green travel Archives - Delsuites' Blog
Browsing Tag

green travel

Business Travel, Energy Conservation, Toronto Family Travel, Vacation Travel

Your Big Fat Green Vacation: Travel Sustainably with DelSuites

January 25, 2022
Travel sustainably photo by Scott Evans on Unsplash.

After a year of fires, floods, and hurricanes, how to travel sustainably in our networked world is a bigger question than ever.

But as travel restrictions lift and all those trips COVID put off become possible, the question is: how? Without spending cash on carbon offsets, how do we balance the travel we love—or have to make to keep business running—with doing what’s right for our climate?

At DelSuites, we’ve already taken care of the big things: situating our fully-furnished rentals in sustainably-designed, LEED-certified Tridel buildings which are pushing the limits on how eco-friendly a high-rise can be. And our fully paperless booking service also lets you book, bill, and plan your trip while keeping a few trees in the ground.

But if you want to max out your sustainability while you travel, here are a few easy ways you can make that Toronto trip a little greener—and have fun while you do it.

Ditch the plastic toiletries, and get some planet-friendly ones

Everyone always forgets the toothbrush—but it might not be a bad idea, this time. For no more than a few extra dollars, you can forget the toothbrush and pick up a biodegradable, planet-friendly bamboo brush for your stay.

Kensington Market health food store Essence of Life Organics has a whole selection of biodegradable, zero-waste kitchen, laundry, and bathroom products to sample for only a few dollars each—and they offer reliable next-day delivery. Schedule an order before you leave, and you’ll be happily picking up your zero-waste, plastic-free lemon-flavoured dental floss from the concierge on your way through your door.

If you’d like to give that bamboo toothbrush a longer shelf life—and use it for your next five trips, too!—Quebec-based OLA Bamboo also offers a case to take it home in.

Sustainabilify the souvenirs

It’s not a trip without a few treats for the people back home. But it’s easy to make those treats more sustainable, eco-friendly, and longer-lasting.

“Eco-conscious general store” Logan & Finley offers a wide selection of sustainable treats for friends and family back home, from clothes to sustainably sourced specialty chocolate and decadent bath soaks.

In the west end, the laid-back Roncesvalles neighbourhood’s Ecotique puts an emphasis on looking chic, with green accessories, Toronto-themed tea towels, and elegant lounging robes made from upcycled saris. They’re gifts so elegant the environmental impact is just gravy.

Clean up your caffeine

When we’re on the road, all those morning coffees add up. But there are a few cafés that’ll let you get your fix greener while you’re on the go in Toronto.

Low-waste café Poured Coffee is taking the indie coffeeshop entirely package-free: their beans are dropped off by roaster La Marzocco in reusable food-safe bins, their milk in glass bottles, and every cup served goes into a reusable mug or thermos—yours or theirs. Complete with locally sourced baked goods and neighbourhood art, it’s a low-waste haven for east end travelers.

On the west side of the city, regional coffee roaster Reunion Island Coffee Roasters is a certified B-corp focusing on sustainable coffee “from seed to cup”. Powered by renewable energy provider Bullfrog Power, they’ve made every part of their supply chain more sustainable, from compostable wood-pulp coffee bags to fair-trade beans. And if you have to get a few bags delivered, don’t worry; the packaging’s biodegradable too. Drink up!

Send it with pedal power

Have an important package to get across town by end of day? Need a prescription refilled, stat?

Send It Courier is one of Toronto’s all-cargo bicycle courier companies—this one worker-owned and operated, with an A-list client portfolio and reasonable rates (including the highly descriptive “Panic”).

Instead of a cab or a rideshare, hand your parcels—heavy or light!—off to one of those professional cyclists, and do business with no carbon footprint at all.

Love your new green bin

The city of Toronto’s Green Bin program is a citywide way to keep your organics out of landfill. And because DelSuites furnished rentals are residential spaces, your stay lets you access the program.

The rules for Green Bin use may look complicated at first glance, but they’re worth spending five minutes to get to know. The program takes in food waste, coffee and tea grounds, paper plates, tissues, and paper towels—and much, much more.

Instead of piling up garbage, your waste will be turned into compost for the city’s parks and gardens, and biogas to power renewable natural gas programs—a win-win for everyone.

Our smallest gestures count when we travel sustainably

No, your travel toothbrush isn’t going to save the world. But the small choices we make add up, and a few better habits can be enough to make a much-needed trip more sustainable in the long run.

For more sustainable travel planning, contact us at DelSuites by phone at (647) 370-3504 or email info@delsuites.com. We’ll help you make your next visit to Toronto green, clean, and easy.

