Our Quandary
We sell holidays to some of the most beautiful parts of Italy and most of our guests fly to get there.
We know that air travel is a significant contributor to global warming. There are many other aspects of a holiday which influence carbon emissions and sustainability – car hire, accommodation, waste disposal and many more...
What we do now
We are a small operator and as such our impact on our local environment is small. Two thirds of our UK workforce walk and cycle to work every day. Our office has become almost paperless and we are committed to minimising waste.
We work directly with owners and are setting out on a program exploring ways in which properties can be more sustainable.
We travel to Italy regularly to visit our properties and owners. We are looking to address this (see below).
What we are doing in 2024
We feel that it is time that we did something, whilst we accept that it might not be enough, we are making a start.
We are teaming up with Trees4Travel and are committing to compensate for the CO2 emitted from villa stays booked with Essential Italy.
For every villa booked with Essential Italy we will plant 2 trees with Trees4Travel.
Each tree is partnered with an investment into United Nations CERs which compensates roughly 328kg CO2 through projects such as solar panels and wind farms. All trees are planted in developing areas to support local communities. We will also be working with Trees4Travel to cover all our travel and accommodation for any trips we make to Italy and for work – including business trips within the UK.
What you can do
We would encourage you to think about compensating the remainder of your holiday such as your air travel. Not only for your trip to Italy but with all your travel. You can measure your emissions and make a difference by pledging to reduce your emissions where possible, and then removing emissions where reduction isn’t possible.
Essential Italy Forest - Trees4Travel (Shows your commitment, where trees are being planted & calculator link)
When on holiday we would encourage you to think about a few things which really can impact your footprint.
Energy consumption – air conditioning units use a huge amount of energy. We get it that the summers are getting hot and sleep on holiday is important. However, is it crucial to leave the air con on while you are out and about exploring Florence or at the beach? Air conditioning with the window open, think...
Go local – try, where possible, to support local businesses and shops.
Where we are heading
There is no escaping the fact that we all need to think about our actions. We at Essential Italy are looking to work with our guests and our owners to improve and make a positive impact. Our aim is to get as many owners as possible to implement systems to reduce their environmental impact. Whether this be solar panels, water systems or waste disposal procedures. We plan to make our guests aware of the features of each villa.
