There are few things better than having the opportunity to visit beautiful parts of the world. What can make it even more satisfying is to stay in a place that is doing its part to help preserve the beauty around it. Below is just a sample list of properties taking extra steps to help sustain Mother Earth…

Las Casitas del Colca, Colca Canyon, Peru
www.lascasitasdelcolca.com
Opening April 15, 2008, the new luxurious Orient-Express property boasts 20 individual casitas offering supreme privacy and exclusivity in simple, unpretentious surroundings. Supporting the work of celebrated local figure Sister Antonia, Las Casitas del Colca’s surrounding land is lent to Mother Antonia’s Mission to grow crops to feed anyone in need. Guests can donate to this admirable cause or even volunteer at the soup kitchen.

Enclave Rising
www.enclaverising.com
Enclave Rising is an international real estate development committed to the integration of sustainable practices by building ultra-luxurious, zero carbon, zero impact, sustainable hotels and homes using clean energy while enhancing the local communities. Opening in Anguilla and Dominica in 2008, Enclave Rising has created the first development program that focuses equal attention on people, planet, and profit.

The Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town
www.mountnelson.co.za
The Mount Nelson has recently embarked on a novel way of disposing its waste – an onsite worm farm (officially known as The Mount Nelson’s Vermiculture Project). Rather than having organic waste end up in landfills or polluting groundwater, it can now, with the assistance of the earthworms, be put back into mother earth and utilized as fertilizer and soil conditioner (ideal for the hotel’s nine acres of lush gardens). Following the tremendous success of the project to date, the earthworms recently received an upgrade in accommodation with an expanded structure that accommodates 120,000 worms; it is projected that the worm family will grow to 240,000 worms within six months.