Yoga Retreats in Valencia, Spain

Environment

- We actively recycle and Benissiva village has recycle bins which we use regularly to recycle plastics, glass, paper, cardboard. We provide bins for recycling paper, plastics and glass in the kitchen for guests to use here.

- We do not print brochures - instead we provide all of our information electronically via the internet.

- Any information we do print - whether about ourselves or the charity we support - ‘People For Animals’ is printed on recycled paper.

- All of the cleaning products we use here are environmentally friendly. We use products from Ecover or local companies such as Ecotech and Ahimsa.

- All washing is done at low temperatures.

- We actively ask guests not to waste water.

- Nearly everything here is locally sourced so as to use very little transport and so minimise effects on the environment.

- Most of our paper hygiene products - napkins, kitchen towels, toilet paper and so forth come from European companies which are committed to the environment and to recycling. Many of the products we use carry the EU Ecolabel. The EU Ecolabel helps identify products and services that have a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle, from the extraction of raw material through to production, use and disposal.

- Where we cannot get recycled paper hygeine products, we make sure that the alternative products we keep have FSC certification to ensure that they come from responsible forestry sources.

- Nearly all of our lighting is with energy saving light bulbs again to reduce the impact on the environment.

- Our yoga products are friendly to the environment. Our yoga straps are made from organic cotton so that pesticides and other chemicals have not been put into the earth where the cotton was grown. The yoga mats that we use are made from non-harmful plastics as well.

- We are very much involved in a charity in India called People For Animals. They have around 36 animal hospitals all over India including one in Mysore, India where we spend winter ourselves. We talk to students/guests who come here about the nature of ahimsa or non-violence and tell them about the charity. We also donate a small part of our profits to people for animals too. Our work with this charity conveys very well the nature of yoga and the underlying philosophy of yoga as well as being local to our winter home.

- We provide information on local walking routes here in the Valencian countryside to guests who come here.

- All of our food as well as our yoga straps are organic. These means that the cotton and the food are grown in an environment that is free from pesticides, chemical fertilizers and other products that are harmful to the environment, to the soil and to the consumer. Organically grown food is also higher in vitamins, bioflavinoids and other nutrients that are anit-oxidant. Our aim is to truly create a healthy environment where our guests and the soil can thrive.

Community

- We work hard to maintain two of the foundations of yoga practice - yama and niyama which are rules for social and moral conduct. It is therefore very important for us to have a positive connection with the local people in our community.

- Lots of our staff are local. Our chefs (Amparo and the team) cook the most amazing healthy and delicious food that you can imagine and are all from local villages and towns such as Orba and Denia. Our housekeepers are local too. Our handyman and gardeners are from Benissiva village too. Our drivers live in the Valencian Community.

- All of our fruits and vegetables are organic and sourced from local farmers. Many of our fruits and vegetables come from organic farmers in neighbouring villages. Our favourite fruit and veg comes from a local organic farmer called Oscar who grows everything on two large plots in the Valencian countryside of Javea between the River Gorgos and the Cami de Cabanes. We also have organic Valencian oranges growing here on the retreat centre and they are the most delicious oranges we have tasted! Using these local farmers for fresh produce reduces the impact on the environment in terms of transport and emissions. It also means that our food is much fresher and hence more healthy and that we provide money to the local community which is very important to us. Our dry foods also come locally from Spain as well - some even from nearby villages too.

- All of our staff are invited to the yoga, meditation and other classes and some of our chefs are really developing as yoga students as a result.

- When we can we provide a free yoga class to the local community here in Benissiva and to people from the surrounding villages.