• two people on the green roof with mountain backdrop

We Are Eco-Friendly

Golden Arrow’s Expansive Green Programs

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Thank you for being a part of our environmental efforts!

ChargePoint® is the world’s largest and most open EV charging network operating ChargePoint charging stations and hardware from other leading EV charging manufacturers. The Golden Arrow has two spaces in Garages B & C with chargers (four chargers total).

Keep it Local: Generations sources many local sustainable products throughout the North Country whenever possible. The menu includes local ingredients from eggs and meat to bread and even maple syrup. The bar also makes drinks with the finest, locally grown fruits.

Sustainable Materials: Many sustainable materials in the design of the restaurant were used including bamboo flooring in the dining area & recycled tires for the patio flooring. We also chose to reclaim & revamp much of the kitchen hardware.

Grease Capture: Generations actually collects the grease produced by his restaurant & donates it to a farm nearby where they are building an engine that runs on grease.

Green Catering: Generations caters most of the functions that take place in the Golden Arrow. They have agreed to make these events as sustainable as possible by using real china (no disposable plates/cups) & using organic, locally produced food ingredients when requested.

Green Cleaning: They use the least toxic cleaners allowable by the Department of Health in the kitchen, restaurant & bar.

Formation of a Green Team in Lake Placid

We created a green team here at the resort. The team consists of Peter, Andréa & Jenn Holderied (owners & operators), and the Front Desk and Housekeeping Gurus, Sierra, Sunny and Melanie. The purpose of the green team is to be environmental stewards and hold our suppliers responsible for providing us with the most sustainable products they can offer. We are proud to say that our entire resort staff continually look for new ways to improve our sustainability programs and often come up with our best ideas.

Recycling Efforts in Lake Placid – Sky Rocket!

We began our in-room recycling program in June of 2007. It was received with a resounding YES! We have had more than 85% of our guests participate in the program during their stays. Since the program’s inception, we have more than doubled the amount of recycling this resort sends out. That means that the amount of garbage that is sent to landfills has been seriously reduced. In 2020, we recycled 316 Cubic Yards of garbage; that is approximately the volume of 9 school busses full of recycling!

New Eco-Friendly Guest Rooms at Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort

We added 15 new guest rooms in 2008. Each of these has an in-room energy management system that automatically turns down the heat or A/C in an unoccupied room. We hope to install this system in all of our rooms over the next few years. Until then, we rely on our guests to be conscientious when leaving their guest rooms. In unoccupied rooms, it falls upon the housekeeping staff to monitor the energy management. They take pride in doing their part.

Retiring 132 tons of Carbon Credits!

We accomplished this by working jointly with the Adirondack Council and their Cool Park/ Healthy Planet Carbon Retirement Program. The program was created by the Adirondack Council to prevent thousands of tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted by power plants from Maine to Delaware. The Golden Arrow committed to retire enough carbon credits to offset the total number of occupied room nights for the month of December 2008. We permanently retired 132 tons, which was almost one third more than our original goal. The objective was to make guests and the public understand that they can really help make a difference.

Building Green Saves Money and Energy!

Double Paned Windows, Low Flow Toilets & Shower heads. We have to be honest with you here. We have had these items installed for as long as we can remember. The initial motivation was not environmental concerns. It was monetary savings. Electricity in Lake Placid is relatively cheap, but water is very expensive. The low flow bathroom fixtures save us gallons of water each year. As to the double paned windows…anyone who has visited in the wintertime knows that in the Adirondacks, those are a necessity! It gets COLD up here! The good news is, all of these elements are also good for the environment.

The Whitest and Cleanest Beach in New York!

In addition to looking beautiful, the white sand on our beach has another purpose. It is made of crushed limestone which helps counteract the effects of acid rain: a big problem in the Adirondack Park. Every spring we truck in tons of it to help keep Mirror Lake clean. Check out the crystal clear water! Children love playing on our special sand, it feels cool!

Bee Kind: Our shampoo and conditioner come from the BeeKind Hotelier Collection.  The paper bottles are a packaging innovation that represents a 59% reduction in material by weight and a 92% reduction in waste space compared to rigid plastic bottles, as well as in 100% recyclable tubes. We also use the BeeKind refillable dispensers in our lockerroom showers.

A portion of the profits from BeeKind products is used to help support the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis. 

Recycled Soap: We collect the discarded soap bars (also from BeeKind) and send them to Clean the World. Clean the World leads a Global Hygiene Revolution to distribute recycled soap and hygiene products from more than 8,000+ hotel and resort partners to children and families in countries with a high death rate due to pneumonia and cholera – which are two of the top killers of children under 5. Since 2009, Clean the World has distributed more than 53 million bars of soap in 127 countries!

Our 2019 Stats

Eco-Friendly Housekeeping at Golden Arrow

Green Cleaning Agents. We changed our cleaning products in February 2019 to the Santec fusion series. The fusion series is a line of housekeeping products designed to be easy to use, efficient and safe, and feature state-of-the-art dispensing solutions and clear, simple color-named packaging. They are “green cove, environmentally preferred” cleaners that all attach to the mixer in our laundry room so we will use less bottles as we will mix them ourselves.

Sheet/Towel Reuse Program: This is not very original, and thankfully many hotels have something similar in place. It is something that guests are very familiar with and are comfortable participating in. It is also an easy way for them to help conserve while they are visiting with us.

Laundry: Our laundry detergent is also from Santec. They reuse their 15-gallon drums instead of throwing away all that plastic! We fill our washing machines and dryers with full loads and when possible we use cold water to wash instead of hot. All of our Washers & Dryers are the most efficient on the market!

