Our Philosophy is our way of life
At Rural Retreat France we live by our commitment to ecology, sustainability & minimising our impact on the environment. We work hard to reduce our footprint, whilst maintaining a high level of service for our guests.
We go above & beyond simply recycling & changing a few light bulbs – we organise our lifestyle & business around low impact behaviours & choices & support our guests to do the same.
We still have some work to do & have created a two year plan to address the bigger issues. We are very open to suggestions and ideas to improve our eco -credentials at Rural Retreat France. Let Sue know your thoughts here …
- What We Are Currently Doing
- Using refillable, eco-friendly toiletries, cleaning & garden products — no chemicals.
- Minimising plastic by buying loose goods & using cotton & paper bags.
- Recycling all plastic, tin, paper, foil, & glass; reducing general waste to a minimum.
- Composting kitchen waste, tea & coffee grounds, garden waste & brown cardboard.
- Using recycled, unbleached paper for tissues, toilet roll & kitchen towels.
- Buying seasonal, local produce & using homegrown ingredients.
- Freshly cooked, wholefood, vegetarian meals with zero food waste.
- Using gas & electricity responsibly, monitoring & reviewing consumption monthly.
- Fitting thermostats, timers & energy-efficient bulbs.
- Closing doors, curtains & shutters to retain heat.
- Changing towels and linens only at end of stay unless requested.
- Washing at 30°C on a short cycle & line drying the sun.
- Harvesting rainwater, going wild & making our own compost.
- Avoiding single-use plastics & unnecessary packaging.
- Providing refillable water bottles, proper crockery & cutlery.
- Banning single-use condiments, tea or coffee packs.
- Providing reusable bags, fridge containers, compost bins & recycle bins for guests.
- Furnishing with pre-loved furniture, kitchenware, clothing & materials.
- Buying & donating to local charity shops.
- Safely disposing of used batteries, bulbs & electrical items.
- Encouraging short showers, turning off lights & avoiding running taps.
Still to do!
Some of the major jobs that we would love to do – for example solar panels (an obvious choice here!), are outside of our current budget. However, we keep a close eye on government grant opportunities & continue to look for better ways to heat our water & our rooms. We have new motion sensor outdoor lights to fit for guests going to bed late at night. Lights being left on all night has been an ongoing issue!
Although air travel is the easiest, quickest & often cheapest to reach us from the UK, we are looking at ways to encourage more people to car share or use the high speed train that links with Eurostar.
For our 2026 season, we will print new signage, leaflets & notices to remind guests to compost, save water, recycle & use our bags for life. We are planning a new recycling area to make it effortless for all guests to recycle glass & food wrappings. Educating our visitors to respect our values & return home with good habits, is important to us …and failing that – repeat offenders will lose pudding privileges! 😁
