Fairmont Grand Del Mar Announces Sustainability Initiatives

By Hoa Quach, Times of San Diego

April 6, 2023

Fairmont Grand Del Mar this week announced several sustainability initiatives in honor of Earth Month in April.

The award-winning resort said it is taking “environmental responsibility to a new level.”

“We are proud as a resort to take a proactive approach to reducing waste and supporting conservation. We want our guests to enjoy the resort, situated on 400 acres of pristine coastal canyon and just minutes from the ocean, for years to come and to do so we must be mindful in how we care for the property and its surroundings,” said Brendan Carlin, general manager at Fairmont Grand Del Mar.

Here’s a list of initiatives the resort is taking:

Water Conservation

The irrigation system on the resort’s golf course utilizes reclaimed water that is sent through a treatment process then used to water the course. The resort installed a wireless sensor at each hole of the golf course to measure moisture and salinity levels to reduce watering only when needed. More than 2,500 sprinklers were recently replaced with a new product to reduce water consumption and guest room shower heads were also replaced to save 2.85 million gallons of water annually.

Reducing Landfill

The Agronomy team, led by David Yanez who has worked at the property since 2001, sorts and recycles all green waste. Fairmont Grand Del Mar offers filtered water in all guest rooms and suites to eliminate the use of 268,000 plastic bottles annually. Large format bath amenities also eliminated 135,000 small plastic bottles per year. The resort utilizes a wood chipper to process all fallen trees and convert to mulch to nourish the plant beds. This reduces the amount of green waste going to a landfill and produces over 500 cubic yards of material each year.

Protecting Nature

The on-site golf course is surrounded by areas that feature native plants, and these areas are protected to let the local flora continue to thrive. The resort does not perform any work on the course from April through October to protect the Gnatcatcher bird species, a protected species in Southern California. The grounds feature a series of creeks that form a riparian habitat with several species of local trees. These areas provide shelter for many animals and reduce the flow of run-off water and stream contamination. The property has a containment lake that services as a bio filter for the property.

In addition, Fairmont Grand Del Mar has rescued more than 120,000 bees over the years. Bees are the most effective pollinators on Earth and the creation of new bee habitats is incredibly important to maintaining the sustainability of the specifics. The resort’s special guests live near the 4th hole on the golf course.

Innovation in Sustainability

In May 2023, the resort will receive a new fleet of lithium-battery operated golf carts that are more energy efficient and reduce energy consumption by $7,000 annually.

The resort has a bottle-crushing device that repurposes glass into ultra-fine sand to use on the golf course.

Community Initiatives

Fairmont Grand Del Mar partners with many local farms and fisheries in the region to procure product for on-site eateries. The resort participates in Plant the Preserve, a monthly grooming on the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, along with a bi-annual Del Mar Beach clean-up. Employees provide holiday meals to first responders, participate in Spread the Warmth for the local homeless community, Straight A Stop, Ronald McDonald Charity’s Red Shoe Day and work with the San Diego Blood Bank.

To learn more about Fairmont’s sustainability efforts, please visit fairmont.com/sustainability.

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