subject: The New Alpine Chalet: Catered For The Environmentally Conscious [print this page] It's the dream holiday you deserve, a ski holiday in an Alpine chalet, catered accommodations, service deluxe and hobnobbing with the jet-set. But if your concern about the environmental impact of your choice of recreation is making you think twice, don't worry-ski resorts are now very different from the environmental disaster of yesteryear!
Many of today's Alpine resorts have wonderful, environmentally-aware choices for a chalet, catered or self-catered. In fact, the Three Valleys, Paradiski and other ski resorts in the French and Swiss Alps are now becoming quite involved in efforts to lessen their impact on the environment. This includes involving holidaymakers in their campaigns with awareness programs, and rewarding some for being environmentally aware.
Whatever your choice of chalet, catered or self-catered accommodations can be found in environmentally-friendly resorts. Here are a few ways to tell which ones they are.
Consciously Designed To Work With, Not Against the Environment
Just think: what do people look for in choosing a holiday chalet? Catered ones, of course, bank on premium service, offering the lap of luxury. For self-catered ones, it's the convenience of all the necessities for a wonderful ski holiday. But for many, the most important consideration is, of course, the climate and location. Alpine resorts recognise that their number one asset is their idyllic location and, of course, the powder that comes with it; which is why many of these are designed to work with the environment, in order to protect their primary assets.
If Meribel is where you choose to look for a chalet, catered or otherwise, you can be sure that you're not just in the biggest and what many consider to be the most beautiful village in the area-you're in one that was built respecting the traditional architectural style that appreciates the harmony between man, mountain and the environment.
La Tania is another great choice for a location for your holiday ski chalet. Catered and self-catered accommodations can be found in the middle of a spruce forest, with a large area that is classified as a protected ecological zone, of particular interest in terms of plants and animals.
Transportation and Energy
Another aspect to see whether or not you're choosing a location that is environmentally friendly is to investigate its attitude towards energy and transportation. Many resorts are now offering free public transport around the resort itself to cut down on carbon emissions, and some, such as La Tania, even take it a step further by making the village car-free zones, encouraging people to walk rather than drive, from the center to their accommodation. Many are opening public transport routes to resorts from airports and nearby cities to encourage visitors to keep to public modes of transport.
Shifting to alternative sources such as solar and biodiesel fuel is also gaining popularity among the Alpine resorts. In fact, many chalets have a system where their kitchen oil is collected by the resort for processing into biofuel.
Upgrades to Environmentally Friendly Equipment
Many resorts are upgrading their equipment and facilities to more environment-friendly ones. Installation of energy efficient ski lifts, which require less power to run and cause less pollution than out-dated diesel engines, is one of the improvements that has already been made. Also, many resorts are now employing electric-powered vehicles to transport employees to from place to place. Old snow guns are also being replaced with newer ones that require less fuel and water.
