Celebrating Earth Day Superstition Mountain Style
Located just 15 miles from Phoenix, residents in our private golf community love living in the Sonoran Desert, with its gorgeous seasons, fantastic golf and unbeatable sunsets. To preserve this area for generations to come, we work hard to be good stewards of our natural resources. In honor of Earth Day, here a few sustainable practices we have adopted throughout the years – and some ways you can “go green” in your own homes.
Water
We take great pride in our two award-winning, 18-hole Nicklaus Design golf courses. With the gorgeous Superstition mountains as the backdrop, a round on these course is truly a spectacular experience. As you can imagine, it takes a fair amount of water to keep the grass in tip-top shape. To help us avoid overwatering, we invested in a state-of-the-art weather station. This measures rainfall, humidity and other weather data, enabling us to use just the right amount of irrigation water to keep the greens, well, green!
Recycling
Fun fact: Did you know that the Superstition Mountain golf department recycles between 175,000 and 200,000 single-use plastic bottles each year? Combine that with the constant recycling coming out of the kitchen and we have quite the robust initiative.
Energy Consumption
A significant source of our power consumption comes from the equipment we use to maintain our beautiful clubhouse. Here are a few examples of ways the Club has opted for more energy-efficient options:
· Traditionally, pools are heated with natural gas or high amounts of electricity. We opted for a different energy source to keep our pool cozy – the sun! We have a solar water heating system that allows the Club to maintain comfortable water temperatures year-round in an energy efficient way.
· The irrigation pumps used on our golf courses feature a special kind of motor known as a Variable Frequency Drive that ramps up or down depending on water pressure and need, using significantly less power than a traditional motor.
· So long incandescent, hello LED. The Club has replaced more than 1,400 incandescent bulbs with more energy-efficient options.
These are just a few of the initiatives we have put in place in the community – and we are constantly thinking of additional ways to be more environmentally responsible. Since launching these initiatives, we were able to produce a 21 percent year-over-year decrease in electric consumption in the clubhouse. Would you like to see similar decreases in your power consumption? Read on!
Tips for Home Sustainability
There are so many ways you cut down your environmental footprint that it can feel a little overwhelming to consider them all. We recommend picking two or three ideas at a time, mastering them and then working your way down the list from there. Here are a few big-impact ways we’ve seen homeowners going green in their homes.
Conserve Water
In the desert, you learn quickly that every drop of water counts. Here are a few simple things you can do to conserve water:
- Install water-saving shower heads
- Whenever possible, carpool – It takes about ¾ of a gallon of water to refine and transport the gas used to drive one mile
- Be sure to fully load your dishwasher and laundry before running
- Defrost frozen food in the fridge instead of placing it in water
- Wash your dishes by hand
- Eat less meat – it takes significantly less water to harvest crops than to maintain livestock
Embrace Energy Efficiency
Not only is energy efficiency great for the environment, but it can seriously reduce your electricity bill each month, too. That’s a win for Mother Nature … and your pocketbook.
- Don’t heat or cool empty rooms
- Turn off electronics when you leave the room
- Wash your laundry in cold water
- Schedule an energy audit
- Turn off lights you’re not using
