Sustainable tourism in Le Marche

At Villa San Raffaello we are keen advocates of sustainable tourism and try to be as kind to the beautiful Le Marche environment as possible.

We are sure that you will agree that a holiday at our Le Marche Villa is responsible travel and hope our attitude to the use of precious resources and our collaboration with the local community will reassure our guests that their holiday is a green holiday.

Responsible travel Italy- recycling & insulation

During the renovation process the building was thoroughly insulated to reduce winter fuel costs and to maintain pleasant year-round ambient temperatures without the need for air conditioning. Absolutely all old materials were recycled; bricks, tiles and doors have been reused and wood that couldn’t be reused became fuel.

We have invested in a new wood burning central heating system which reduces gas usage at the self catering property by 80% and is fuelled using sustainable local wood sources. We let a local organic farmer use our land in return for wood and Wild Boar when he has it.

Water is supplied to the house from the mountains nearby and the Villa’s own waste is filtered and excess water returns to the land. We have a doorstep recycling service and have installed our own bins for plastic, paper, glass and tins. We urge guests not to buy plastic bottles of water, nut to drink the delicious tap water that is the same as what is found in the bottles.

We use energy efficient light bulbs for lighting. In short, we hope that all we are doing will ensure that our tourism is sustainable tourism.

Responsible travel also becomes a low cost holiday option as our reduced energy usage, whilst great for the environment, has also enabled us to pass savings on to our guests. Our ecotourism efforts have been rewarded by an entry into Responsible travel website.

Sustainable travel Italy – Organic farms and permaculture

There are no such things as Food Miles at the Villa as we have attempted to adopt permaculture principles and devoted an area of farmland to our abundant organic vegetable garden and vineyard. Our approach to sustainable travel includes composting of all guests vegetable matter; which is used to fertilize the vines and crops. Pollarded trees are used for bean and tomato canes, willow trees have been planted to enable fronds to be used for vine ties and all dead wood becomes fuel.

Guests are welcome to pick their own herbs, fruit, nuts and vegetables. In past years these included walnuts, hazelnuts, figs, cherries, plums, tomatoes, potatoes, parsnips, swede, beetroot, chard, onions, garlic, chillis, eggplant or aubergine, peppers, cabbage, chickory, lettuce, rocket or rucola, fennel, broad beans, peas, chick-peas, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, sage, marjoram, basil, rosemary, bay, thyme, lavender and mint.

We also planted a vineyard of Sangiovese, Merlot and Syrah and our vines have started yielding the first Villa San Raffaello vintages. Last year 300kg of grapes produced 200 litres for future guests to enjoy.

Responsible travel & localism in Le Marche Italy

Localism has suddenly become trendy and thankfully the transition town movement is encouraging local sustainablility and sharing, but in Italy it never went away.

There are also no food miles on most of the local food as Sarnano historically had a big cattle market and the tradition lives on with the 8 butchers, local food shops and the market.

Most local Le Marche vendors have strong links to the farms that supply them and know their produce well. There are also many specialists within a stones throw of the Villa producing cheeses, wines, salamis and prosciutto. We always promote these local shops and encourage guests to buy the food and fayre produced by local artisans.

We are involved with local tourism, produce guides to local ristorante, events, places to go and things to see. Just browse the site and read about the incredible resources at your disposal on a holiday in Le Marche.

We also offer holiday packages and offer the services of local guides and chefs at cost price.

Sustainable tourism & the Sibillini National Park Le Marche Italy

The Villa lies 1 kilometre from the Sibillini National Park that protects the wildlife and medieval villages in this beautiful stretch of the Apennine Mountains to the South West of Le Marche. We provide guests with a range of resources to allow them to explore this stunning area and its incredible flora, fauna, architecture, lakes, rivers, gorges, refuges and restaurants

Responsible travel- Carbon offsetting

2009 saw the villa planting over 30 trees as they devour 10 times their weight in Carbon. Most of these trees were Ash as they have the fastest growth to Carbon absorption rates. We hope that by taking this step we can offset some of our guests carbon emissions.