One of the coolest resorts in Laguna Beach, in my opinion, is the Ranch at Laguna Beach. It’s nestled within the Aliso and Wood canyons in the heart of Laguna Beach. It’s also furnished by Tuvalu, one of my favorite stores in town. Not only is it an amazing resort with so much to explore, it’s also making a conscious effort with sustainable practices that are definitely noteworthy!
Here are 5 ways that the Ranch at Laguna Beach is making green cool again!
1. Bamboo key cards replace plastic key cards.
Right from the start, you see The Ranch LB’s sustainable efforts—The resort has replaced its traditional plastic room keys with bamboo crafted key cards sourced from certified sustainably managed trees. This effort helps keep the old plastic keys from making their way to landfills and helps reduce waste in general. You can also keep the bamboo key card as a souvenir if you’d like. If the room keys do happen to make their way into the garbage, they will degrade back into the soil over time, causing no harm to the environment.
2. All their glass gets turned into sand.
If you see some of the sand on the property shining a little brighter than usual, then you may be looking at some recycled glass. The resort crushes all of its glass bottles to then use the newly made sand onto the property as needed. You may see some in bunkers on the golf course, pavement repairs throughout the property and more. 
3. They only offer paper straws for drinks.
Not only does the resort offer paper straws for its drinks, but it also has a filtered water station—so bring your own refillable water bottle and fill up as many times as you’d like! 
4. Items grown in an organic garden are used in specials at the Harvest Restaurant
The Harvest Restaurant serves absolutely delicious food! What’s even better than the taste?? Knowing that many of the items are made fresh by an organic garden right on the property! Fruits, vegetables and herbs! You can even visit the garden if you’d like! I did, and it’s really awesome! It inspired me to want to get my garden back up again—I haven’t yet….but I’m inspired! The garden is a collaboration with The Ecology Center.
5. It’s California’s only National Geographic Unique Lodge
This means The Ranch at Laguna Beach was handpicked by National Geographic for it’s exceptional guest experience and sustainable efforts! National Geographic only picks certain lodges to be included in its National Geographic Unique Lodge list and the ones chosen are picked because “Each lodge is deeply rooted in its community and dedicated to protecting the surrounding habitats and cultures—and harnessing their magic to safeguard them for the future.”
While I only talked about 5 ways that The Ranch LB is making sustainable efforts, the resort is actually making a bigger initiative! Here is a full list of The Ranch LB’s Sustainable Practices with some including the strategic use of reclaimed water, a certification from the Surfrider Foundation, a partnership with Clean the World to donate excess toiletry items to those in need, and so much more!!
I’ve heard about eco-travel in other countries, but not so much in the US. It’s great to see a resort in California making more of an effort to reduce their carbon footprint.
This is a beautiful place and a beautiful system they have going on there. Lovely way to spend a spring day!
I absolutely love finding notable places that are being intentional!
Hopefully more will do this. Please have the effort to do such things. We only have 1 earth. Thank you!
This looks so yummy! I need to try it!
The Ranch at Laguna Beach sounds like an amazing resort! They have some really creative ways to reduce their environmental impact, which is so awesome. The next time I’m in Cali, I will definitely look into staying there!
it is always inspiring to see businesses doing some CSR! It is really about that time that all of us should have our actions giving back to nature! And the bamboo cards and organic garden is a fun idea too!
Such a beautiful system. I liked the idea of bamboo cards. I did not know it’s possible for people to turn the glass into the sand again. I believe other people should also consider adapting this new technique. It’s a really innovative thought. Thank you for sharing this information.