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Holiday Villa Rental in Trapani |
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Welcome - Holiday Villas - Your Holiday - Trapani Region - Travel Options - More Information - Feedback - Contact Us - Links
Responsible Tourism |
Our Green Credentials |
| We
are committed to improving our green credentials and to operate our business
responsibly with due regard for the environment. To this end, we've done
many things over the years to help the planet and are always looking to
imrove what and how we do it. We invite our guests to suggest other ways too. |
| Tree
Planting & Composting |
Sustainable
Produce |
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| We
are responsible for 3 of the tallest trees in the resort, all planted
back in 1975. Since then, we've planted 3-4 trees a year on our agricultural
land, alongside the produce we grow. We use locally sourced manure to
fertillise our soil and allow the local shepherd in with his flock to
keep the weeds low after harvest. We also encourage guests to offset
to their own flight emissions at ClimateCare,
or purchase a tree/plant for us to plant on our land. |
We
grow our own vegetables and fruit, Tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, olives,
apples, peaches, oranges, aubergines, grapes. When in season, some of
this produce is provided to guests in the welcome basket. Outside of
these times, we source our vegetables, meat and fresh produce from the
local grocers in Marausa or Paceco, the majority of who's suppliers
come from the Trapani Region. |
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Water
Conservation |
Lighting
& Appliances |
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The
villas are connected to the drinkable water mains and we encourage guests
to drink this healthy mountain sourced water, rather than buy bottled
water. Re-usable glass bottles are provided to store water in our fridges
during hot weather. All cisterns have been fitted with UK-style 'Water
Hippos' since 1998 to reduce the amount of water used in a flush. Our
extended family also use British 'water hippos' in their Sicilian houses
to conserve water. In the summer, water for the shower and hot water
taps is 60% heated by the sun. |
The
majority of internal lighting in both villas, together with the outdoor
lights were switched over to energy saving bulbs in 2005. Our manuals
for the villas urge guests to turn items like the TV/DVD player off
when not in use. Our washing machines and Fridges are energy efficient
models and we advocate using the roof to dry clothes on the fitted washing
lines. We experimented with solar powered garden lights in the 2000s
but are now investigating PV Solar Panel power systems for Villa Anna
as a whole and wind turbine options for Villa May. |
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Recycling
& Shopping Bags |
Bicycles |
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We
have recently installed facilities to make it easier for guests to recycle
their plastics, glass and metals and are from April 2010 providing stronger
re-usable canvas shopping bags for guests to use during their stay. |
Whilst
we do recommend car hire to properly explore Sicily - To encourage guests
not to drive locally, we have 4 free bikes available at Villa Anna for
daily trips to the beach and local shops. |
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Local
Economy |
Running
the Business |
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Running
a responsible tourist operation in this area means we can direct our
guests to markets and local shops and restaurants who source their produce
and wares locally. We guide guests away from the chain stores and supermarkets
and encourage them to visit the fish market in Trapani or buy fruit
and veg direct from the farmers roadside stall in Marausa next to the
fields in which it was grown. We employ a local person to carry out
the cleaning, investing in the community. We also let the local shepherd
use part of our land to grow food on for his family at no charge. |
All the paper we use to run the business with is recycled or sustainably sourced and our printer cartridges are all recycled. We try to print as little as possible now, instead providing PDF copies of our documents for guests to download. Our website provides repeated references and links to sites such as 10:10, ClimateCare and Seat 61. From 2010 onwards, one of our annual trips to Sicily from the UK will also now be done by train instead of plane. We use local builders, local ironmongers, carpenters, stonemasons and mechanics. |
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What
Our Guests Can Do To Help |
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•
Treat local people fairly and equally and tip appropriately. • Learn a little Italian and make an effort to use it. • Buy local produce from local shops and roadside farm stalls. • Drive less and make use of the bicycles provided at the villas. • Combine car shopping trips with return journeys from days out. • Try to buy foodstuffs with little or no packaging and re-use bags. • Be careful not to waste water or electricity. • Recycle waste responsibly using the facilities provided. • Don’t pick local flowers/plants or remove archaeological artefacts. • Offset your flight emissions by making a contribution online at ClimateCare. • Offset your flight emissions by buying a sapling tree at for us to plant on our land. • Compare getting to Sicily by Rail with flying options at Seat 61. Apply all of these actions to your everyday lifestyles to reduce your annual carbon footprint. Go one step further and sign up to 10:10 to reduce it by at least 10% in 2010 and beyond. |
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