Nallikari Holiday Village in Oulu, Northern Finland, and Solliden Camping in Parainen, Finnish archipelago, are leading the way towards more sustainable camping and caravan traveling in Finland.
Let´s travel a bit back in time: At cold December morning Nallikari looks like a winter wonder land, covered with heaps of snow. It is time for a Green Key audit of Nallikari Holiday Village.
In the middle of snow banks lies some tens of cabins and a caravan parking lot that provide year-round accommodation. During summer season there are more cabins, and a wide area for tents for summer visitors. In a café one can enjoy a cup of warming hot chocolate, and ask for a Fat Bike to explore the nearby nature trails on two wheels.
Nature has always been of great importance to Nallikari Holiday Village, but Green Key has brought new aspects to Nallikari´s environmental work: the use of water has been restrained and lightning modified to meet the Green Key criteria. Also, more organic and local foods have been added to the selection of the café. Now environmental work is systematic and well shown to the visitors, too.
A month after the audit, at the Finnish Travel Fair in January Nallikari Holiday Village receives their Green Key certificate being the first ever holiday village in Finland to attain the Green Key.
Solliden Camping, for one´s part, is already basking in the early May sun, when their audit day comes. Solliden has prepared for Green Key audit through the winter, eagerly waiting for the opening of the site for the summer season.
Environmental work is a matter of heart in Solliden, where travellers can accommodate at idyllic cabins or camp right by the sea. Travelers are encouraged to enjoy the beautiful nature of Finnish archipelago by bike, walking on trails or by using row boats or kayaks. A local fisherman brings daily fresh fish to the café-restaurant, and all bread is home-made.
Green Key´s criteria demands that all the daily cleaning products have an eco-label but Solliden has taken the environmental friendliness of cleaning to the next level: cleaning is done completely chemical free by using modern ENJO microfibre cloths and just water.
Around the globe, there are already hundreds of Green Key awarded camping sites and holiday villages, and hopefully this summer many more are joining the Green Key family in Finland, and around the world.