Spring is blooming all around us and Earth Day just weeks away. If you’re looking for green lodging in Galena, we hope you’ll consider Hawk Valley Retreat & Cottages.

Our nature lover’s bed and breakfast is located on 10 acres, in a quiet valley just outside of Galena, IL. We feel immense responsibility for the health and happiness of not just our guests but also our surroundings. We treasure our natural environment and understand just how fragile it is. Consequently, we have instituted a number of green initiatives and are always working towards greater sustainability.

Green Lodging in Galena

Hawk Valley sees a lot of beautiful, sunny days. Gorgeous days that are perfect for wandering the property or just taking it all in from the comfort of the porch swing. We take further advantage of all those wonderful rays with a 19 Kilowatt solar array located on 3 of our buildings. This not only reduces our use of outside power but also sees us use less energy to heat and cool the buildings.

Inside the B&B, our sustainability efforts continue in the bedroom.

All of our beds use CRaVE© Mattresses. Not only are they supremely comfortable but they’re also made in the United States using bio-based ingredients. CRaVE© replaces 30% of the petroleum normally used in a mattress with a soy-based alternative.

Further, our CRaVE© Mattresses are topped in Comphy© Sheets. We use Comphy© Sheets because they use natural fibers, are incredibly soft, and use less energy than any alternative.

How does a sheet use less energy? Comphy© Sheets are lighter than cotton and wrinkle-free, so less drying time and no need to iron. They also last 2 to 3 times longer than a standard cotton sheet and are recyclable.

In the bath you’ll find an array of SiTRÓNU© bath products. SiTRÓNU© bath products are made in small batches on a farm in Huntly, VA, using natural, plant-based ingredients. Their products are truly wonderful and always eco-friendly, cruelty-free, and paraben/sulfate/phthalate-free.

Sustainability In The Kitchen

At Hawk Valley Retreat, breakfasts are always homemade and include scratch-baked pastries. We also do what we can to use locally sourced ingredients. This not only guarantees mouth-wateringly delicious breakfasts, it also helps reduce our carbon footprint.

Now, when we say local, we’re serious.

Our eggs are delivered every day, for example … fresh from our very own, happy flock of chickens, that is! Our homemade breakfasts just wouldn’t be the same without the girls’ fantastic, fresh eggs. Likewise, the herbs and vegetables you enjoy in our farm to table breakfasts come straight from the inn’s garden, whenever possible.

We also have honey-bee hives in the old orchard. These provide our table with fresh, local honey and beeswax, while also helping to pollinate surrounding flowers and farm fields. A very sweet win/win.

For many of us, the day starts with coffee … or it doesn’t start at all. At Hawk Valley Retreat, you’ll find Tayst coffee pods in the dining room and in all of the cottages. Tayst coffee pods are compostable, use sustainably and ethically-sourced coffee beans, and make a truly delicious cup of coffee.

We’ve also ditched plastic water bottles at our Galena bed and breakfast. Plastic water bottles are handy, ubiquitous, and a terrible weight on the environment. Instead, we’ve installed water filters in the cottages and you’ll find a filtered water station in the dining room. At Hawk Valley Retreat, you’re never far from a cool, refreshing drink of water.

This is just the beginning of the green lodging efforts you’ll find at Hawk Valley Retreat & Cabins in Galena, IL. We’re continually working to expand and improve our sustainability efforts, with plans for things like on-site composting still in our sights.

Come celebrate Earth Day – or any day! – at Hawk Valley Retreat & Cabins, the nature lover’s bed and breakfast.