Palm Beach County is more than beaches and resorts. It is also a leader in business, energy, environmental design, agriculture, and a sustainability champion. It is a destination where communities and businesses strive to protect the environment to ensure that everybody—residents and visitors—can enjoy the beauty of our area. From breweries to hotels, here is a list of hospitality businesses and tourist attractions that are making a difference for our county and for our planet.

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center 

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center is dedicated to the protection of coastal and marine ecosystems and to the rehabilitation of sea turtles. Located in southern Palm Beach County, the City of Boca Raton took special measures in the 1970s to preserve the five miles of coastline within its city limits and dedicated 20 acres to develop a hands-on interpretive program that would be beneficial to the environment and local community. This program eventually became Gumbo Limbo, a center which is now dedicated to the protection of coastal and marine ecosystems and to the rescue and rehabilitation of one of our ocean’s most popular reptiles: sea turtles. The center is nestled within a coastal preserve, right across the street from one of Boca Raton’s beautiful beaches, Red Reef Park. Gumbo Limbo Nature Center is surrounded by a rare remnant of tropical hardwood hammock. When you’re there, enjoy a walk on a boardwalk which travels 1/3 mile through the coastal forest and connects to Red Reef Park West. Take a stroll through the butterfly garden and admire several types of wild butterflies. Walk the Ashley Trail. Explore the large outdoor marine aquariums. Visit the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Facility and learn about the center’s sea turtle patients. Finally, purchase environmentally friendly gifts from the nature-themed gift shop. Admission is donation-based. *The Sea Turtle Rehab Program and its related facility areas are temporarily closed.

Saltwater Brewery

Founded in 2013 by a team of Floridians, Saltwater is a local brewery located in Delray Beach that uses only pure and natural ingredients. The goal of Saltwater is to preserve the ocean by giving back through ocean-based charities (CCA, Surfrider, Ocean Foundation, MOTE Marine Labs). Additionally, saltwater Brewery manufactures and utilizes only bio-degradable Eco Six Pack Rings (E6PR™) for its beer cans. The E6PR™ is the first eco-friendly six-pack ring made from fiber by-product waste and other compostable materials (such as wheat and barley), designed to replace plastic rings. When disposed of properly, the E6PR™ finds its way to a composting facility, where it will be broken down into soil, hence contributing to a circularity and striving for zero waste. Packaging is done on-site with the brewery’s in-house canning line, which includes an in-line labeling machine for seasonal and special releases. Visit Saltwater Brewery, relax in their beer garden, and choose between more than 20 beers on tap with some of their most popular being LocAle, Passion Pit, Sea Cow Milk Stout, and Screamin’ Reels IPA.

Manatee Lagoon FLP Eco-Discovery Center

Manatee Lagoon is where threatened Florida manatees gather in the warm-water outflows of Florida Power & Light Company’s (FPL) Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center, especially during cold weather (generally from November 15 through March 31). It is a place where visitors can learn more about FPL’s Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center and the role it plays in the manatees’ migratory habits. Besides watching these fascinating marine animals, visitors can enjoy several family-friendly activities, including children’s art classes focusing on species found in the Lake Worth Lagoon, yoga on the observation deck, educational programs for kids and more. The Manatee Lagoon has a strong environmental mission: It strives to educate the public about the relationship it has with these wonderful creatures, and to “inspire communities to preserve and protect Florida’s environment and wildlife for future generations.”

The Breakers

Founded by Henry M. Flagler on the sands of Palm Beach in 1896, The Breakers is a 140-acre luxury, oceanfront resort that delights guests with gracious service, unparalleled seaside glamour and world-class amenities including a private beachfront, four pools, acclaimed restaurants, an indoor-outdoor Ocean Fitness center, a stunning spa, shopping, golf and more. Across the resort grounds, The Breakers implements environmentally friendly practices to conserve resources and protect the environment, including energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste reduction. These ecologically friendly endeavors ensure an enhanced quality of life for future generations while maintaining the distinctive quality and world-class service that guests expect. 

Swank Specialty Produce 

Farm-to-table foraging is increasingly being implemented into restaurants, event venues, and catering menus. Swank Specialty Produce offers a large set-up of rotating seasonal produce from Swank Farm, providing farm-fresh, locally grown ingredients for restaurants while promoting self-sufficiency and wellness. The farm is situated on 20 private acres of natural crops of vegetables, wildflowers, and strawberries along with cows, pigs, and chickens. Visit Swank Specialty Produce and attend one of the Farm’s several, themed, multi-course, on-farm dinner series events. Or, plan your own event on the farm’s premises. Whether it be for a wedding, a dinner party, or one of a kind event, Swank Farm offers a magical atmosphere at an easy distance from key cities such as West Palm Beach, Wellington, and Jupiter. You can also find farm-fresh ingredients from the farm at many local restaurants including Florie’s at The Four Seasons, Sassafras and Elisabetta’s.  

Busch Wildlife Sanctuary 

Busch Wildlife Sanctuary is a nonprofit care facility for injured animals that brings wildlife and people together to develop community awareness of the value of Florida’s natural resources. The Sanctuary has a two-fold mission: wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education. Tucked away in Jupiter, this organization rescues, rehabs, and releases Florida’s native wildlife and educates Palm Beach County locals, visitors and beyond on the protection and conservation of Florida’s natural resources and Florida’s wildlife, including bobcats, panthers, black bears, deer, foxes, and bald eagles, to name a few. You can visit the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary Monday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Almond Palm Beach

Almond is an American bistro that combines the best of rustic French cuisine in a casually elegant atmosphere. Almond’s philosophy is “the less a chef does to an ingredient, the better.” The restaurant serves hearty dishes centered around local, seasonal, market-fresh ingredients. Every menu item is designed with an eye on farm-to-table freshness and every product they use is selected with sustainability in mind. This approach focused on farm-to-table roots and local growers reduces transportation costs and the impact of fossil fuels on the atmosphere. Almond has also an important sustainability focus as they compost all leftover vegetables. The restaurants works with Let It Rot, a composting group that takes Almond’s leftover plant-based food and turns it into compost. The compost becomes fertilizer which goes back into the local farms to grow the vegetables that are then used at the restaurant, completing a circle of sustainability. 

4Ocean

Based in Boca Raton, Florida, this company is on a mission to end the ocean plastic crisis. 4Ocean was founded in 2015 by two surfers, Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper, who began to understand the impacts of the ocean plastic crisis on marine life and the coastal communities during a trip to Bali. Once back home, they started producing and selling bracelets to fund their cleanups, and committed a One Pound Promise, a promise to pull one pound of trash from the ocean, rivers and coastlines for every product sold. Today, the company manages one of the world’s largest ongoing ocean cleanup operations and employs hundreds of professional captains and crews who are cleaning our world from plastics.

Florida Crystals

Florida Crystals in Belle Glade is America’s first and only domestic producer of certified organic sugar, grown and harvested in Florida. They also pioneered certified organic and natural rice production in the state. Their Okeelanta mill is a state-of-the-art complex that is among the largest specialty sugar facilities in the world. The mill is powered by renewable energy and doesn’t rely on public systems for its water supply or treatment. Moreover, Florida Crystals uses all parts of the sugarcane stalk that they harvest. The water is used in their mills, the fiber becomes clean energy, the molasses provides natural flavor, and the surplus bagasse is converted into compostable tableware by their affiliate, Tellus Products. Finally, Florida Crystals follows some of the most sustainable farming practices in the world, such as crop rotation, precision agriculture and using barn owls to naturally control pests in their farms.