aires! And is it ever environmentally friendly! These guys have thought of everything. Let me tell you some of the crazy things they have covered:
- There are no pens in the Casa Calma; rather employees use environmentally-friendly pencils that are made from a plant native to Argentina that grows 20 cm/week…Therefore, nothing gets chopped down to make these writing tools; only harmless trimming is necessary.
- The hotel’s wallpaper is made entirely from recycled materials (which I think also lends it an earthy, rich, holistic aesthetic appeal!).
- Buenos Aires currently does not have an official recycling program, so the hotel has begun to lobby the city government in an effort to create a recycling program!
- Each hotel room has invidual heating and cooling systems. Therefore, if a room is unoccupied, no energy is wasted in heating and cooling it.
- Hallway lights are motion-censored.
- The hotel bathrooms are bedecked in the softest cloth towels, so no paper towels get thrown away!
- Laundry is done every THIRD day (rather than every single day) to cut down on water consumption, and only natural, organic-based cleaning products are used.
Believe me, the list goes on and on. You will just have to visit this lovely hotel for yourself to experience all of its green treasures first-hand. However, I hope so much that my blog post helps to capture the spirit of this beautiful and progressive endeavor.
Chances are, there is an ec0-hotel in your area with very similar aspirations. If you believe in the Challenge to promote ecotourism, this is how you can join the mission:
- Log onto Ecotrotters.com
- Make an account
- Search for a hotel in your region
- Send me an email (sarahannmaxwell@gmail.com) informing me of the hotel you would like to interview
- The Buenos Aires Challenge team will contact the hotel informing them of your interest, and we will set up a meeting date for you
- The Buenos Aires Challenge team will then send you the list of questions for you to take to the interview (which of course you can elaborate on!)
- You will conduct an interview, and then send us the questions and responses
- We will upload your review into the Ecotrotters website so that travelers can see of the eco-friendly opportunities in your area!
Email me today if you are interested in joining the ecotourism mission!
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