Sustainability manifesto
Our Sustainability Pledge
It is a challenge to host friends and visitors in as popular an area as the Val D’Orcia, in Southern Tuscany, without straining the environment and disrupting the life of the community.
On the other hand, exploring new terrains, meeting people who have different life-styles, discovering the artistic and architectural treasures of a territory, indulging in the artisanal and culinary talents of its population and in the delicious produce of its land are enjoyable ways to widen our horizon and build ties with others.
“…personally knowing sites that have a high natural and cultural value is an important prerequisite for preserving and protecting them.”
When we travel with curiosity and candidness, we learn about the world, its people and ourselves. Moreover, personally knowing sites that have a high natural and cultural value is an important prerequisite for preserving and protecting them.
That is why at Podere Trafonti we are determined to practice hospitality and agriculture in an ethical and virtuous manner, with interest and respect for the natural environment, the territory, its animals and wildlife, its inhabitants and their culture.
“We invite you to travel with us and to let us benefit from your knowledge and experience.”
We are striving to use resources responsibly and efficiently, regenerate the land and be of value to the local community. We wish to create an environment, where we, our guests, the people who work here and around us and our natural surroundings can enjoy each other’s company and be enriched by shared experiences.
It’s a journey, and we are far from having reached the goal. We invite you to travel with us and to let us benefit from your knowledge and experience.
Sustainability Manifesto
As part of the process, these are some of the ways we pledge to engage responsibly and respectfully with our environment.
This is not an exhaustive list, but we hope it gives you a sense of how we try to live and work in harmony with our environment.
Feel free to ask questions and make creative suggestions that will help us further improve our way of being and doing things. We promise to give them our full attention.
With keen interest, we explore the territory, its history, culture, artistic and architectural treasures, its natural beauties and the talents of its artisans and producers.
We actively participate in the local cultural and social life, for example by sponsoring cultural events or volunteering in community activities. We are happy, of course, to share our knowledge and insights with our guests to enrich their experience.
We support the local economy by calling on local artisans, professionals and service-providers, and buying from family-run businesses and small shops.
We have found that many local professionals will go out of their way to provide quality services, to understand what we require and to follow up with friendly and generous post-sale services. When possible, we introduce bartering in our easier transactions.
“…we learn about the world, its people and ourselves.”
We privilege local, organic products for the food and drink we serve to our guests at Podere Trafonti
Because love goes through the stomach, as they say, and also because we wish to encourage the indigenous economy built around good quality, healthy and sustainable production – including our own modest organic harvests from the olive grove, the apiary and the vegetable garden.
Though it is not easy to reach Trafonti by public transportation and the use of a car for exploring the area is almost unavoidable, we propose that guests arrive by train to a nearby city and then rent a car.
We can also easily arrange for rental bicycles or e-bikes and are happy to advise on walks and hikes, including with experienced environmental guides, and on other activities that do not require a motorized vehicle, such as truffle hunting or foraging for wild herbs.
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”
We strive to be energy-efficient and to save water, in every way possible way. We have installed solar panels to feed into the electrical supply system and have invested greatly in insolating the buildings against excessive heat and cold.
We harvest rain and drainage water to irrigate our garden which has been planned for minimal water consumption. Bedlinens and towels are changed only when necessary or requested by our guests.
We recycle anything that can be recycled and compost what can be composted.
We privilege glass bottles for drinks and are minimizing the use of plastic, including for courtesy sets for guests. We use mostly environmentally friendly cleaning products. Our pool is calibrated to make the most efficient use of chemicals, within legal norms.
“Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Recover. Rethink.”
We have planted our vegetable garden according to organic permaculture principles which requires less human intervention and requires little watering.
Similarly, we grow a mix of flowers in the olive grove that provide green fertilization to the soil.
We greatly value biodiversity and respect our domestic animals and the wildlife around us, treating them with care and appreciation.
This is the reason why we have chosen to practice a bee-friendly and organic approach to beekeeping and to use only strictly indispensable amounts of insect repellents and other potentially harmful substances.
