Eco-friendly Goals & Achievements - The Boulder Mandala Community Center
Ecological Design
The Mandala Center wanted to walk our talk from the outset and we have consciously designed our Integrative Medicine Clinic, Yoga Studio and Meditiation hall to have a low impact on the planet and to have a high indoor air quality. To this end, we have selected recycled materials from Resource 2000 and craigslist.com, natural floorings such as wool carpeting and cork flooring, low wattage halogen lighting and ecologically-sound low-offgassing paints. We worked with our architect, Brian Fuentes of Fuentedesign, to redesign an old building from the 1930's with space and material efficient design while using ecologically friendly materials. Jeff Combelic of JDC Construction managed our myriad bunch of yogis and healers to put Brian's design into reality. We hope our center will inspire others to build consciously and raise the bar for places of healing to take the environment into consideration.
Yoga Props
We also offer naturally sustainable props in our center because yoga is about healing the body and healing the planet. The ecoYoga mat is made of all natural ingredients: jute (a plant), and natural rubber, which is tapped from trees like maple syrup. Unlike other rubber mats on the market, the ecoYoga mat contains only non-toxic, naturally occurring materials. Most Yoga mats are made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride), a highly toxic plastic. The manufacture of PVC creates dioxins, one of the most potent carcinogens accumulating in our environment today. PVC mats also contain toxic additives, which can off-gas during use. Should you need them, our light and user friendly cork yoga blocks once again bring the benefits of the naturally sustainable cork material along with the health benefits of natural products.
Cork Flooring
Cork has been used as a flooring material for more than one hundred years. Cork flooring is durable, it provides acoustical and thermal insulation, it cushions the foot, it is resistant to moisture damage and decay, it is fairly easy to clean, and it is harvested from trees in a sustainable manner. Though imported and thus energy-intensive to ship to North America, cork flooring is worthy of consideration for use in low-environmental-impact buildings. You will be able to enjoy the delightful cork floor in our yoga/ meditation center and in the lobby of our Integrative Medicine Clinic. This naturally sustainable floor emits a soft, warm underfoot quality, which is great for those who are a little vigorous in their yogic jump backs. Cork also has a natural sound deadening and insulation characteristic. Cork is also naturally anti-microbial, and resistant to mold and mildew.
Ecological Pharmacy
Our Integrative Medicine Clinic is the only in the country that has a direct relationship with a Certified Organic farm which grows medicinals used at our clinic. We work with the farmers up at Earthstar Farm to maintain a herbal pharmacy of both bulk herbs and extracts which are certified organic and sustainably grown in our watershed. Of the herbs we import from overseas, we use suppliers that independently test their herbs for pesticide and herbicide contamination and heavy metal residues. We are in the process of establishing satellite clinics with organic farming relationships in Mexico, Nepal and Belize where we will be able to help local communities and provide herbs which don't have a local analogue. Our Clinic has pledged not to carry endangered plant species (see the link to United Plant Savers) and has a staff qualified to prescribe local alternatives to these species.
5% Return to our Community
The Clinic has pledged 5% of the Center's profits to non-profits working in the realm of Sustainability and Ecological Medicine both locally and internationally. We give a percentage to the Boulder Institute of Sustainability, which is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization providing hands-on experiential learning in the realms of sustainable land stewardship and sustainable community. Their mission is to create a culture of visionaries who learn from and design with nature, while teaching and modeling an integrated system of sustainable design of to address real world problems. We also give a percentage to a new organization called the Barefoot Doctors, which staffs Integrative Medicine clinics in communities underserved by medical care. They have already helped set up the first clinic in Jalmalonga and seek to create a cross-cultural exchange sharing of healing and medicines with both Native cultures and remote villages.
Wool Carpeting
A floor made from the backs of sheep, how cool is that? Known as the red carpet of flooring, wool carpets and rugs are the best flooring for the indoor environment. Wool, unlike synthetic fibers, rapidly absorbs common contaminants in indoor air like formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. Not only does wool keep the air free of many harmful pollutants, it will not re-emit them, even when heated. In fact, it has been estimated that wool carpets can continually purify indoor air for up to 30 years. We at the Mandala value the contribution of this excellent flooring that will be reflected in the improved health and comfort of those in our environment. Conventional carpeting has major environmental impacts both on the interior air quality (many conventional carpets offgas at such a rate that it can make the interior air quality of a house worse than the most polluted city air) and the larger ecosystem (conventional carpets are manufactured from fossil fuel and are non-biodegradable with over 1.8 million tons of carpet disposed of in landfills each year).
Feng Shui
Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement based upon a philosophy of the movement of chi or natural energy through our environments. By following the patterns of nature, a practitioner will advise on the placement of everything from an individual object in the home or workplace to the positioning of a building upon property. Feng Shui shows us how to support the flow of energy in our lives to augment health and prosperity. Chantal Monte, our resident Feng Shui practitioner, has advised on our center and you can stop by and say hello to the wonderful salt water fishies who will bring you good fortune!
Conscious Commuting
For patients who travel to the clinic via alternative transportation, the clinic offers a dollar discount on any treatment done at the clinic. For those eco-conscious students, we will be offering a 50 cent discount on any class where alternative transportation is chosen. This includes biking, walking, using buses or driving a biodiesel car. Our convenient location in central North Boulder right off of major bus routes makes this very possible. We support a fuel for the future, whether by pedal or by vegetable power, we encourage our community to start thinking about fuel for the Seventh Generation (and its not going to be petroleum!)
