Sustainability
Sustainability as a form of respect for the environment
Sustainability
Destelheide attaches great importance to sustainability.
In the Centre for Youth, Art and Creation, we focus on various themes such as:
// Food safety
// Quality
// Mobility policy with low CO2 emissions
// Ecological use of water & energy
Organic – Fairtrade - Local
Destelheide attaches great importance to sustainability, which is reflected in honest, healthy and local products.
In the bar, you can enjoy local and organic beers or warm up with hot Fairtrade drinks.
In the afternoon, delicious organic soup is served to guests in the restaurant.
Water policy
In Destelheide, sustainability is also recognised by our water policy.
The rainwater is collected in a large rain barrel and reused for flushing the toilets.
Hot water is generated by solar collectors on the main building. Together with 2 natural gas boilers, this provides the entire Destelheide site with hot water. This enables Destelheide to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels by 16%.
Fossil fuels
In 2020, the oil fuel tank was replaced by environmentally friendly natural gas with high-efficiency boilers.
In 2019, the entire mobility plan for the internal fleet and for the staff of Destelheide was adapted.
Through a collaboration with the VEB (Vlaams Energiebedrijf – Flemish Energy Company), solar panels were also recently installed on the roof of the main building and the restaurant, enabling the entire Destelheide site to be supplied with electricity. Destelheide saves approximately 900 Kwh/KwP of electricity generation per year.
To encourage the staff to come to work by bicycle more often, which benefits the health of the body and mind as well as the environment, an electric bicycle or speed pedelec was offered to every interested staff member.
Research has shown, that 2 years later, our sustainable mobility policy already avoided 4 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The Destelheide fleet of vehicles is also fully electronic.
Ecological awareness
Striving for sustainability is a collective endeavour.
Eva Mouton’s playful stickers in all rooms, classrooms and toilets remind users to switch off the lights when leaving the room or not run the tap unnecessarily. In this way, everyone remains attentive to the responsible use of water and energy.
Thanks to all our joint efforts, Destelheide was, in 2019 awarded with the Smiley Label, a quality label awarded for sustainability, food safety and quality.
