Our cottages are located in a beautiful, serene, and pure environment. To maintain the environment in the same way, these are a few practices that we have implemented and activities that we do from time to time.
‘Green’ Cottages
At our homestay, we are committed to preserving the beauty and purity of the natural environment. We have implemented various eco-friendly practices to maintain the same while also educating our guests and the local villagers about the importance of sustainable living.
Our cottages are designed to be ‘green’, relying on sunlight for energy and promoting the rational use of electricity to eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. We have also taken steps to conserve water by recycling 100% of the water used and preventing the runaway of rainwater to enrich the groundwater.
We compost all biodegradable waste generated and use it to maintain the gardens around the cottages. Our guests are educated to reduce waste generation, and non-biodegradable waste is disposed of as per government recommendations.
‘Green’ Hospitality
We run a homestay and this gives us a chance to meet new people and spend time with them. We use this opportunity to influence them to become green warriors. We are facing a climate crisis, and we need each and every person who can contribute anything to it.
We promote green hospitality by reducing our carbon footprint. We avoid plastic bags and wastefully packaged items and request our guests to do the same. Our tap water is potable, and we use simple filtration methods to avoid water wastage. Our guests are provided with fresh drinking water in glass jugs (though on request, we do provide packaged drinking water).
We also educate our guests on how to prevent water wastage and minimize their environmental impact during their stay. We use earth-friendly enzymes for laundry and cleaning, and the water used is reused.
Sustainable Farming (natural farming and organic farming)
Sustainable farming for us means environmentally sustainable before everything else. Organic farming is preferred where possible. We discourage the use of insecticides and pesticides. We give birds a natural ecosystem to thrive. They, in turn, pick up small worms from the fruit trees and keep the fruits healthy. Crop rotation helps in keeping the soil nutrition-rich. Even the organic waste from the orchard and cottages is composted and used.
Our farming practices have their roots in three similar philosophies of agriculture – the natural way of farming, organic farming, and bio-dynamic methods of farming. We promote using soil-improving cover crops like white dutch clovers and green peas. Companion plantation helps in achieving good outcomes. When you visit us, ask one of our family members to explain how we do it and we’ll be happy to demonstrate. We also have patches of permaculture in some parts of our garden.
We were able to influence some of our neighbouring villagers. They have also embraced environmentally sustainable farming practices, creating a sustainable ecosystem in the region.
Employment and Earning Opportunities for the Villagers
We give employment preference to local villagers. Most of our team is from the local village, and for us, their family is also like our own extended family.
Whenever anything needs to be done and we need outside help, we give priority to the local villagers. Be it help required at our cottages, basic garden maintenance, or technical jobs that require some training/experience. We believe that by empowering the villagers, we are creating a sustainable ecosystem for the region.
We provide them with earning opportunities by connecting their farms directly to consumers. By implementing from farm to the plate concept in our homestay, the villagers earn good money and our guests get to enjoy fresh farm produce.
We also encourage the village ladies to take up knitting and crocheting and sell their products online for an alternate source of income. Read more about this here – Hill Yarns
Helping the Birds
Himalayan birds differ from those found in other parts of India. Some of them are even endangered. In our orchards, we have ensured that some wild trees like oaks, deodars, acacias, etc are also present. These are natural places for building nests, by these winged friends of ours.
During the fruit season, we also keep telling people in the neighbouring orchards to leave some fruits on each tree. These are left for the birds to feed on. Magpies love pears and sour apricots. Various tiny mountain birds are fond of apples.
Tree Plantation
We have been doing tree plantation for the past many years. There are many bare areas where trees have been felled unscrupulously. Instead of simply talking about it, we decided to act on it. Now we procure trees for planting from forest nurseries and sometimes even from various private nurseries. Wherever we see a bare patch of land, these trees are planted. If you want to join us in the tree plantation drive, let’s do it!
Trees that we prefer to plant are the ones that are indigenous to the region and can easily grow in the wild. Deodars, oaks, and some wild flowering trees grow quite easily. We have also planted some hardy cultivars of apples too, in the hope that once established, people will not chop them down for the love of fruits. These trees with their wide leaves, also help with rain in the region.
Preventing landslides is a new challenge in this time of extensive deforestation and destruction in the name of development. Plants and grasses come to our rescue here. From our experience and interaction with some of the forest department people, we have identified some of the indigenous bushes, shrubs, plants, and fast-growing grasses that have an extensive network of roots. These prevent landslides and are quite easy to grow. Apart from planting trees, we therefore also encourage planting these, especially where the soil is loose and prone to getting washed away.
Since we have changed our own lives to live in a more mindful and earth-friendly manner, there are many more things that we do, that are better shown than told. Let us spend some time together and as a reward, we will try our best to turn you also into a green warrior.
Maini's Hill Cottages 