In Beaulieu-sur-mer, on the Côte d'Azur, Baia Bella claims the status of "France's first carbon-neutral beach".
Solar panels are installed on the roof and rainwater and especially that of the showers are reused for watering.
Ecology even during the holidays is the promise of Baptiste Vannini, manager of a private beach on the Côte d'Azur which he presents as "the first in France to be carbon neutral".
“We are doing everything to limit our impact on site.
And to counterbalance what it is not or not yet possible to reduce, we support two projects in favor of the environment “thousands of kilometers away, indicates the manager.
One in Mexico for the recovery of waste by creating jobs and another in Amazonia for the protection of the forest and the populations.
With this formula, Baia Bella and its 500 m2 lapped by the Mediterranean, in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, between Nice and Monaco, even achieve “negative consumption”.
It is a report from Allcot, a private company specializing in the implementation of tools for managing greenhouse gas emissions that the manager has specially commissioned, which confirms this.
A financial investment and “above all common sense”
According to the calculations of this certifier, over its six months of opening, for its first year of operation in 2021, the total carbon footprint of Baia Bella was 13.5 t CO2 equivalent.
These “green” actions allow her to offset 26 t of carbon, so she finds herself with a negative balance of 12.5 t.
“It was while responding to the call for tenders for the operation of the beach that the idea came to us to go through with the process.
By highlighting all the ecological processes that we had planned,” explains Baptiste Vannini.
Solar panels are installed on the roof.
Rainwater and especially that of the showers are also reused for watering.
“For that, you need a financial investment that is amortized over several years.
But for the rest it's mostly common sense, ”he says.
The plants used are precisely water-efficient.
The furniture is made of natural materials “such as wood from European forests”.
It is also manufactured in Europe, “to limit the carbon footprint of transport”.
Almost all beverage containers are returnable glass.
Food products are most often local and from sustainable agriculture, swear the managers of Baia Bella.
And suppliers recover their plastic and polystyrene packaging.
Soon to be the “greenest” employee of the month?
“All employees are also made aware of saving energy, on site, but also quite simply to come to the beach by carpooling or using soft transport modes”, further specifies the manager.
He is even considering setting up a reward system for the “greenest” employee of the month.
According to Allcot, Baia Bella could further reduce its impact by a third by modifying its refrigeration systems, using more energy-efficient ovens or replacing charcoal with wood for its barbecues.
Baptiste Vannini intends to continue gradually.
Our Environment file
“Ecology is of course an increasingly important criterion for customers.
But I do this mainly out of conviction, he says.
I have been involved in seabed clean-up operations on the Côte d'Azur for 13 years.
And I see the impact it has.
How nature takes back its rights.
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