Our Footprint
At Phong Nha Farmstay, we believe in operating a sustainable practice, blending ethical tourism, environmentally friendly product sourcing and a comprehensive approach to environmentalism. Phong Nha Ke Bang is famous for some of the most magnificent caves in Vietnam and in the world, however, the area has so much more to offer, especially to environmentally conscious travelers.
Using locally sourced ingredients
To achieve sustainability, our kitchen’s ingredients are sourced locally on a daily basis according to the seasons and what is available in our area. This minimizes energy used in production, transport and storage and supports sustainable agriculture for local farming families and communities. It gives farmers in the developing area a fair deal. It also helps us in minimizing packaging and food wastage.
Thanks to refrigeration, heated greenhouses and global transportation, we could import exotic produce, such as strawberries, asparagus or avocados year-round. This luxury, however, would create “food miles” (the distance the food has traveled from producer to consumer). Every single mile adds to the food’s carbon footprint. At Phong Nha Farmstay, it’s our ongoing aim to minimize our and your carbon footprint, both as a destination and as a guest. The food thrown away by the US and Europe alone could feed the world three times over. The catering and hospitality industry is responsible for a large part of this waste. Our food waste is used by local families in domestic pork and poultry production.
Using filtered water and eliminating plastic waste
Our sustainable operating practices include using filtered water, thus reducing the use of plastic bottled water as much as possible. Hotels and restaurants like ours, with a growing social conscience, are eliminating bottled water from the menu. We have our own water filtration system on site. We keep filtered water in the refrigerator for our guests’ enjoyment. We ask our guests to refill their water bottles at the coffee and tea stations located throughout Farmstay Village. There is a cool app you can download onto your smartphone, RefillMyBottle, that shows which businesses provide free water refills both in the Farmstay Village and in the town of Phong Nha.
We do not provide plastic straws. It is estimated that 1 billion people in the world don’t have access to safe drinking water, 2.5 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services and four children die every minute as a result of water-related illnesses. We work to keep the waterways in Phong Nha Ke Bang area clean.
Supporting local community in Phong Nha village
Our ethical approach is not just about our hotel’s carbon footprint. Being sustainable for us includes paying our staff a fair wage, not overcharging our customers, paying our suppliers on time and getting involved with and helping the local community. Ours is a journey in which we strive to improve year-on-year.
Phong Nha Farmstay was the original business in the region to encourage foreign tourists to visit the area in 2010. After operating out of the owners parent’s house on and off for 2 years, the present complex was established. It was strictly backpackers and long term travelers to start with and it was remote with no infrastructure in the area. As the Farmstay developed, we tried to encourage local people to start tourism-based businesses here to complement what we were doing: transport, tours, activities, bars, restaurants, homestays, etc, etc. Now getting to Phong Nha both from the north and from the south can’t be easier.
Development of sustainable tourism in the area
Factors mentioned above led to the development of the tourism area known as the Bong Lai Valley and accommodation areas of Chay Lap and to some extent, even the initial tourism into Phong Nha Village itself. Easy Tiger was started by our group in 2013 and the town expanded from that business. When we started the Easy Tiger with other local partners, we moved our backpacker operation there and closed Phong Nha Farmstay down. We renovated the building to be a little more comfortable than it was originally, reopening a few months later with a more unique destination than the town.
As local people have gained the confidence to start businesses we have endeavored to support them and encourage them. Many of the more enterprising and ambitious members of our staff see the opportunity. We encourage them to develop businesses and staff them with their own families, but meanwhile, stay employed with us and run their businesses under our umbrella, as part of the Phong Nha Farmstay Village. This way they have access to an established market and are able to learn the skills needed to attract and maintain a flow of happy guests. This has been very successful for many staff who still work with us today.