Lake Como B&B, Italy
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
The building is inside a regional park, where many animals, such as foxes, dormice, badgers, squirrels and many species of birds and snakes, live and reproduce.
In order to preserve their habitat and natural environment, we have left part of the woods undisturbed, chopping down trees only when they are dangerous, mowing the grass only on some of the paths and letting the wild flowers grow to attract the bees that are kept by a neighbor who produces honey.
In our vegetable garden we have a rule: part of our seasonal products are for the animals, and, knowing that, we don't get angry when, going to pick up lettuce, we find our that it had already been eaten!
Being located on the top of an hill, means that the ground quickly becomes dry because the water drains down.
That's why the B&B has a constructed wetland system which allows us to purify and recycle waste water, as well also collect rainwater, so that mains water is only used when essential.
For the production of hot water, we only use sun, wood and wood pellet. In order to minimize waste, we have made new furniture from old wood or recycled furniture.
Recycling is a must: apart from separating garbage and sending it to the local "ecological area", we make our compost in that will be used as a fertilizer. It goes without saying that our electricity supply comes from only renewable sources.
In renovating the building, we reused materials that had been used for the original building or that are found in the local surroundings:for wood, chestnut and larch, local stones and old terracotta.
Being a listed building we were only allowed to insulate the roof so we have equipped the House with high performance heating systems and high efficiency appliances.
Unfortunately, the only convenient way to reach us is by car. Of course you can also arrive by bicycle, but must be fit because there is a steep road!
Once you are here, there are many ways of spending your days without the car, if you are keen on walking, mountain biking or of resting on a nice olive tree bank, overlooking the various shades of green around you!
Our food supplies are fair trade, organic and local where possible. We also produce our own organic fruit and vegetables.
Community
We freely provide friends and local restaurants with our overproduction of vegetables (tomatoes, courgettes, string beens, peas, potatoes, pumpkins,etc), and in autumn with chestnuts for the local festivals. In our garden we grow ancient and rare species of vegetables and fruits in order to promote their knowledge.
We work with local people employed to help us with different chores, looking after the property and the garden.
We are in contact with a local project that intends to stimulate creativity and re-use instead of consumerism and waste. They have developed workshops for schools where children – often accompanied by adults - are taught to make use of materials derived from discarded industrial products in order to create new objects holding an optimistic and ecological way of living.
We are planning with them to build a children playground made of recycled materials.
Being close to the Sanctuary of Drezzo, we often open our private road for old and disabled people who can more comfortably reach the church for celebrations and ceremonies, that are hold during the summer season and to which our guests can take part.
A member of our board of directors is a volunteer of the Red Cross and of the town council.
We collaborate with the park technicians in safeguarding and promoting the natural heritage and intresting areas of the Park.
We support ecological information and provide a base for learning how to take care of our environment.
We belong to "Slow Tourism" and "Lega Ambiente Turismo", two organizations that promote a more responsible way of traveling and a lower environmental footprint.
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