The Canary Islands, a group of islands off of Western Sahara, and Dubai, a city in United Arab Emirates, are particularly water strapped vacation destinations. This new infographic shows how these hotels are using their own desalination and water conservation techniques to save this precious resource.

The Canary Islands have always been water stressed because they have few rivers or sources of fresh water on the islands. As a result, getting clean drinking water has always been a problem. Gran Melia, an upscale hotel in the Canary Islands, is now using its own desalination technology to treat seawater. Their desalination system produces water for their hotel by extracting and converting seawater. They also recycle water at the hotel to be used on their gardens.

The residents of UAE have some of the highest per capita water use of any country in the world. And at the same time, Western Sahara and UAE are number 1 and number 2 on the list of the world’s most water stressed nations. The Park Hyatt in Dubai is taking steps toward conserving water by treating wastewater with reverse osmosis. Using this filtration process saves enough water to fill 62 Olympic size pools per year. But these are very small steps when you consider that while tourism is an industry in itself that puts significant amounts of money toward each nation’s economy, there has to be a balance between smart water use and tourism. These new water technologies are a good place to start. But much more needs to be done.

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Image: elope201

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ColumnAfter a week on an eco-friendly yoga retreat, I have no interest in making myself angry so I’m taking a break from sticking it to the man.

Those of you who live in the world know that this winter has sucked ass. In addition to the war on women, thousands of dogs being killed in Sochi, attacks on our right to choose and other insults, it’s been really, really cold. We’re breaking records here, people.

But I am smart. I escaped for an entire week and went on an eco-friendly yoga retreat.

 Now that I am back in Chicago, reengaging with my newsfeeds and thinking about the possible feminist issues to talk about this week, I have come to a conclusion: I just can’t.

I thought about adding my two cents to the atrocity of Pussy Riot being attacked with whips and tear gas at the Olympics. I considered writing about the mom who was arrested for trying to get abortion drugs for her daughter. These things are important.

But I can’t.

I had such an amazing time in a beautiful place with a great group of ladies (and one equally great guy) that I want to bask in the bliss of being surrounded by good people rather than think about who’s zoomin’ who and undermining my rights as a woman today.

Xinalani is an eco-friendly yoga retreat center about 40-minutes by boat from Puerto Vallarta. I went with my main Chicago-based yoga instructor, Sara, and Diana, a San Francisco-based teacher I also love to practice with.

The plan was: two yoga classes a day with time in between to enjoy various activities like sitting, reading, hiking, playing Cards Against Humanity and whale watching.

There were also like 18 meals a day. Who overeats on a yoga retreat? Everyone who goes to Xinalani, I’d guess.

Our Foodie Underground columnist would have jammed on the gluten-free granola I had every morning at breakfast number one—it was so good that even gluten-eaters opted for it—and, yes, there were two breakfasts every day.

The staff didn’t give side eye when asked three times if something was vegan and/or gluten-free (even though most things were labelled). Everything was fresh, local and delicious. Okay, there was one mole/mushroom thing I could have done without, but the rest of the meals more than made up for it.

The yoga studios are pretty much treehouses and all of the rooms have at least one wall open. Let me pause here. I don’t believe in camping as a thing I should do (if you’re into it, that’s super), and I was nervous about an open-air room in a jungle.

There was a net over the bed which is good because a few uninvited guests did venture into my room. Notably, a hand-sized spider that I am fairly certain is responsible for the bite on my back, and a little frog who joined me in the shower. I was cool with the frog.

As I hunker down for the next wave of record-breaking cold (there was thundersnow here this week—I honestly didn’t even know that was a real thing) and brace for the next barrage of sexist crap, I’m giving myself a mental health pass on fighting the man this week.

Instead, I’m just sharing some advice for all of you eco-travelers: Retreat to Xinalani and stay offline while you’re there.

That Happened is Libby Lowe’s weekly column for EcoSalon analyzing media, news and pop culture through a feminist lens. Keep in touch with Libby @LibbyLowe.

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Images: Xinalani

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Costa Verde offers Costa Rica’s most original eco-suite: a vintage airplane in the rainforest.

Costa Verde nestles in the rainforest above the Pacific Ocean, next to Manuel Antonio National Park. Like many hotels in Costa Rica, it is low-rise with impressive green credentials. The owner, an ex-Peace Corps volunteer and an environmental activist left a 30-acre biological corridor around the property with the rainforest grounds sustainably maintained.

Wildlife is literally on your doorstep, as ridiculously cute squirrel monkeys perform acrobatics in the trees. The hotel’s motto is actually “still more monkeys than people.” You can’t get closer to nature than the open-air studios with no AC, no TV and no glass windows but with breezes that will keep you cool, and wild forest sights and sounds will keep you entertained (think iguanas, sloths and toucans co-starring with mini-primates).

What could be more environmentally responsible than a recycled accommodation? Here you can stay in an old passenger airplane – still in mid-air (kind of). The “727 Fuselage Home” is a suite 50 feet up in the jungle, with two beds and two baths, accessed by a private staircase with balcony views of the sea.

The hotel’s other aviation-themed talking point is a C-123 cargo airplane used in Nicaragua in the 1980s, which now serves as a restaurant and bar. El Avion, which was a CIA-funded Contra transport, sits cliff-side in peaceful retirement – if only those walls could talk…

Rates for the 727 suite start at $400/night plus tax; open-air studios $127/night plus tax; views, U.S. political scandal ghosts and wildlife shows included.

Places & Spaces is a travel guide that will inspire you to carve out a vacation on your calendar. All of the gorgeous locations and accommodations in our guide share our concern for the environment. From tent glamping to lavish built environments, fair warning, you’ll feel compelled to pack your suitcase.

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