Day Spas Find It Is Easy to Be green

By Susan B. Barnes
Healing Lifestyles/March/April 2008

With seemingly everyone going green these days it’s no wonder
that an industry focused on the health and well-being of its
clients and employees continues to break ground.

In Viridian Day Spa in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, just outside Charleston, is housed in a former medical building now outfitted with calming colors, inviting furnishings, and environmentally sound products, including countertops made of recycled glass, throws made from corn bi-products, cork and bamboo flooring, and no-VOC (volatile organic compounds; thought to be detrimental to health) paint.

Keeping with its green mission,Viridian’s treatments feature earth-friendly practices, services, and products. A signature treatment, the Voya Seaweed Bath, uses the Voya product line, which features 100 percent certified organic seaweeds harvested off the coast of Ireland. Viridian is the first spa in North America to offer the product line.

Amidst the hustle and bustle ofWashington,D.C., Nusta Spa offers tranquility in a sustainable setting. Non-toxic, rapidly renewable, and recycled materials were implemented in creating the spa, resulting in high-performance green design. But that’s not all—Nusta Spa carries its green ethos from the product lines used in the treatments to the paper and ink used in printed pieces.

As part of California’s first environmentally sustainable hotel in Napa Valley, Spa Gaia follows in the footsteps of Gaia Napa Valley Hotel: all the lumber is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified; the paints, sealants, and adhesives used throughout the property are low-VOC; the carpeting contains recycled content; the stone found in all restrooms is made from recycled tiles and granite; and the toilets and showerheads are low-flow. In addition, Spa Gaia recycles, uses environmentally friendly cleaning products in the hotel and spa, and relies on solar panels for 12 percent of the property’s electricity.

These three diverse spas, stretching from Washington, D.C., to Napa, California, are true testimonials that it is, in fact, easy to be green.