Our French Broad River whitewater rafting company.

Blue Heron Whitewater is a North Carolina whitewater rafting small business with goals of providing superior experiences for our guests in a manner that is sustainable for the company, the owners and employees, as well as the river and the surrounding natural area.

When building our new whitewater rafting facility we invested and used sustainable practices and materials whenever possible.

• There were two old barns on the property when we moved in. Unfortunately they were not usable due to age and condition. We recycled or reused as much of the lumber and tin as we could. We smoothed and de-bugged some of the oak from the old tobacco barn and used it on the store front. An old chicken box from the chicken barn is used as a river shoe display.
• The building's design is open and airy to help with airflow and cooling without air conditioners, and to help with the drying of PFDs and other wet river gear.
• The decking boards are made with recycled plastic bags (Trex).
• Waterless urinals in the men's room.
• Solar Power! We had solar panels installed and they are now adding electricity to the grid.
• Other little things like recycling cans, bottles, paper. Reusing plastic grocery bags for your wet clothes or new t-shirt. Energy efficient LED lighting.
• We compost as much as we can.
• We use soap concentates to lessen our use of plastic soap bottles.

We are committed to being good stewards and using sustainable practices whenever possible. If you have any ideas along those lines please let us know.