Eco-Friendly

 

Conserving resources is a fundamental part of life at Muktuk Adventures and we are constantly experimenting with new ways to minimize our ecological footprint.

 

Electricity

 

We are off the electricity grid so our energy needs are met by solar power with a diesel generator as our backup.

 

In a good summer we can run the lodge almost completely off solar power with propane used for cooking.

 

In winter, when we only have about 5 hours of sunlight each day, we need to use the diesel generator more often. However, if the winter day is clear and bright we still capture some solar energy.

 

Our goal is to limit the need for our diesel generator as much as possible. By Fall 2008 we will have installed a solar heated hot water system integrated with an outside wood burner. This will significantly reduce our reliance on the diesel generator, reducing our fosil fuel use by up by 70%.

 

Water

 

In our main lodge we use water from an underground well. We have a good supply of underground water, but we still try to conserve it as much as possible because a significnt amount of electricty is used to pump it to our house.

 

We use a septic tank for our waste water.

 

For these reasons we try not to shower every day and we always make our showers short.

 

Well water is not piped to any of our cabins. Instead we regularly supply them with large containers of fresh well water from the house.

 

We have dual flush toilets in the main lodge. An Australian guest recommended the dual flush system to us because it helps to control the amount of water used to flush the toilet. It has certainly helped us to save water. Our cabins have non-flusing outhouses/longdrops.

 

Recycling and composting

 

We recycle all recyclable material and compost our organic, non-meat scraps. Our dogs eat any meat scraps as treats.

 

Organic greenhouse

 

We manage an organic greenhouse which often supplies us with home-grown vegetables and herbs.