Sutainable accommodation
Our project’s greatest asset is the natural environment in which it is located, surrounded by natural spaces such as and its vertiginous Nervión waterfall, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in Western Europe (9 kilometres by road from Caserío Montehermoso). There are also jewels to be found in the Nature 2000 Network (the mountain ranges of Árkamo, Salvada and Árcena as well as Valderejo, Sobrón, and the River Omecillo-Tumecillo ), protected at European level.
For all these reasons, the forests, mountains and crags that give us shelter deserve our admiration and respect.
Fortunately, Caserío Montehermoso is integrated into a landscape that has remained practically unchanged for many years, and we want it to remain a green space, so we have adopted the following measures:
- The renovation of the family farmhouse has been carried out following bioconstruction criteria. We have used lime mortar to cover the walls and we have given old furniture and objects a new life, including the entrance gate, which was made from wood recovered from the salt eras of Salinas de Añana.
- The heating in the farmhouse is biomass. We heat accommodation and shower water with firewood from our sustainable forests.
- We use energy efficient appliances and the lighting in the apartments is powered by LEDs, just like the streetlights in the local village.
- We provide our guests with natural vegan toiletries (shampoo, conditioner and shower gel).
- Our rural resort encourages waste reduction, recycling and the promotion of compost making among our guests.
We grow our own seasonal vegetables following ecological methods and we use those products and the berries from our garden in our breakfasts. - We promote environmental awareness in young people with a sustainable traveller diploma, which we award to those who meet the requirements that we have established (including not dropping litter in the countryside and even collecting other people’s rubbish like plastic, cans or glass that have not been disposed of properly).
- We have recycling bins on the grounds and each apartment also has its own compost bin. If guests want, we can teach them how to compost so they can continue doing so at home. To complete the cycle, we fertilise our orchards and gardens with the compost that is produced.
- We use natural, ecological and chemical-free products to clean the accommodation.
- We promote the cultural value of our town with guided tours that we arrange with a neighbour who is an expert in archaeology and ancient history.
- We endorse the main tourist attractions in both the valley and the Basque Country, including its gastronomy.
- We carefully consider the ecological footprint of our activity and we measure the ef-fects of each step that we are going to take, primarily by studying how it affects our town, its inhabitants and the entire Valdegovía Valley.
- It makes us very happy when our guests integrate into the peaceful life of Valdegovía and share afternoons and talks in the garden with our neighbours.
- When we need to hire the services of independent professionals, we look first to those who are closest, who generate employment for others with acceptable working conditions and to those in charge of small companies.
- We seek alliances with other entrepreneurs who hold similar social and environmental values and who promote projects that add value not only for themselves but for their environment.
- In September 2022 we installed a 6 kWp self-consumption photovoltaic system, which helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and enables us to continue reducing our carbon footprint and that of our guests.