Our commitment to sustainability, with the help of our guests, is what drives our every decision when it comes to how we spend our resources and what we focus on.
Water
Water is life and we treat and use it with that mindset.
We source our water from two boreholes on the property. We recycle and filter our black and grey water to irrigate and fertilise some of our olive trees using a plant-based water purification system.
Rainwater from our gutters is collected and stored in tanks to water plants, assist with reforestation and sustain other regenerative practices.
Our property was landscaped using drought resistant plants that are not only beautiful but also respect the natural environment and scarcity of water in the summer.
We invite guests to be mindful of water consumption. We have installed water-saving devices on our shower heads and toilets.
Energy
Natural ways of providing a sustainable source of energy for our daily comfort
Our property is mostly powered by solar energy and only when absolutely necessary do we connect to the general electric grid.
We installed 10cm of insulation on our roofs and all our windows and glass doors are double glazed, so as to ensure the highest possible level of insulation thus reducing energy consumption for heating/cooling.
Hot water and heating are provided by boilers burning environmentally sourced wood pellets, and ceiling fans keep the interiors cool. Walls and vegetation in front of the south-facing rooms provide natural cooling systems and help to lower the overall temperature during the hot summers.
We invite guests to keep doors, curtains and windows closed during the hottest hours of the day to ensure that the rooms remain cool, thus avoiding the use of air conditioning.
Carbon Neutral Footprint
We strive to always have a positive impact on our environment
We only use vehicles when essential and are almost 100% self-sustainable.
Soil is one of the best means to capture CO2 from the atmosphere and store it. It will then be regenerated by plants and microorganisms. This ensures the growth of more vegetation, which in turn captures further CO2 from the atmosphere.
Ninety percent of our profits are reinvested in our projects to regenerate the soil and promote vegetation cover regrowth and reforesting. We give one percent to One Trillion Trees and Plan International.
These projects include:
- Reforestation in bare areas with native trees.
- Plantation of nitrogen-fixing cover crops and trees.
- Managed grazing for our horses and donkeys.
- Use of equine manure as organic fertiliser.
- Building swales (shallow trenches dug along the land's contour) to capture water, avoid topsoil run-off, and reduce erosion.
Zero Waste
We rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle our waste so that it can give back or do no harm
Food: All our food waste is reused to:
- Feed the chickens
- Produce biogas, which creates usable gas and fertilizers
- Compost our vegetable gardens
Plastic waste: We use as little plastic as possible, purchasing everything we can in paper packaging and in bulk. We recycle the plastic we cannot avoid in the nearby town of Serpa.
Other waste: We recycle as much as it is possible and are always exploring centres where we can send our ink waste. Used batteries are discarded in recycling bins in Serpa.
Human waste: Grey and black waters are treated with aquatic plants and repurposed as fertilisers and irrigation water for our olive trees.
Waste baskets can be found throughout the center.
We educate our guests with printed material about our philosophy to achieve a zero-waste impact on the environment.
Everyone is welcome to Quinta Marugo and we do our utmost to ensure that our common living areas and accommodation are accessible to all.
The shared living areas are accessible for guests with visual impairments or mobility challenges. A wide wheel chair-accessible path leads from dedicated handicap parking spaces to the main building, to the dedicated bedroom and the Pagoda.
The hotel offers accommodation in a wheelchair-accessible room with en-suite bathroom including a roll-in shower with seat, hand-held shower and grab bars by the raised toilet.
For the visually impaired there are markings on the floor in the main area and to the designated bedroom to allow for independent movement in the common areas.
