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Sedona Mago Retreat in Sedona, Arizona is a world model for environmental sustainability and ecotourism.

Sedona Mago Retreat is an ecotourist’s dream

Sedona, AZ - May 6, 2008 - In striving to create harmony between humanity and the Earth for the past decade, Sedona Mago Retreat Center (www.SedonaMagoRetreat.org), out Bill Gray Road from Highway 89A in the center of Coconino National Forest, has become a model of ecotourism and sustainability.

For organizations and individuals who come for training, meetings and healing, it demonstrates how most hospitality providers, part of the world’s largest industry, will look in the future.

After a visit to the retreat center, Diane Dearmore, Executive Director, Institute of Ecotourism, commented, "The green efforts you have made are unique. The name Mago [in Korean], meaning 'ancient mother,' is beautiful in itself. I was most impressed with how the sustainability is from the 'inside out.' The things not seen by the visitors, such as the water and waste management system, are in place. Often we find businesses focusing on what visitors see, which would be from the outside in."

In 1998, Ilchi Lee, international brain philosopher and educator, found a spartan retreat center for sale that was of exceptional beauty and with Earth Vortex energy in the middle of Coconino National Forest. He envisioned its potential to become a worldwide magnet for people seeking innovative holistic health training and treatment, based on more-than-5,000-year-old Korean mind-body wisdom. He acquired the property and donated it to the new Tao Fellowship (www.TaoFellowship.org), a nonprofit organization, which has the mission of Love for the Earth and Love for Humanity.

The Sedona Mago Retreat’s ecological accomplishments and plans are in the areas of air, land, water and resources. Here are selected green credentials:

Air. Central parking lot near the main gate encourages guests to walk. Four electrical cars are used by the educational and housekeeping departments. Van service for guests coming from the Phoenix Airport by commercial shuttle, who are dropped off at the Mago Information House, Highway 89A and Bill Gray Road, and brought to the Retreat Center. Naturally purifying the air are 2,000 Juniper trees from 10 years ago, and 1,300 trees and 2,050 plants put in the ground since then.

Land. Buildings are constructed to harmonize, in scale and façade, with the natural landscape. There are 160 solar pathway lights, and 140 reduced-output bulbs (converted to 20 from 60 watts), with conversion to all solar-powered lights planned. Old Casita Guest Rooms were designed by a Frank Lloyd Wright student, into the hillside for esthetic and temperature reasons; constructed in the late 1980s; some have solar-powered water heaters, with more installations planned. New Casita Guest Rooms were built to have cross ventilation; constructed in 2006; conversion to all solar-powered water heaters is planned. Mago Hall, second largest meeting room with a 200-seat capacity, is a stressed membrane structure, having a heated floor, and excellent insulation and ventilation. Mulch is used around trees, produced on-site from wood leftover wood from construction projects.

Water. Water from four wells is used for drinking, washing, and watering plants (planned for eventual elimination as the gray-water system is expanded). Water run-off from mountains is captured to fill the man-made lake and the two ponds terraced above it. Earth Hall uses a system in which run-off is stored in a septic for watering the plants around it. Gray-water recycling system takes water from all Casita Guest Rooms and Welcome House (sinks, bathtubs/showers and toilets), filters it four times, stores it in two 10,000-gallon tanks, and sends it through rubber pipes to water trees and plants. Gray-water system pumps the filtered water to four small ponds, where 190 plants around them specifically purify the water. Casita Guest Room signs urge guests to use towels and linen longer before changing them. Some Casita Guest Room showerheads save water; 100% conversion is planned. All toilets are low-pressure; some have a sign that all paper is to be put in near-by receptacles. Low-pressure toilets and waterless urinals for new buildings will be tested and if found effective, installed elsewhere).

Resources. Dining Hall generates 14,600 gallons of compost a year for in the Organic Garden. Manure from the Horse Stables fertilizes the Organic Garden. Vegetarian meals (with fish) are served in the Dining Hall, using less of the world’s food resources. In season, various vegetables and fruit grown in the Organic Garden are served in the Dining Hall. Electricity is saved, as the Casita Guest Rooms do not have televisions and telephones. Installation of large solar panels for providing electricity for all buildings is planned.

For people who want to experience the eco-friendly Sedona Mago Retreat, attend the free 10th Anniversary Festival, May 25 (RSVP, 928-634-1287), or take free daily (except Wednesday) shuttle van from Uptown Sedona for the free 5-hour tour (RSVP, 928-282-3875). For more information about the Retreat Center and ecotourism, visit www.SedonaMagoRetreat.org, or contact Heather Han at 928-204-3391.
 

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