Le Moulin de Solaure, ecological and sustainable business practices.

Le Moulin de Solaure is a member of the Biovallée association.

We are committed to ecological and sustainable business practices.

Energy

– The renovation of Le Moulin de Solaure and its holiday cottages followed a bioclimatic approach, with careful consideration given to location, orientation, vegetation, and the choice of materials.

– High-performance insulation and high thermal inertia keep living spaces cool, even during intense heatwaves. To achieve this, simply ventilate the house at night, partially close the shutters on the sides most exposed to the morning sun, and keep windows firmly shut during the hottest hours of the day.
– In winter, the house requires very little heating; the systems installed were chosen for their low carbon footprint.

– Across the entire Le Moulin de Solaure site, our photovoltaic installation generates three to four times our annual electricity consumption.

– Domestic hot water is produced using solar collectors and an 800-liter storage tank.

Water and Air

– Although slightly hard (calcareous), our tap water is of excellent quality. It comes from a beautiful spring located on the Solaure mountain. Filling a reusable water bottle here is more economical—and a smarter choice—than buying disposable plastic bottles.
– Wastewater is treated by the local municipality in a lagoon system planted with native reeds.
– In summer, the water saved through our collective efforts helps preserve the quality and flow of the river, thereby safeguarding essential resources for all local residents and the valley’s economy.

– The air and water here are pure, as a large proportion of local farmers are certified organic. – Our food—including the breakfasts served in our guest rooms—comes largely from organic, local producers and the markets in Die and Châtillon-en-Diois.

Waste

– We minimize waste production at the source.
– Waste sorting is straightforward, and the collection point is located very close by, just before the bridge over the Drôme River.

– Food scraps intended for composting are fed to the mill’s hens, which provide us with eggs of incomparable flavor (though availability varies by season and the natural ups and downs of our little feathered friends’ lives).
– Anything the hens don’t eat is used as fertilizer for our plants.

Transportation

– When our guests choose to arrive by train or carpool, we do our best to pick them up from the Die train station. Once here, they can rent bicycles or hitchhike—a practice that remains quite common in the valley.

– We support the proposed bicycle path along the Drôme River (currently under study) and will make the land occupied by the mill’s canal—stretching for about 1,000 meters—available for the project.

Preserving our quality of life is the result of our collective efforts.