Dear All,
Winter camp is underway but now we look ahead towards warmer months, soon our Summer Camps will be underway and in this article, we discuss Les Elfes Green and a few new environment awareness activities.
Welcoming over 5000 kids a year from all over the world, we have a big responsibility. A camp is a fantastic tool for children to develop a range of skills and a great place to learn about a vast number of topics, away from the classroom.
One topic we are especially keen on is our climate, the impact we have on our environment and in general, being more aware of how small changes can make a big difference. We, therefore, have looked at ourselves as a company and how we operate, leading by example as best we can, the challenge is certainly a big one.
We started with several changes, from stopping the use of disposable plastics and switching to washable reusables, reducing the amount of paper we use, and we plan to go fully electronic with our day to day admin with the use of notebooks, to better controlling the heating systems and lights.
We decided to introduce activities that could teach students about Sustainability
During our summer camps we have introduces one activity in each of our age groups that will involve educating the campers ion our local climate and some hands-on service type work:
Discoveries: The campers will take the cable car to Mt Fort, the highest point in Verbier at 3300m, the group will learn about the glacial retreat in the region, and in fact, up until 1999 there was skiing in summer at Mt Fort. The group will take part in some fun outdoor activities geared towards better understanding the effects of climate change, help children fall in love with nature, and to try and build eco-friendly habits for the whole family.
Explorers: The Explorers last year took part in our tree planting schemes, and this year we endeavour to go back to the same site and see how our young saplings have done, and to carry on with the scheme, understanding about how the local commune manages the forestry and the scale of work involved is both hands-on and a great learning experience.
Pioneers: New to the Pioneers program is the Eco Project afternoon, Les Elfes is partnering up with Verbier Green where Josh and his team have been busy ‘to provide clear and concise materials to help business’s, private residence & Chalet companies recycle ALL materials, including plastics and food waste’ Understanding the scale of their task in Verbier, what they do behind the scenes, and importantly how they are having an impact on both the environment, as well as optimizing local business’ resources is really interesting and of course, the group will be hands-on and outside!
The actions we have taken, in more details…
- Recycling
GASTROVERT
Since 2011, Satom SA has been offering the collection of wasted food and its transport to the Methanation plant in Villeneuve. Once there, the wastes are used for the production of biogas, green electrical energy, heat, and compost.
- Using renewable energy
HYDROELECTRIC
At Les Elfes more than 94.4% of the energy used comes from renewable hydraulic energy. For a few years now, we have been part of Electra Hydris from ALTIS, a Blueelec labelled product resulting from the production of hydroelectric energy.
With the idea of analysing the amount of food waste, Les Elfes became an official partner of Devore in 2019. KITRO, a special appliance from Devore, has been installed in Les Elfes kitchens to calculate the quantity of food that is thrown in the bins. After a few months of data collection, we will be informed of the results and actions to diminish the waste of food will be taken.
Moreover…
Food
- Les Elfes chefs have reduced the amount of meat on the menu, with of course retaining the nutritional requirements of a busy winter or summer program.
- Our food waste is also recycled, in fact in Switzerland on average each person is responsible for 190 kilograms of food waste per year, our aim is to greatly reduce this, by hygienically reusing food that would otherwise have been thrown away. For example, if the kitchen cooks 100 chicken breasts, and we only serve 70, then the remaining chicken is kept and used for chicken & mayo sandwiches the next day instead of throwing them away. We remind you, we NEVER use food that has already been served!
- We also look at ordering food from more local providers. All of our bread, dairy, meet most of our veg is from Switzerland or France, thereby, limiting the journey time our food takes to get here.
- Fresh food! Cooking and making our own food is greatly beneficial for the environment.
Campuses & Offices
- We are trying to go paperless as much as possible, this is a real challenge, and more of a long term target.
- Outbuildings are checked each morning, and the heating is turned down low, lights turned off, and these small changes have a positive impact. Please read the signs on the back of your bedroom doors.
