That is why, in 2021, we are fully committed to going green! In fact, we are very happy to share we have been awarded a Silver Green Tourism Certificate! This is down to the amazing things our team have already been doing to switch to an eco-friendlier approach. However, there is still much more wecan do!
We want to share what we have already started doing, and what plans we have, so that we can inspire the same motivation from people across the region. This applies to our guests and owner partners too, so this is an initiative we are very excited about.
The community coming together
The backbone of this whole initiative is that it serves the whole community of the Algarve, and of course those who we welcome to the region throughout the year.
Spearheaded by our co-owners Joe Mountain and Anastasia Takield, SandyBlue’s mission is to lessen our environmental footprint without compromising the quality of our guests’ experience by increasing the use of more eco-friendly, sustainable methods of operation. Today, a green footprint is important to so many people, even the most seasoned of travellers.
Working together is key. One exciting partnership we have established is with Casa Brava, a fantastic company in Loulé. Producing soaps with local ingredients in a sustainable way, we will be providing their products to our guests. We believe this is the first of many great partnerships SandyBlue will be involved with.
Keeping everything local will really help in our approach to the community. Using local suppliers, switching to locally sourced, eco-friendly amenities and encouraging best recycling practices from local producers is something we’re very excited to be part of.
Green initiatives to get involved in
There are so many ways to start the eco-friendly journey and our team is trying to get involved in as many as we can.
For our owners, we have been offering an exclusive window cleaning service all year around. We are using the Pure Water Filtration System for window cleaning, which means there is no need to squeegee the water from the window. It delivers outstanding results while remaining environmentally friendly with no chemicals required. This service is not limited to our owner properties – we have expanded this offering to everyone in the Golden Triangle, so they too can have clean windows and do their part in making eco-friendly changes.
At our properties, we will be reducingwaste by eliminating single use plastic, moving to paperless operations, and introducing a new recycling initiative. We are already using highly efficient appliances (A+) and LED lighting has been installed in most office areas and exclusive properties.
As mentioned, we are also concentrating on the local wildlife! The team are sponsoring a Chameleon egg hatching initiative and are currently awaiting the hatching of eggs! We are also promoting more nature related activities to guests. This is to support a local charity Rias (Ria Formosa wild animals research & recovery centre.) SandyBlue guests will also be offered an opt-out charge of 1€ that will be donated to this charity.
The future is green
SandyBlue want to see a positive social and environmental impact, so we are implementing these new eco-friendly initiatives to demonstrate our commitment to sustainability. We cannot wait to go on this journey with the community, property owners and our guests!