Conservation and Recycling

Mermaid Tales: Sea Turtle Friendly Cottages

photo by Amy Gray Capello, from the Tybee Island Sea Turtle Project Facebook Page

It’s sea turtle season on Tybee Island, and that means we are more conscious than ever about how our environment affects these amazing and beautiful creatures! It is so very important, especially for cottages right on the beach, to be aware of light pollution. Light pollution- from both indoor and outdoor sources -can have a negative impact on any nocturnal wildlife, especially our beloved sea turtles. Brightly lit areas discourage females from nesting as well as disorient new hatchlings, drawing them away from the ocean and toward dangers-a-plenty. If you are visiting Tybee during sea turtle season from May 1st thru Oct 31st, the most important thing to remember  is that it is Lights Out for Sea Turtles time!

 

photo by Layla and Kevin Palmer of TheLetteredCottage.net

Mermaid Cottages cares immensely about this cause and we do everything we can to insure our beach front cottages- Doyle’s on the Beach and Crabby Jo’s -are super sea turtle friendly! We even support the Tybee Sea Turtle Project through sales of our very own Mermaid Morning Bliss Coffee! You know, these precious marine treasures face enough natural dangers as it is, so we need to do everything possible to get them their best chance at a long, healthy life!

 

So, how in the world can you make a difference? Well, check out this wonderful list of simple steps from Defenders.org!

from Defenders.org

Having alternative, sea turtle friendly lighting is a great way to have lights where you need them and still be sea turtle friendly, but it’s just a good habit to close shades after dark, remove all obstacles from the beach, and turn off lights in rooms that aren’t in use. And hey, those good green habits no matter where you are!

We are very proud of our efforts, and the efforts of Tybee Island, to be sea turtle friendly! We hope you are too!

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1001 Ways To Get Tybee-ized: Preservation Matters

May is National Preservation Month so get out and enjoy the vintage wonders of Tybee Island!  Our city, our councils, our businesses and our residents are on board to save, conserve, restore and celebrate our historic treasures.  Our vintage island landmarks are waiting to share their history and lore with you!

Get Tybee-ized at Georgia’s Easy To Reach Beach!

 

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Cottage Cheese: ADOPT A HIGHWAY and BEACH SWEEP!

Show the love and learn how your Mermaid Cottages staycation can help you Give Back!  ADOPT A HIGHWAY! BEACH SWEEP!

The Tybee Beautification Association invites you to join our next ADOPT A HIGHWAY on

Saturday, May 14, 2011.

Volunteers meet at 8 A.M. at the Tybee Island sign on Highway 80 for trash bags and instructions!

The BEACH SWEEP will start at 10 A.M. from the North Beach Parking lot.

For more information about ways you can make a difference during your vacation give us a call

at 912 313 0784  or contact Diane@mermaidcottages.com!

 

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Live Like a Local: Earth Day is Every day!

If you didn’t know, Earth Day is right around the corner! That’s right, April 22nd is officially Earth Day, but you don’t have to limit being green to just one special day. Here at Mermaid Cottages, we try to make every day Earth Day!We are all about living a little greener and showing Mother Earth how much we care.

Being green isn’t as difficult as it seems. It is really just a lot of little actions that add up to big benefits when they become habits. We do a lot of those little things to reap the green benefits around here!

First off, we make sure to do as much as we can electronically. We email everything, so there is less printing, which means less wasted paper! All of our cottages use Compact Fluorescent light bulbs, and we install Lo-flow water-saving devices in all of our bathrooms and outdoor showers. Everyone here contributes something to our green philosophy…some of our Mermaids and Mermen ride their bicycles to work, and we clean with all Eco-friendly products. We even do energy audits for all of our cottages to see how we can save even more energy. And outside our homes, we plant drought resistant local plants to help conserve water. We also participate in Tybee’s Community Garden project!

We want to do whatever we can to leave this planet a little better than we found it, and we encourage others to do the same. Just some ways you can help during your stay (and even when you return home!) are:

  • Slay “Vampire Power” by turning off all lights, TVs, DVDs & computers when not in use
  • Use the outdoor clothesline to dry your clothes (they smell good too!)
  • Open the windows turn on the ceiling fans and enjoy the ocean breezes!
  • Use Cold, not Hot in the washing machine
  • Draw your curtains/blinds during the heat of the day
  • Walk, ride bikes, rent scooters or electric cars!
  • Recycle…glass, plastic, cans, newspapers: use the home’s green recycling container!
  • Reduce and Reuse by taking your own bags to the grocery store.
  • While brushing teeth, turn water off, and use a cup of water to cleanse mouth of
    toothpaste.

We could go on and on about fun ways to be Earth friendly! Find ideas-a-plenty on how you can be a little greener on our Being Green page over on our website! This Earth is the only one we’ve got…let’s all be good stewards. We didn’t inherit this planet from our parents, it is on loan to us from future generations, so let’s take good care of our gift! Happy Earth Day Y’all!

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Live Like a Local: Tybee Water Fair!

Tybee Island has a lot in store for the 2011 spring and summer season, but there are some cool things going on right this minute, too! The weather is a bit more normal, in the fifties, and our days have been beautiful. If you are in need of a day at the beach, you are in luck! The Ocean Plaza Resort is offering free parking! They are offing up their 15th Street lot for free parkingto the community from now through March 31st, so there’s no excuse! Come out and enjoy our beautiful island now!

This weekend has fun in store as well. Saturday, January 29th, is the Tybee Water Fair! We all know conservation is important to our environment, and it’s just smart to boot! Have you been wanting to start helping out, but just didn’t know where to start? Have no idea what collecting rain water is all about, or are you just curious of new ways to keep your conservation efforts going? You can get all of those answers and more at the Tybee Water Fair! This event it fun for the family, and best of all? It’s free!There will be demonstrations, exhibits, and workshops for all ages to help teach the importance of being good stewards of one of our most important natural resources…water!


You will enjoy:
  • Water saving devices and practices (low flow toilets & showers & more)
  •  Native plants, xeriscaping, shallow wells, rain barrels and cisterns
  •  The Floridan aquifer, grey water, ground water contamination
  •  Hands on workshops and contests for kids
  •  First Gracie Lou Water Glass Music Trophy will be awarded for the best music on water glasses (anyone of any age may enter.
  •   You may bring your own water glasses and props, or use ours)
  •  “Saving Water” Poster Contest for Kids from 4 to 12 years old (Bring 8.5 inch by 11 inch Entries to Tybee Gym at 10 a.m. on 1/29 – judging will be at 11 a.m.)
  • Over 50 Door Prizes plus drawing for dual flush toilet (includes installation!)

For more information about the day and a Schedule of Events, email tybeewaterfair@earthlink.net or visit the Savannah Greensource website or Facebook Page! It’s going to be a lot of fun. And what better way to spend a beautiful day on our island than by learning how to hep the environment? Come on out and learn along with the rest of us…hope to see you there!

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