Villa Pape is a green, family-run, bed and breakfast in the gorgeous picturesque town of Trogir.
Villa Pape is a green accommodation recognized and certified by several sustainable organizations and is also involved in the eko-partner project as participants and advisors. By implementing green practices, such as water conservation, solid waste recycling and reduction, energy conservation and pollution prevention, Villa Pape not only complies with Eko-Partner and Green-Travel-Market Standards; but also, goes one step further to improve and protect the environment.
“Living sustainably, seems like common sense to us, it is how we grew up and how everything was done in the village; everything was re-used, everything had a purpose, waste as such, was a foreign concept. So, our definition of sustainability is doing simple daily activities to ensure the continued survival of the community and environment that supports us.”
Villa Pape was one of the first ‘green accommodations’ in Dalmatia, recognised by several sustainable organisations and individuals since 2005; since then they have continued to implement and improve sustainable measures every year.
The owners of Villa Pape, the family Rakic, have been involved in creating a unique Eco Label for Croatia, not only as participants in the project, but also as advisors; volunteering their time to the project and being involved in several conferences related to sustainability and eco-tourism – along with organisations such as: Sunce, Zelena Istra, Institute of Tourism, Cleaner Productions Centre University of Rijeka, UNEP-Split and the Ministry of Tourism.
What sustainable measures do you specifically take for Villa Pape to be considered a green accommodation?
In terms of our actions: we grow as much of our own vegetables and produce as we can; what we can’t grow, we buy locally – preferably organic, which in turn reduces food kilometres & associated pollution. We of course, recycle: paper, plastic, glass, cardboard and batteries, as well as composting organic waste. We use energy saving bulbs and have implemented a water reduction system in our pipes. We use natural and home-made cleaning solutions where possible and for anything else, we purchase ecological and bulk packages of cleaning products. We also use solar panels to heat the water which is used for the shower and washing machine.
For our guests – we ask them to leave only the towels that have been used in the shower or bath. Linen is changed weekly or on request to conserve water and electricity. We encourage the guests to use green modes of transportation – i.e. walking, renting bikes or using public transport and we promote local companies and products by using them ourselves and informing our guests.
We believe education and offering alternative green options is the best way we can make a difference. Our philosophy is simple: We are focused on social consciousness and education by producing goods or buying from the local market, encouraging our guests to use local products & services, reduce, re-use, recycle and giving all relevant information regarding Croatian culture and language (which is often poorly represented by international guides).
Are your guests receptive of your philosophy?
Generally speaking, yes; if you are searching out a green accommodation, you already have the right mentality. Germans and Scandinavian clients are definitely the best guests, they naturally operate with a social awareness and responsibility. However, Eastern Europeans still have a long way to go. We have set up our accommodation to make it easy for people to take the correct actions, even so, we find some groups still do not adhere to the systems we have put in place. It can be frustrating at best and feel defeating at worst, however, we have been doing this for more than 10 years and will continue to do our part to make a difference.
What are your major challenges?
Being the first green accommodation in Dalmatia was definitely an accomplishment, but it also means as the pioneers, we need to wait for the rest of Croatia to catch up in terms of mentality and infrastructure – we have come a long way, but there is still so much more we can be doing as a country.
It is also getting harder for people to find us now, with likes of booking.com, the market is saturated with larger organisations, but as a boutique Bed and Breakfast, it can sometimes be hard to compete.
After speaking with Ira, I was instantly impressed with her passion, hard work and dedication; it is nothing short of inspiring to meet people who have been working for years to make a difference.
So, what can you do to make a difference? Choose green accommodation and eco-tourism options wherever possible, AND, do your best to support the small, local businesses. Interested in learning more about Villa Pape, click here.
