Sustainable travel – how can our guests contribute?

Here at Hawkhill, we actively work to increase our sustainability, sharing information with our guests e.g. regarding sustainable travel, our concrete climate action, protecting biodiversity and removing alien species. We don’t just talk the talk, we also walk the walk. Similarly, we encourage our guests to take part with concrete sustainability actions – big and small alike. In this article we talk about concrete sustainability actions one can do besides the more ‘obvious’ ones such as recycling waste, minimising food loss, or reducing electricity and water consumption.

Every one of our villas comes with a fireplace and a place for campfire. These are, naturally, in free use for our guests and indeed barbecue is an integral part of the mökki experience. In the winter, on the other hand, it is nice to curl up next to the fireplace and just rest. However, when it comes to wood consumption, we ask our guests to be responsible: the fire should only be burned when it is used and/or enjoyed of by people, not just because.

Another sustainability action one can consider while travelling is to support local entrepreneurs. We encourage our guests to use nearby grocery stores, restaurants and destinations. We are always happy to give tips on the best options locally available!

Please consider the sensitive nature

We have conducted  a biodiversity strategy and based on it, suggestions on how to protect the biodiversity on our lands. The actions we can take differ greatly between different terrain types. For example our forest will just be left to grow with deadwood rotting naturally and dense bush growth remaining uncleared.

Importantly, on the rocks it is important our guests remain on existing paths. The soil and flora on our rocks is the most sensitive terrain we have and it is easily disturbed and eroded if people walk on it constantly.

Peace and quiet to the animals

We want to respect the peace and quiet of the animals who live in Nuuksio, so music is only allowed inside our villas. Hawkhill is not the location for noisy parties, however we are certainly happy to provide the venue for a more pampering and mindfulness focused hen parties or similar events.

To protect the peace of nature, we have also banned the use of fireworks on our lands. This ensures the animals won’t be disturbed by the loud sounds, and additional waste is not generated.

Catch alien species to make way for domestic flora

Everyone can do their part in preventing the loss of biodiversity. One very concrete action is to remove alien species from the terrain by weeding, cutting and taking away species that are not native to our lands and that quickly take up space and livelihood from the original domestic flora.

When it comes to the large-leaved lupine – as well as any other alien species – it is very rewarding to see the result of your handiwork after you have removed the species from the terrain. However, removing the species entirely requires consistent work in the long term, because it often takes several years of cutting just at the right time to permanently get rid of the species. At least once a year, we have a shared event on our fields where we remove lupines. Everyone is welcome. We also organise lupine cutting experiences for groups. In addition, we highly encourage all of our guests to join us and do their part. On our recycling station, you can find the tools and instructions you need. Anyone can use them and go and do a bit of work to help the Finnish nature to thrive.

Summer 2024 lupine cutting: Facebook event!

Donations to different charities

As part of our sustainability work we regularly donate to charity. We have different campaigns, and every now and then our customers can participate for example by donating any redundant items they own for our campaign. We always let our guests know if we have a campaign running.

10% of the profit from all of our regenerative travel programmes are donated to the local food bank ViaDia.