Virginia Department of Environmental Quality

Virginia Green
Hotels & Lodging Facilities

Virginia Green
Sandbridge Blue Vacation Rentals
Virginia Beach, VA

Virginia Green is the Commonwealth of Virginia’s campaign to promote environmentally-friendly practices in all aspects of Virginia’s tourism industry. Virginia Green has established "core activities" specific to each sector of tourism, and these practices are considered the required minimum for participation in the program. However, Virginia Green encourages its participants to reduce their environmental impacts in all aspects of their operations, and this profile provides a full list of all their “green” activities. These are the activities that guests / customers can expect to find when they visit this facility.

Sandbridge Blue Vacation Rentals

Vacation Rental Management Company We give our guests a complimentary Sandbridge Blue Welcome Bag, that doubles as a Thermal Grocery Total, that is made of recycled materials. We provide both bed and bath linens to our guests at no additional charge. Our linens are cleaned with an “Ozone Technology Cleaning”, which uses less water and chemicals in each wash.

Part of Sandbridge Blue's mission is to appreciate our natural environment and protect it at all costs. It is the main attraction that we sell to our guests, and it is up to us to ensure its future. We stock our homes with Biodegradeable soaps and cleaners, in our "Starter pack" for the guests. Donate used Printer Cartridges to local High Schools for reusing.

We offer Keyless entry into our homes, meaning they receive a code to access the home and do not have to use gas to come to our office to receive a hard key, we also do not have to reproduce the hard key for usage from renters. This feature saves the guest time, they receive directions to the home and they are able to drive straight there, instead of coming to our office and waiting in line for keys. Our Housekeeping department reuses our cleaning materials(rags), as we wash and reuse those items. We recycle and reuse our Housekeeping cleaning bottles (also the company we use for our chemicals does have a “Green Cleaning Line” that we are getting more information on at the current time in the review idea of possibly using more of those chemicals for 2011. The line of Green cleaning supplies is new and not in use by our company at this time.

Virginia Green Activities

This facility pledges that they:
Offer optional linen service
- Have signage in each guest room explaining the linen reuse procedures 
- Train housekeeping staff on our process for optional linen service  
- Track optional linen participation rate 
- Use non-phosphate, non-toxic and biodegradable laundry detergents 
- Minimize the use of bleach and chlorinated chemicals 
- Use an ozone laundry system that greatly minimizes the need for detergents and saves water 
- Use a service that has environmentally-preferable wet cleaning for dry-clean only items 
- Other Activities: outsource to a green laundry facility

Recycle
- Have in place clearly marked recycling bins or provide convenient drop-off locations for guests to recycle: 
- Glass Bottles 
- Plastic Bottles 
- Aluminum cans 
- Steel cans 
- Newspaper 
- Office paper
Other items recycled by the facility: 
- Printer/ copy machine toner cartridges 
- Cardboard 
- Fluorescent lamps 

Reduce solid waste
- Track overall solid waste costs 
- Instruct housekeeping staff to save and reuse unopened items 
- Donate excess food from events 
- Remove facility and staff names from junk mail lists when possible 
- Reuse scrap paper for notes 
- Reuse or donate shipping and packing supplies (peanuts, bubble wrap, etc.) 
- Use refillable pens and toner cartridges 
- Purchase recycled paper with a high-percentage recycled content 
- Make double-sided photocopies and avoid making extra photocopies 
- Use electronic correspondence and forms when possible 
- Use green cleaning products that are dispensed in bulk 
- Use reused building materials or those from sustainable sources 
- Properly recycle and/or dispose of thinners and solvents 
- Perform preventative maintenance on all appliances, HVAC systems, plumbing, and vehicles 
- Other Activities: No printed leases (all electronic documents). No paper rental brochure (all properties on-line), pa

Use water efficiently
- Track overall water usage and wastewater costs 
- Perform preventative maintenance to stop drips and leaks 
- Have installed low flow faucets and showerheads (use less than 2.5 gallons per minute) 
- Have installed low flow toilets (use 1.6 gallons per flush or less) 
- Use microfiber technology mops 
- Have landscaping that utilizes native species 
- Use rain gauges and water meters and only irrigate when necessary 

Conserve energy
- Track overall energy bills 
- Use ENERGY STARs Benchmarking Tools for the Hospitality Industry 
- Have installed ENERGY STAR-rated windows and doors 
- Regularly perform preventative maintenance on HVAC system 
- Keep office doors and windows closed if HVAC system is on 
- Use natural lighting (i.e., open draperies and raise shades whenever adequate light from windows is available) 
- Have adopted a policy/practice to turn off lights in unoccupied rooms 
- Have installed high efficiency fluorescent ballasts and lamps (T-5 and T-8) 
- Have installed compact fluorescent light bulbs in all rooms and canned lighting 

Offer a green events package
- We do not host conferences or events 

Sandbridge Blue Vacation Rentals    Sandbridge Blue Vacation Rentals

For more information on Sandbridge Blue Vacation Rentals, see www.sandbridgevacationrentals.com or contact Tim Cafferty at info@sandbridgeblue.com or 757-426-1993.

For more information on the Virginia Green program, see www.deq.state.va.us/Programs/PollutionPrevention/VirginiaGreen.aspx.

Virginia GreenVirginia Green is a partnership supported by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Hospitality & Tourism Association, and the Virginia Tourism Corporation.

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