Energy Efficient Vacuums: Recently we needed to replace some of our old vacuum’s. Our green team decided the new ones we purchased would be “The Sanitaire” by Electorlux. This Vacuum has earned certificates for its environmental friendliness, including approval for “green cleaning” from the Carpet and Rug Institute and Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Program.

If you have any suggestions, please call our Head of Housekeeping at (800) 582-5540 or send an email to info@golden-arrow.com Attn: Housekeeping.

Eco-Friendly Lighting at Golden Arrow

We switched from CSL to LED light bulbs.

LED (light-emitting diode) is a type of bulb that produces light using a narrow band of wavelengths. LED lighting is more energy-efficient than CFL bulbs, as well as all other types of fluorescent lighting. LED bulbs produce a unique color of light that is very similar to the natural light of the sun. LEDs reach their peak brightness as soon as they are turned on and do not require a warmup phase like incandescent or fluorescent bulbs.

The average incandescent bulb only lasts 1,000 hours before burning out. The average CFL bulb can shine bright for up to 8,000 hours of use. But neither can hold a candle to LED bulbs, which offer as much as 25,000 hours of light per bulb!

Green Purchasing – A Thoughtful Advance for Hospitality

In 2005 we switched all of our paper products (both back of the house and promotional materials) to 100% recycled content. Since then we have pledged to rank “greenness” of a product right up there with cost when we factor in which products to purchase. We are glad to report that it is getting easier every year to find the products that we need to run a resort. From the carpeting in our rooms to the pens we use at the desk, each item has been chosen based, at least in part, on how green it is. Our pens are made in the USA from environmentally friendly biodegradable Corn Resin! We love finding new materials.

Supporting Green Initiatives

We encourage our employees to conserve in their private lives as well as at the resort. In 2008 we began a transportation incentive program. Any employee who lives more than 10 miles away and carpools to work at least 4 days per week receives a gas stipend once a month. Employees who live within the 10 mile radius and either walk or bike to work have their lunch on us that day. Since we went non smoking in 2002, we have offered a smoking cessation program to any member of our GALR family who chooses to quit smoking. The plan is simple. The employee decides which method of smoking cessation would work best for them, and we cover the cost. For us, there is no more precious resource than our staff. We can not do enough to protect them.

Stay Once, Be Green Forever

In Christmas of 2006 we sent a Christmas card to all of our repeat guests. For every card that was returned to us in 2007, we pledged to donate $5.00 to the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. Thanks to your participation, we were able to donate $755 to this worthy cause.

Complete Renovation of the Pool Area: Renovated in the fall of 2007, the plumbing in the pool was over 20 years old and not operating at its most efficient levels. We completely replaced the plumbing & heating systems to use both energy and water more efficiently. Instead of chlorine, we use bromine which is a less harsh but equally effective agent. We also replaced the decking with flagstone from a local quarry.

Storm Water Management System & Oil Separator: In an effort to keep Mirror Lake pristine, we installed an extensive storm water management system whose job it is to keep pollutants from the building parking garages and roads out of the lake.

Lobby Renovation

The renovation involved purchasing renewable materials, such as bamboo flooring, & using non toxic materials (for example the wallpaper glue was non toxic). We were also able to use some wood paneling that was reclaimed from our 2006 reconstruction of the restaurant. The wood paneling in the lobby was formerly the backing of the booths in our old restaurant, Goldberries.

In 2015 we wanted a reshresh for the Lobby, without waste or too much cost. We reupholstered the existing furniture we had (one with material made from recycled plastic bottles) and also bought some great art taken by local photographer, Rolf Schulte.

Eco-Friendly Road Salt: We live in a climate that can have some pretty messy roads in the winter months. Salt is a fact of life up here. We are happy to say we are now using less salt than ever! We use a sand/rock mixture instead which has been working great on the driveway and entrances. We still use Eco-traction which is pet-paw friendly on the exterior entrances over the ice when needed. It does not melt the ice, it just makes for better traction.

Heat Recovery System

We have installed a heat recovery system in 3 of the 4 hot water systems in the resort. This is a bit technical, but basically if our town water comes into the building at 40 degrees Fahrenheit, this system heats the water anywhere from 10 – 20 degrees by utilizing the heat from other water sources. That means the water is 10 -20 degrees warmer before we need to use energy to heat it.

The Golden Arrow has a brand new remodeled fitness center. We have gone about this task considering our future guests’ experience all the while trying to make the least impact on the environment around us. Each aspect of the fitness center was chosen carefully by our Beautification director Andréa and General Manager, Jenn. Our gym features an Elkay EZH2O Water bottle filling station, flooring made from recycled rubber tires, and Haiku Ceiling Fans (these fans save 80% more energy compared to regular ceiling fans) just to name a few!

Green Roof Installation at Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort

Completed in June of 2008, the Green Roof is a 3,400-square-foot roof that you can enjoy from the deck of Generations Restaurant. Green Roofs have many benefits including creating energy savings by acting as a super insulator, keeping the building warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It also acts as a storm water management system, catching pollutants as they drain off the roof. This is especially important for us since we are located directly on the lake. The oxygen released by the plants will help the hotel reduce its carbon footprint and hopefully provide a nice habitat for birds and insects. The roof also doubles the life of the roof underneath it by protecting it from the elements.

We use the reclamation program at Bentley Mills to recycle carpet. They work to keep all carpet material from reaching a landfill. Did you know that for every 100 square yards of carpet reclaimed, you can help save 420 pounds of carpet from landfills, 27 cubic feet of landfill space, 420,000 Average Equivalent BTU’s of energy and 840 CO2 eq. lbs of global warming potential? It’s a simple process and we’re happy it’s an available program for us.