Here, we are committed to minimizing our impact and environmental footprint, and raising our guests’ awareness about the importance of adopting sustainable practices during their stay.
We are committed to creating a unique experience for our guests that combines comfort, convenience, and sustainability. Our goal is to provide a warm and relaxing environment where our guests can enjoy their vacation, nature, and outdoor activities, trying to minimize or even cancel the environmental impact.
To do this, we have adopted a series of sustainable practices, such as the use of recycling systems, composting, and ecological cleaning products, among other measures that help reduce our environmental impact. In the near future we want to install solar panels so that we can increase the consumption of renewable energy, and create our organic vegetable garden with aromatic plants ready to sweeten your meals.
In addition, we believe that awareness is key to promoting a culture of sustainability.
We invite you to join us on this journey towards sustainability. We hope that your stay will be enjoyable and inspiring, and that we can together contribute to the preservation of the environment. Welcome to our little “sanctuary”!
Daily practices in CALMA
- We respect nature and all animals;
- We do not collude with animal exploitation activities: we do not suggest activities to visit captive animals, be they recreational or sporting, nor do we engage in practices that disturb their life in their natural habitat;
- We do not work with organizations linked to sport hunting or other activities that cause suffering through recreation;
- We do not purposely kill or harm any sentient being – not even spiders, mosquitoes, etc. -, nor do we use insecticides. We recommend guests that when these critters appear indoors, to put them outside without killing or harming them.
- We favor the use of local, organic, and domestic products, minimizing the costs to the environment and to all sentient beings that come from imports, transportation, industrialization processes, and the use of chemicals;
- Where possible we reject plastics and other single-use materials;
- We provide some vegan recipe books, some medicinal teas and some information about a more sustainable and healthy diet;
- We have recycling bins so that guests can do the correct waste separation;
- We suggest guests to collect used cooking oils in an oil pan that is available to be turned into ecological detergents;
- We encourage composting;
- For disinfection, cleaning of spaces and washing of clothes and dishes, we use products from EcoX (a Portuguese company that makes natural detergents from used cooking oils);
- The amenities we provide for our guests are free of plastic packaging, in solid form, chemical free and produced and marketed by a small Portuguese family business;
- The toilet paper we provide is recycled; We recommend that you reduce the use of toilet paper;
- The taps in the WC’s and kitchen have flow reducers;
- In each toilet there is a bucket to collect the water that would be wasted while waiting for the shower to heat up and that can then be used for other purposes (to flush the toilet, for example);
- We measure and strive to reduce water and electricity consumption;
- All the pillows we use as well as the comforters are synthetic (i.e. no animal feathers).
What can you do?
- Respect the lodge’s sustainability rules and follow recommended practices to minimize environmental impact during your stay.
- Turn off lights and electronics whenever you leave the room or common area, and reduce water use whenever possible.
- Separate garbage according to the instructions provided by the accommodation, and separate recyclable materials from organic ones.
- Use public transportation or bicycles to get around, whenever possible, and explore the area on foot.
- Try to use biodegradable, environmentally friendly cleaning and hygiene products.
- Avoid using plastic bags for shopping. Use reusable bags.
- Don’t feed the animals, especially the wild ones, and respect the safety distance.
- Do not remove plants, stones or other natural elements from the environment.
- Use reusable or biodegradable containers to store and transport food and drinks.
- Buy local, preferably organic and sustainably produced products to support the local economy and reduce the environmental impact of transportation.
- Save water when showering and brush your teeth with the tap turned off.
- Use the lodge’s resources, such as organic gardens and composting, and participate in environmental education activities.
- Enjoy nature without leaving any traces, don’t throw garbage or objects into the environment.
- Go hiking only on marked and authorized trails, and don’t leave the trail to preserve the natural environment.
- Be aware of your role in preserving the environment and inspire others to follow sustainable practices as well.
We thank you for choosing to stay with us and hope that your experience was memorable. We know that small actions can make a big difference and we are happy to know that we are together in the fight to preserve the environment.
Taking care of the planet is a responsibility of all of us and we are honored to have had the opportunity to make you aware of the importance of sustainability. Our commitment is to continue improving our sustainable practices and offer our guests an even more pleasant and conscious experience.
We hope that you can share your experiences and ideas with us, and that together we can build a more sustainable future for generations to come. Thank you for choosing our accommodation. Please come back again!
