Sustainabilty and Wellness – What Does It All Mean?
These are two words you’ll see everywhere; from multi-national corporations to freelance reflexologists, everyone is shouting about how sustainable their offering is, and how they focus on wellness. Sometimes it can seem like these concepts are little more than buzzwords, given how liberally they are applied to every business idea going. If we look at what they really represent, however, we can see how they are applicable to glamping businesses for several reasons.
Sustainability
In a glamping context this is about environmental responsibility and living in a way that impacts the natural world as little as possible. For example, composting toilets are a fantastic way to be responsible when it comes to water consumption; each day someone uses this type of toilet they save around 35 litres of water – that’s 30% of their daily use cut by one simple change.
Composting toilets have come a long way in recent years – the Glastonbury style long drop is a thing of the past! Modern styles suitable for glamping sites use a separator method, where solid waste is bagged or collected in a bucket (sawdust being used to cover “deposits” and stop smells) and liquid waste goes to a soak away (or even into a reed bed filtration system) that could also handle grey water from showers and kitchen sinks.
Sustainability plays a big part in the construction of the glamping accommodation, so upcycle and reuse materials wherever possible. Using natural building materials, like sheep’s wool for insulation, and coppiced wood for railings, makes a site sustainable, while creative uses of wine bottles for colourful walls adds a unique twist that guests will remember.
Wellness
This is all about finding balance, practicing self-care and ensuring good overall health. In the context of a glamping holiday this might mean taking lots of walks in nature, or spending time in quiet contemplation.
Forest bathing and meditation are both perfect activities for promoting wellness on a glamping break, and as they are self-guided it’s up to guests to get stuck in whenever suits them. You might provide suggestions of peaceful spots nearby and some outdoor cushions or blankets that guests can take to get comfy on the forest floor.
Yoga is another popular wellness activity, with different types for different purposes. Providing yoga mats and some books or pose cards can help inspire guests to try yoga, or even just use the mats for relaxing on the deck with a good book.
People often go glamping because they want to get away from towns and cities, and spend some quiet time to restore themselves, so reading in a hammock, or reclining with a good book by a lake are both wonderful ways to spend an afternoon. Provide a few books on the subject of wellness, and some which readers can enjoy for an escape into another world for a few hours.
You could consider running courses and activities around the themes of sustainability and wellness if that’s in your skillset. If you built your own site and have valuable skills and knowledge in this area why not put together a multi-day course with accommodation provided at your glampsite?
If you don’t have these skills in-house pair up with other local businesses to give guests the chance to learn a new skill while they’re glamping with you. Wood carving, basket weaving, foraging and sustainable living courses are all ideal half-day offerings done at a slow pace, promoting both sustainability and wellness.