Uncategorized

Travelling Green With DelSuites

December 1, 2021
Eco-friendly travel

With the climate heating up and wild weather our new normal, we’re all looking for greener ways to travel—whether it’s as elaborate as buying carbon offsets or simple as a reusable coffee cup. But it’s easier to be eco-friendly on the road when you’ve got a helping hand.

Here’s how staying with DelSuites helps you travel green—and enjoy comfortable Toronto luxury without taking it out on our planet.

DelSuites units are built green

DelSuites sources our furnished short-term rentals exclusively in Tridel buildings—and Tridel is Canada’s recognized leader in sustainable design. With the most LEED-certified buildings in the country and 11 BILD Green Builder of the Year Awards, Tridel has led the way in innovating new ways to combine comfortable luxury housing with good ecological practices.

That means staying in a DelSuites furnished apartment is a chance to sample buildings constructed and designed from the ground up for clean air, energy efficiency, and water-saving. Tridel buildings, on average, use 34% less electricity, 57% less natural gas and 43% less potable water than your standard modern high-rise—and automatically cut down on the climate impact of your travel.

A DelSuites stay also gives you the chance to enjoy innovative new sustainable technologies. Tridel’s one of the co-founders of research laboratory Tower Labs—a space devoted to making high-rise living cleaner, greener, and more sustainable, including Canada’s first Net Zero condominium home. And DelSuites furnished apartments are located in the buildings where those innovations are rolled out first.

Booking your stay at Element means not just accessible downtown luxury, but enjoying the first condominium in Canada built with Enwave’s revolutionary Deep Lake Water Cooling System. It’s an innovation that reuses waste heat from a nearby heating plant to keep your suite warm in winter—and almost eliminate the environmental impact of heating and cooling the building.

With a DelSuites booking, you’re already ahead in making your trip an eco-friendly one.

Furnished short-term rentals let you travel green

The hospitality industry has come a long way in reducing, reusing, and recycling everywhere, from flexible housekeeping policies to changing the waste footprint of toiletries. But for the eco-focused traveler, a furnished rental is the greenest solution—because it’s designed for daily life.

All of our units have fully equipped kitchens, complete with dishes, glassware, kitchen tools, and all the major appliances you need to whip up your favourite meal. Whether you’re a home gourmet or want to sample Toronto’s world-class international restaurants, you can ditch the takeout plastic cutlery, disposable coffee cups, and coffee pods to eat a little greener.

Our kitchens’ stock of reusable storage containers also let you use Toronto’s multiple waste-free and co-op grocery stores, and cut out the waste plastic altogether. Or you can take advantage of a residential address—and the services of our friendly concierges—to have fresh, local fruits and vegetables brought to your door with Toronto’s leading-edge social enterprise produce box program, Foodshare.

When something does have to go into the trash, you’ll have the chance to choose a greener option. All our buildings participate in the City of Toronto’s Blue Bin and Green Bin programs, which divert recyclables and organic waste out of landfills.

Our suites’ full, no-fee laundry facilities are equipped with modern washing machines and dryers: built to balance energy and water use. With the chance to run laundry whenever you need, you can take advantage of off-peak electricity hours and cut out dry cleaners’ or launderers’ plastic packaging. And more importantly, you’ll have the chance to pack lighter, save luggage weight—and luggage fees—and reduce your carbon footprint while you travel.

Our locations open Toronto’s eco-friendly options to you

Toronto has a strong commitment to living green, and when you’re part of the neighbourhood—whether it’s for two weeks or half a year—it’s that much easier to take part.

Our suites are located in high Walk Score neighbourhoods, putting you just steps away from major business destinations, hospitals, theatres, parks, sports, restaurants, and green, clean public transit—and making it easier for you to get your daily steps in!

If you want to go a little faster and amp up the cardio, Bike Share Toronto stations are never more than a few blocks away, and their easy-to-use network lets you check in and check out bicycles across the city.

You’re also never far from supplies for eco-friendly living, from high-end to grassroots, or the city’s diverse farmer’s markets. Both seasonal and year-round markets make it easy for you to eat not just diverse and healthy, but local—and cut down on the kilometres your food has had to travel.

The future is green travel

We’re all changing the way we live, work, and travel as the world changes around us—and DelSuites makes it easy to embrace green living without sacrificing any of the perks that make great vacation memories.

Contact us at DelSuites by phone at (647) 370-3504 or email info@delsuites.com to ask about our green travel solutions and book today.