Composting Toilets
The Hike Inn uses odor-free composting toilets that help save more than 250,000 gallons of valuable drinking water every year.
Solar Panels
24 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels on the southern roof of the Sunrise Room produce approximately 10 percent of the Hike Inn’s total electricity. Hot water at the bathhouse and for housekeeping comes from solar-thermal water heating systems that reduce fuel costs as well as the Hike Inn’s carbon footprint. Partners who helped in attaining and installing these systems included Southface, Soenso Solar Energy of Georgia and BP.
Rainwater Harvesting
The Hike Inn uses recycled barrels to collect rainwater to irrigate our native plants and trees.
Vermiculture
Instead of sending the Inn’s organic waste to a landfill, the staff recycles it back into the soil using red wiggler worm beds. These worm beds hold about 40 to 50 pounds of worms that can eat half their body weight a day in organic material. The beds compost everything from kitchen scraps to office paper, producing hundreds of pounds of valuable organic fertilizer.