"We're commonsense eco-friendly, not over-the-top eco-friendly," says Willem van de Veen, owner of Manawa Ridge, a three-room resort on the Coromandel Peninsula. Van de Veen keeps free-range cattle on the three-month-old property, which was built with recycled power poles. There are also six horses, so guests can ride along cliffs overlooking the Pacific. Home-theater systems suck juice from the grid, but wind power is in the works.
GREEN-O-METER: 2.5
The cattle make fine dinners but leave heavy hoofprints.
ACCESSIBILITY: 2
Three hours from Auckland. Doubles, $500; manawaridge.co.nz