Sustainable holidays

Living, lucky enough, in an area with an average of 3000 hours of sun a year, we can produce almost 100% of all the hot water we need, may it be just for the usage of hot water or to run our central heating system. Our solar panels lie comfortably on the roof and produce that much hot water without exhausting themselves, we never have to ask our heating system for support.

Our photovoltaic system produces our complete daily energy requirement through its optimal alignment and state-of-the-art technology. Comfort usually means high energy consumption (e.g. for the pleasant room temperature thanks to air conditioning). And even though we are not a certified organic hotel, in recent years it has always been our target to do something for the environment in this area as well. And so, we are now almost self-sufficient – only at night, when it gets dark, we have to resort to other forms of energy 🙂

Our location outside the village makes it impossible to be connected to the municipal sewage system. Therefore, we run our own small wastewater treatment plant and lead the clean wastewater, within the legally required specifications, back into nature – a cycle from which all parties profit.

In addition, the garden architecture has been adapted to the local conditions so that basically only a little water is needed for irrigation. Even in our desert-like climate, our wastewater treatment plant is big enough to water the garden sufficiently.

Even though it is a lot more work in a large house than it used to be in our little two-person household, our waste gets separated and recycled. Zero-Waste is probably an unattainable goal, but reducing waste, in general, is a daily goal for us. And packaging waste is a real challenge here in Spain. Therefore, we also encourage our guests, especially in the area of the Honesty-Bar (glass, cans, etc.) to participate and support us in separating the waste.

Since our region finally also offers ecologically degradable cleaning products and detergents, we have almost completely switched our product range here. All products are free from EDTA, phosphates, phthalates, nickel, and paraffin. Furthermore, they contain no optical brighteners, enzymes, ammonia, chlorine, or bleach. They are vegan and not tested on animals.

In addition, the products are sold in large bag-in-boxes, which leads to a significant reduction in our plastic waste.

In addition, one thing should be said at this point: biodegradable cleaning agents also remove dirt, bacteria, and viruses reliably – alcohol is the secret sauce 😉

We clearly focus on regional and seasonal produce from local growers. Among other things, this ensures short transport routes and very little packaging.

To guarantee a varied cuisine though we sometimes need to fall back on other products, ensuring you, that we will always decide on the best available product.

Personally, we are great fans of the Slow Food movement!

The icing on the cake was our decision to switch to a sustainable beverage supply for our guests, and for ourselves.
After we had already banned all cans and plastic bottles from the house during the pandemic and switched to reusable glass bottles, this was the next step that was due. Our drinking water is now filtered and treated and arrives, therefore (almost) straight from the tap. On request, the water dispenser supplies cold water, water at room temperature and cold sparkling water. That’s not only protecting the environment but also your bones … no more heavy lifting of water bottles and cases 🙂

In technical jargon, the device is called “mains-fed, sustainable water cooler dispenser”. In sales jargon, it’s called “AguakmZero”: no arrival and no transport, no garbage, no recycling, no towing, no effort, no nothing. And we call it (in German dialect) “Ehdo water” … the water that’s already there … and only has to be poured into the bottle (or glass).

We offer our guests various reusable bottles of different sizes, and everyone can tap as much water as they want. And they get really excited about our thermos bottles, which keep the water cold for a lot longer than you’d think. They’ve also passed the keep-the-coffee-warm test and are indeed very popular with guests. From 2023 on, you can even purchase them right here if you like 😉

Water was our major topic in 2022. We have also made a few adjustments for “ordinary” tap water. Water saving systems are now installed on sink faucets and showerheads throughout the house. Thanks to these methods, we will save about 35% water in the shower and 50% in the sink. The difference in the amount of water is hardly noticeable because the pressure has minimally decreased. The only thing that suffers is our garden, which has to deal with significantly less water. But we are making sure the treated process water benefits our plants…

Since to us, sustainable holidays also means traveling in harmony with nature and PEOPLE, we feel a responsibility here as well. We don’t need too many workers in the Cortijo (more likely we need more repairmen in this old house 🙂). But it was our heart’s desire to work with Locals. We were laughed at by a few people at the time, but looking back it was certainly the right decision. All of our partners work with official invoices (yep, the Spanish Economy needs tax money) and employees get a legal contract including social security, health insurance, and pension.

Because social responsibility is more important than ever in these times. Fairness, support, and cohesion are especially important in a small family business.

Our Cortijo El Sarmiento is legally fully registered at the Junta de Andalucia by the number CR/AL/000039.

As already mentioned above, we have never sought official certification as an organic hotel or a similar sustainability label for cost reasons. (It turns out that getting certified seems a pretty expensive proposition!)

At the beginning of 2022, however, we registered with Ecostars, who have been constantly checking us and awarding the appropriate stars ever since.

Ecostars also provided us with a very insightful analysis on how we can save even more water and implemented it straight away. And again, the quick implementation is far more important to us than an eco-label – which makes us still very happy 🙂