Brobacka guest house opened its doors last summer and tourists haven’t stopped coming since. With a bike path just outside and a beautiful view of a bay, the newly renovated guesthouse Brobacka guesthouse has found its place on the map of places that you just have to visit on Åland. The owners of the guesthouse, Ove and Katja, are very keen on getting Green Key awarded.

Get support in everyday environmental work
Katja and Ove do not as see themselves as environmental people. ”But the interest has been there somewhere since the teens,” says Katja. And when it comes to Ove, he likes to create things and find smart solutions. Working with Green Key is something that they see as given.
”For us as a new accommodation it is very helpful to get clear criterias and suggestions on how to think and what to do. Working with Green Key provides support in what is right and wrong, and helps us to constantly evolve so that we dont get too stuck in everyday life that otherwise just goes on”, says Ove.

A lot to gain
Brobacka hopes to be Green Key-labeled by the fall. So far they have not encountered any problems or obstacles in the work. ”As long as the intention is there I think you should go for it”, says Katja as a recommendation to other accommodations.
”I think everyone has much to gain from an environmental label, that you just don´t say that something is environmentally friendly, but you also have a label that proves what you do. It also helps me when I inform our guests about our efforts,” Katja states.

A local way of thinking
To think about the environment is also to think locally. The café bakes bread with organic flour from local Överängs mill and when they changed windows the glass was made in the same village as Brobacka, Björsby. Many of the guests are also local.
”When we opened we thought that we would get mostly bicycle tourists here, but it has actually been mostly Ålanders who visited us. I think many were curious about the house, Katja says smiling”.