Sustainability
For us, sustainability is making long-term commitments to the land and fostering long-term connections with the people of Tulum – those who live here, and those who visit. It’s the guiding principle in everything we do and a measurable standard evident from our platinum reviewed LEED building to the care and respect we give to our staff and guests.
Solar Energy
Our outlook on energy is much like our view of the biosphere reserve: green. The entire property at Olas is powered by solar energy from photovoltaic panels you’ll find on our roof. You’ll have enough energy for all your devices, but you might have to give your hairdryer a vacation. On days when the clouds mask the sun (of which they are rare), we call upon our small generator to step in.
Water
When it does rain, we take full advantage. Our property’s intricate system collects rainwater, which we use to feed the indigenous vegetation on site by hand. And while most of Tulum beach relies on water trucked in from town, our property is fed by an underground river system that captures water from our neighboring cenote is transferred to cisterns on our roof and then gravity fed into each of our suites.
Food & Drink
A true Tulum kitchen means knowing where our ingredients come from and championing local providers. All our fruits and vegetables in our cocina come from regional farms, our eggs and cheese from the Mennonite community and we source our seafood from local fishermen who were raised on these seas. We are committed to cooking with fresh produce daily and limiting our kitchen waste.
Waste
We compost organic food onsite and use it to feed our vegetation throughout the year. We invested heavily into our septic system - called a “Pirana” — an aerobic bacteria generator. It rapidly multiplies, digests and recycles all of the daily organic solid waste entering this tank by moving through three separate chambers, filtering the waste through charcoal turning black water into non-harmful grey water. We then went one step further and installed a “humidal” - a traditional Mayan treatment system that turns this grey water into water that feeds phosphorous loving plants.
Architecture
The architecture of our main villa was designed by an Austrian engineer and naturalist, Carlos Schober, half a century ago whose vision was to build a home in harmony with nature. Now, the oldest structure on Tulum beach, we lovingly restored the property by retrofitting it with state of the art solar panels and investing in new ecological wastewater systems. To highlight a few seemingly subtle design features: the curvature of the walls help to channel the flow of the sea breeze to eliminate the need for air-conditioning (also referred to as the “venturi effect”).
Experience
Olas was created with Maya Angelou’s words in mind. Yes, Olas is a place — but it’s also an example of how we think the world should be experienced; how we all should be treated. That’s why when you come to stay with us, it’s akin to staying with family. For us, people play an important role in our ethos of sustainability. There are the local providers – fruit sellers, farmers, fisherman – our neighboring community, the team at Olas and our guests that return to visit year after year. Our connection and interactions with one another is the only currency that truly matters.
“ I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
We are proud to be a founding member of the Regenerative Resorts collection of hotels dedicated to the highest levels of environmental and social impact.