Interview with Hélène Rozé-Cénet, who introduces us to her eco-friendly B&B in Brittany.
In this portrait, Lecopot presents a user of our dry toilets. Immerse yourself in the La Belle Verte ecolodge in Saint-M’Hervé, in the Ile-et-Vilaine region (35), where water and energy savings, selective waste sorting, composting… and the use of dry toilets are the order of the day!
We produce solar photovoltaic electricity and hot water using solar collectors. Our boiler is wood-fired and we are equipped with a phytodepuration system for the autonomous and ecological purification of our wastewater.
You offer bed and breakfasts and ecological gites in Brittany. What prompted you to develop this eco-friendly accommodation offering?
After 15 years in the tourism industry, I wanted to set up my own business. My accommodation offer is simply a continuation of my lifestyle. For me, respect for the environment and sustainable tourism are not “concepts” but a matter of course. I welcome my guests as I am and as I live.
Discover Lécopot outdoor dry toilets
You’ve also teamed up with a naturopath. So your offer goes far beyond simple tourist accommodation?
Of course! For me, vacations aren’t just about a bed and a bathroom! It’s also a time to take time for yourself, to do yourself good. So I offer a range ofactivities based around the well-being of nature and organic and vegetarian meals.
In 2018, we are offering fixed-date“well-being and joyful detox” stays supervised by a naturopath. This stay also includes yoga, meditation, cooking classes, Do In…
What’s more, this holiday is zero waste!
Which of your eco-responsible accommodations, such as tiny houses, ecolodges or ecological gîtes, offer dry toilets?
All our accommodations except the ecological gîte.
See also the video report broadcast on
France 3 Bretagne
in December 2017.
What can you tell us about the management of dry toilets in seasonal rental accommodation and how they are perceived by your customers?
When we created our ecolodges, we had the option of installing “wet” toilets in our accommodation, but the inconsistency of this choice didn’t suit us at all. We were already using dry toilets at home, and didn’t find them cumbersome in terms of management. (Read Lécopot’s advice on
using dry toilets
).
Unlike other accommodations that use plastic bags in the toilet bucket (how do you compost plastic?), I use the
stainless steel buckets from Lécopot
. I manage my compost, using buckwheat hulls which cover the excrement very well and which also come from the mill next door. To clean my bucket, a water barrel in the garden.
To be honest, I find the dry toilets in my accommodation much more hygienic than many wet toilets, and I wouldn’t change that for the world.
The compost is used in the garden after 3 years of decomposition.
Ecolodge La belle Verte has won the 1st Palmes du tourisme durable 2018 in Paris! Are you seeing a craze for this type of sustainable tourism?
Yes, I think there’s a real customer base out there waiting for such an offer. But above all, I believe that hosts have to play the game: it’s not enough to stop changing towels every day to call yourself a sustainable host. The approach must be global: it’s feasible and very economical…
Read the article
Dry toilets, 5 good reasons to get started
!
Contact Hélène Rozé-Cénet
Ecolodge La Belle Verte
Ecological gites and B&Bs
Tel: 06 11 30 91 85
Website: ecolodge-labelleverte.fr
