Sustainability

SUSTAINABILITY

A charm Hotel with a strong environmental awareness

Sustainability is a part of Areias do Seixo's DNA in every sphere of action.

From management strategy to trivial daily life...

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

A lovingly tended garden, made with love! An organic garden, rich in fruit, vegetables, eggs, aromatic herbs, flowers and many other natural products which we use at the hotel: fibrous plants for bindings; leaves and stalks for decoration; essential oils for massages… A way to bring Nature ever closer to us.

PERMACULTURE AND AGROFORESTRY

Inspired by the principles of Permaculture and Agroforestry, our garden has its own ecosystem where butterflies, lizards, frogs, bees and birds all have a special place and role. In fact, we are trying to imitate nature itself so that it will become an efficient, self-sustaining system, requiring the lowest input of human hand, to achieve the maximum output of produce.

COMPOSTING

Composting… All the organic waste is redirected to our composting centre, daily. With time, they are turned into natural chemical-free compost, used afterwards on the garden.

ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION

During the whole process of construction, and from the very biggening, good practices were considered to promote a harmonious and respectful marriage between landscape and building, also, to mitigate environmental impact and ecological footprint. The architecture and design were conceived taking the morphology of the land - a natural amphitheatre, into account, allowing the building to have less volume. We used rubble and wreckage from what was previously on the land – an old aviary – as pavement base.

DECORATION

Based on the Upcycling concept. We reuse and attribute new purposes to old objects that otherwise would have been disposed as pieces of trash. Some examples: old sifters, rusty bikes, straw baskets, plumbing pipes, railway wood, scaffolds, fishing nets.

RESTAURANT

Seasonal Menus… Our menus change not only according to season, but also, with our garden production rhythm.
Sustainable practices… We abolished every single-use plastic, namely straws and water bottles. Also, adopted compostable napkins.

NATURAL FIRELIGHTERS

The orange peels, from the breakfast orange juice, are dehydrated and used as firelighters on the rooms and villas’ fireplaces, along with pinecones (we do not use artificial firelighters).

AMENITIES

There are no disposable amenities, rather refillable bottles; no mini bar with small disposable bottles; no air conditioning; and no TV screens, instead, huge windows to appreciate the magnificent show of Nature outside.

ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Geothermal energy as acclimatisation system – a thermal circuit that allow us to efficiently use the earth’s temperature and distribute it throughout the building floor and water heating.
We used cork as insolation on the walls – the cork is an abundant resource in Portugal.

POOL WATER

We managed to forward several springs – found during the construction phase, plus rainwater, into the existent well. Assuring that these are reintegrated on our water supply channels. Pool water comes from an existent whole on the property, and it’s heated through solar panels along with the geothermal energy.

OTHER MEASURES:

SUPPLIERS

We favour local suppliers, bulk shopping, returnable packaging, and larger quantities. We avoid purchasing products that come with waste and overpackaging.

RECRUITMENT

We privilege people who seek a stable and long-lasting relationship with Areias do Seixo, who share the same sustainability values and practices. We also favour locals and/or people who are willing to move to the surrounding area and somehow intervene positively.

QUALITY POLICY

Annually, we define financial and environmental objectives, indicators and goals to which the Management and all employees are committed. These objectives include sustained growth and positive net results.

AREIAS DO SEIXO BY NATURE

PERMACULTURE

It’s all about respecting Nature and the surroundings...

And try to give back as much as we take.

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