Concrete actions that keep us sustainable
We have been creating a paradise in Mallin Colorado for 25 years, considering some sustainability principles from the beginning to preserve nature and respect local culture. We created a paradise because this lodge is located in the middle of nowhere and we started from the beginning making a special effort to be aware of what it means to build a property in a remote area. And we have maintained it with multiple sustainable actions, being the base of all the family union.
Reforestation
Caring for every tree around buildings has meant that each cabin has been built trying to preserve every tree around it, even if it made construction and architecture more difficult. In recent years we have started a reforestation project with approximately 500 new native trees planted on our property and passengers are offered the possibility to reforest with us during their stay.
Reuse of native wood
Reusing the native wood tops and treating them one by one as a piece of art for the cabins was a fantastic idea to see in the sawmills that could be used as interior and exterior wall decorations. A sustainable way of building. Today the cabins look rustic and beautiful, in perfect combination with their natural surroundings. We have also taken advantage of infinite materials that the place gives us to build lamps, night tables, tables and floors made of native wood from waste or found on the nearby beaches.
Garbage separation
A very basic principle of sustainability that we have been applying for some time is the separation of garbage. We do it not only in the kitchen, but also in the cabins and rooms where we have enabled original multiple garbage cans so that the passenger can leave their garbage in the right place at all times and thus facilitate recycling. Plastics, glass, and paper are delivered or delivered to clean points, when possible.
Greenhouse
We have our own greenhouse where we produce some vegetables that do well in the area. These are used a few meters away for salads and other recipes in the lodge kitchen. Its land is fertilized with compost annually, the same that we build throughout the season in the club house sector and which is ready to fertilize the land for the month of August. Every year the compost improves the soil and the clean and fresh vegetables for the passenger.
Community
It took a while to get closer to the local community, since we were new and the Patagonian world takes time to get to know and trust someone. After several years, we can say that we have a very close relationship of love and trust with local communities, and that we have learned from them as well as from us. We collect a large number of experiences together with firefighters, the elderly, the school, the artisans, the rural gauchos, and former families, always with respect and love for their way of life. Currently we organize tours to get to know the fields and the people in the villages, we visit their craft workshops, their cemeteries surrounded by beautiful landscapes and we share with the local community their ancient history and their vision for the future. We are currently participating in the sustainable Chelenko project together with a series of small tourist companies in the area, in order to group together and promote sustainability in General Carrera Lake, formerly named Chelenko Lake.
Seek silence
We seek silence in the place, we do not offer television, there is delicate music only in the club house, we even try not to scream loudly. There are no cities or towns nearby, we are surrounded by pure nature, so any sound interrupts the silence. Although we must work with machines and motors, we have decided to do it with as little noise as possible without interrupting the silence of the place.
Laundry
In each room we put a piece of paper stating that, unless the client requests it, we wash sheets and towels at check-out, not every day.
Family union
It is our main value, to work together as a family. We all love this place and we have been forging it among all of us, throughout these 25 years of existence. Currently we meet every Monday in virtual form to review, comment, advance and project the daily actions that the company requires in the future. We talk, we analyze based on the knowledge and experiences of each one, we look for agreements, we decide and we plan actions together and with much empathy. This and the love for family and Mallin Colorado have kept us sustainable over time.
Wide open view
The electrical cables inside Mallin Colorado are buried underground from day one. The landscape is so overwhelmingly beautiful that the view had to be preserved as pure and clear as possible. Thus each room has a wide unobstructed view over the park and the lake, as it has always been.