How To Make Your French Gite More Eco Friendly

With water restrictions and climate change, most of us need to re-think or think carefully about our garden planting. We are in the beautiful Charente with long, hot summers and short, wet winters, so conserving water is a high priority.

Here are my top five ideas that may help:

1. Install water butts or water stores to collect rainwater. They need not be unsightly, and you can always plant around them. We have at least one from each gite and barn.
2. Where there is a lot of concrete, paving, or stone, look to establish planting to bring the temperatures down in these areas. Choose indigenous, local plants where possible and think about their ability to cope with heat. We find grasses, lavenders, and ‘hard’ herbs such as rosemary, thyme, etc, are very resilient.
3. Wherever you want to use pots, use clay pots rather than plastic – the larger, the better. When using for summer annual displays, bulk out the bottom of the pot with local stone and gravel before adding your (preferably) own compost. This saves soil and also helps to keep the moisture in. Soak your pots every evening when you water.
4. Water at dusk every night and/or early morning before the heat of the sun takes hold.
5. Invest in a decent composter and composting bins for each gite. Have clear, pictorial instructions for guests in several languages.

Keeping water consumption to a minimum is an important environmental measure, as well as being more economical. Here are some tips.

1. Have signs to remind your guests to use water judiciously – for example, a modern dishwasher is more economical than constantly washing up by hand. Consider providing two sets of cutlery, crockery, and glassware to cope with this.
2. Install water consumption reducers on all taps. Tap aerators are a great gadget and easy to install on existing taps.
3. If your toilets have large cisterns, insert a ‘tank bag’ to displace some of the water and to use less each flush. Choose toilet plungers with a choice of big or little flush.
4. Invest in water-saving showerheads – a similar principle to tap aerators.
5. Install a shower rather than a bath where possible, and consider providing a timer for the shower.

Another key priority is reducing electricity consumption or switching to more sustainable energy methods where possible. Here are some ideas.

1. If you have a light with more than one bulb, swap it for a single bulb and change all bulbs to low-wattage, eco-friendly versions.
2. Have signs to remind guests to turn off lights and appliances that are not in use and, if you are on a particular tariff, to use electricity in the cheaper time slots. For example, the programming of dishwashers and washing machines, etc
3. Where possible, install double glazing, shutters, and insulation. If this isn’t currently possible, think about alternatives like door sausages, draft excluders around windows and doors, and lined thermal curtains at windows and doors. These are especially important if your gite is open all year round.
4. Install a log burner if you can source wood from a sustainable practices supplier and remove costly electric radiators in its place.
5. Consider whether changing electric hobs to gas would benefit you (you can then remove electric kettles and introduce whistling kettles for your gas hob instead).

Finally, do approach your local Tourist Office to ask if there is any financial help for introducing such measures through ADEME and remember to advertise your eco measures to your guests!