California - 2008 Official State Visitor's Guide and Travel Planner - (Page 32) enjoy » indulge » spa going green California spas add natural treatments and sustainable practices hen I think “green,” I think organic. I think sustainable. So I wasn’t sure what to think of Glen Ivy Hot Springs L thermal], a popular day spa located at the base [ of the Santa Ana Mountains in Corona. But I was intrigued enough to go out and give it a try. The resort, with 17 pools spread out over 11 acres, is so large that it’s a little intimidating even figuring out where to begin. I start off with a soak in the warm mineral waters followed by the spa’s signature treatment—a dip in the red-clay mud bath, the only such therapeutic mud bath in the state. This is all pretty organic, but what, CALIFORNIA’S GREEN SPAS I ask my attendant, makes The Bathhouse at this spa “green”? Calistoga Ranch It’s not so much the Gaia Day Spa treatments, he says, as the Glen Ivy Hot Springs way the spa is run. He Osmosis Day Spa points out the low-flow Sanctuary faucets and showerheads and mentions that the resort recycles its waste and uses green products, like unbleached paper. It turns out, Glen Ivy is one of four California spas that are founding members of the Green Spa Network L green spa], [ a group dedicated to using environmentally sustainable practices in the spa industry. So I put on an old bathing suit and climb into the thick red goo of the mud bath, then hang out in the “Wafa,” a warm drying-off room, before showering it all off. But the real treat is a visit to the Grotto, an underground enclave where an attendant applies a blend of aloe and sea kelp to my body. After rinsing, I find my way to a cool misting chamber, where I’m offered a crisp green apple. How very organic—and very green. DAVID LANSING 32 W CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Amble the garden path between spa treatments at Glen Ivy Hot Springs; plunge into individual sulphur baths; mud mask of Glen Ivy’s signature red clay. Enter L keyword in Search box at visitcalifornia.com Laura Flippen http://www.visitcalifornia.com
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