Sustainable Ski Holidays and Eco-Friendly Luxury Chalets

We at Consensio embrace our responsibility to protect our environment and we are committed to driving sustainability into our operations while exceeding our guests’ expectations. We look to integrate leading environmental and social practices as well as sustainability principles into our core business strategy.

There is a perception that providing a luxury product makes sustainability hard to achieve. We have signed up with Protect our Winters and taken the POW pledge to make active changes towards becoming a Net Zero organisation to help protect the environment on which our industry depends and to prove that sustainability can be at the very heart of luxury travel.

Working with ecollective we measure the entire carbon footprint of Consensio on an annual basis. We publish this amount each year to compare and reset targets for reducing the amount the following winter.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2023 CARBON FOOTPRINT REPORT AND ACTION PLAN.

We source our incredible fresh produce from local independent sellers where possible, allowing us to invest in the local community. As such we provide fresher and better-tasting ingredients and reduce our carbon footprint as a company. From our delicious cheeses and fresh bread collected by hand from the nearby fromagerie and boulangerie to the vegetables sourced from the local farmers’ market to our meat and fish bought fresh from neighbouring butchers who are supplied directly by nearby Savoie farmers, we believe in supporting our neighbouring small businesses in the Alps and serving locally sourced ingredients.

We adopt the practice of responsible energy management through reduced consumption and the encouragement of energy efficiency throughout the business. All new chalets are built following strict local environmental regulations. A number of our chalet owners have invested in ozone technology to enable your pools and hot tubs to be completely chlorine-free, including chalet Marco Polo and chalet Lhotse in Val d’Isère. The natural freshwater oxygen process provides a non-toxic, healthy and environmentally friendly alternative. In addition, lightbulbs across our chalet and apartment portfolio are undergoing a programme of rapidly changing to energy-saving bulbs. We are encouraging our chalet owners to switch to renewable energy sources and plan to use 100% renewable electricity by December 2025, and 100% of the heating to come from renewable energy by July 2026.

Staff are encouraged to consider train travel where feasible and ensure car share/use of public transport for getting to work in resort. We are measuring company vehicle fuel usage and are looking at electrical/hybrid options for guest vehicles, we plan to be using zero-emission vehicles by July 2026. Additionally, it is company policy to book flights with airlines that have set science-based targets to reduce their footprint. All new Consensio properties now come with electric charging stations for electric vehicles and we are working with all our other property owners to install electric vehicle chargers across our whole luxury accommodation portfolio.

Our wonderful staff are all fully trained in local recycling policies and waste is separated by hand and recycled. Not to mention that all of our guest invoices, rental agreements and staff employment paperwork is sent and signed electronically, significantly reducing the amount of paper used. At the end of every ski season, all unwanted ski clothing and ski equipment from both staff and owners is collected and sent to be reused by our chosen ski charity Disability Snowsport UK (DSUK).

According to The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook, if one million people worked from home only one day a week, it could eliminate three million tons of CO2 each year. As such we pride ourselves on employing the majority of our full-time staff on a work-from-home basis. Based throughout the UK and France, we all enjoy the freedom of working flexible hours from home offices with a great work/life balance across the whole team.

Within our chalets, we are making big changes as part of our commitment to provide eco-friendly ski holidays, with the mantra of reduce, reuse, recycle. As of 2019, all Consensio chalets and apartments are removing single-use plastic water bottles. For any guest on a Consensio holiday that needs one, we offer a stylish reusable double-walled stainless-steel water bottle to fill with natural spring water from the peaks of the French Alps. We are also reducing the single-use glass bottles of water in our chalets by offering guests the choice of fresh still and sparkling local mineral mountain water to be served in large glass bottles at the table. In addition, we use only reusable shopping bags and provide recyclable, biodegradable paper straws for our delicious homemade cocktails.

Challenging ourselves to look at the impact of every aspect of the business means that we are helping the environment bit by bit, making for a greener and happier world.

At Consensio, we take pride in our commitment to corporate responsibility, and this past year has been no exception. One notable initiative we were privileged to heavily sponsor was the Disability Snowsports UK (DSUK) Summer Program. Rewriting the rules of summer clubs, DSUK ensures that every child, regardless of abilities, has the opportunity to enjoy enriching summer activities. Our substantial donation to the program made these courses affordable for all, eliminating financial barriers and ensuring that no child misses out on this exceptional opportunity.

The DSUK Summer Program spans four full days and four half-days during the summer school holidays, offering snowsports and activities like climbing and ice skating. More than just providing financial support, we prepared goody bags for each child, filled with engaging items like snowy colouring books, Consensio Charlie teddy bears and temporary ski-themed tattoos. We firmly believe that snowsports should be for Every Body.

Read DSUK’s impact report of the Consensio-sponsored Summer Program HERE.

100% Renewable Electricity

December 2025

100% Renewable Heat

July 2026

Zero-emission vehicles

July 2026

Reduce Unavoidable CO2 Emissions

Plan In Place – TARGET BEING MET

Target for Net Zero

July 2035

Divest from Fossil Fuels

Approach Companies By July 2023 – TARGET MET

Ask Supply Chain to take the POW Pledge

July 2022 – TARGET MET

Measure Carbon Footprint

Annually – TARGET MET 2023