Our environmental commitment
Greening an Old Ranch: The high desert environment is incredibly fragile. We have made tremendous investments to minimize Rancho Gallina’s energy and water use, waste, and overall carbon footprint. Our upgrades earned us Trip Advisor’s only Greenleaders Platinum designation in the Santa Fe area (a rating developed in concert with the Green Building Council that develops LEED standards).
Our 54 solar panels offset 15 tons of carbon per year!
Restoration and Conservation: The ranch has undergone major upgrades and renovations since 2012. We have replaced plumbing across the property with water saving showers, toilets and sinks. We replaced old propane-sucking furnaces with 3 state-of-the-art geothermal heating and cooling units. To service the geothermal, we upgraded the electrical system and installed a full solar array to provide our electricity.
So the main house and casitas are powered by the sun and heated and cooled by the earth! We have replaced roofing and windows for insulation and heat-deflection, transitioned to LED bulbs, and painted the interiors with no-VOC paint.
The Barn, hot tub, and Palacio Gallina (our chicken coop) are on another solar array, and are equipped with Energy Star kitchen and laundry appliances, a heat pump water heater, and a grey water orchard watered by our laundry. We’ve installed a 6,000 gallon catchment tank to gather roof-runoff for our pond and landscaping – we’ve planted hundreds of native plants! We’ve spent a lot of time researching and developing a renovation/climate impact plan and love to share with anyone who’s interested.
[We are currently adding 13 additional solar panels and a heat pump in the barn to replace its gas furnace. This will be the 10th propane appliance we will have replaced with electric or idled]
EV Chargers: We have installed 3 electric vehicle chargers – 2 Tesla and one standard – connected to our back solar array. So if you have the right vehicle you can charge up and drive on sunshine!
Water and Waste: Our water is clean, mineral rich and delicious. We are on a well fed by the spring water under our arroyo. To reduce the use of plastic bottles, we supply and encourage the use of refillable water bottles for day trips.
We provide recycling and compost containers in guest kitchens to reduce the ranch’s trash. We use no disposable products in our catering kitchen. And we are on a septic system (replaced in 2012), that eventually filters all waste water back into the aquifer.
Our Food: We love fresh food! Sourcing from our own organic gardens; local organic farmers; local coffee roasters that source from small, sustainable farms; a great local food co-op and fishmonger; and of course the best, freshest eggs, including those from:
The Chickens: Our namesake gallinas are part of the garden, composting system, and breakfast. They eat bugs and cultivate our very poor soil, turn our kitchen waste into compost almost instantly for the orchard and garden beds, and they make amazing, fresh eggs.
Linens: To conserve water and extend the life of our sheets and towels we only service linens on request. Many of our linens are US made, organic, or of recycled cotton or wool. If you are curious about our sources, look at the labels or just ask.
Firewood: In addition to thinning invasive and drought stricken trees from the ranch, we purchase the remainder of our firewood from local businesses that use sustainable harvesting practices, gathering wood from forest and watershed restoration projects in New Mexico to thin the forests of excessive wildfire fuel.