Sustainability

Steeped in history
The location's impressive history stretches back over 900 years. Today, monastic values such as culture, spirituality, education, hospitality, self-sufficiency and care are embodied in this cultural, experiential and seminar destination. The simple hotel rooms, featuring wooden or concrete floors, exude comfort and tranquillity.
The two museums tell the story of the area and showcase regional art. Meanwhile, international contemporary artists reference this historic location in their work. The restaurants serve seasonal produce. Everything, from wine and cheese to vegetables, fruit, grains and herbs, is grown locally and transformed with great care and love into masterful creations.
Our zero-kilometre philosophy enables us to make a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions and promoting regional produce.

Inclusion
Social sustainability is reflected in the monastic value of care. We offer meaningful employment and active inclusion for people with mental or cognitive impairments at our 50 sheltered workplaces, which offer a wide variety of activities.

We care for the environment.
Heat and light are provided by a wood chip heating system, solar panels and a photovoltaic system. Old cultivated plants are nurtured in the seed garden, and part of the Ittingen forest has been designated a nature reserve.
Travelling by public transport is convenient. The post bus stops right outside Kartause Ittingen. During their stay, guests can make a voluntary contribution to climate protection; we are a member of the Swiss foundation 'myclimate'.

New life in old walls
We are a modern, innovative business with around 250 employees who breathe new life into the old walls and ensure the preservation of this historic monument through careful management.

The Kartause Ittingen Foundation is designed for the long term.
Our economic approach enables us to raise the necessary funds to sustainably and appropriately maintain the buildings, make the necessary operational investments and offer secure and attractive jobs.

We are constantly working to optimise all areas and further develop various aspects of sustainability. Here are a few specific examples of how we fulfil our responsibilities:

• Ecology
  We use cleaning products from Steinfels' MayaLav line for washing and cleaning, as they are particularly environmentally friendly. A dosing system and laundry scale regulate water and detergent consumption. We also use multifunctional cleaning devices that do not require detergent thanks to micro steam technology.

  We use heat recovery to preheat the boiler water for all ventilation systems, as well as for refrigerators and cold rooms where hot water is available nearby. This generates a temperature increase of 5-10°C.

  We purchase a mix of electricity from 100% renewable energy sources. We generate 10% of our own electricity consumption (120,000 kWh) using our photovoltaic system.

  Each year, we use around 2,000 m³ of wood chips from regional sources for our wood chip heating system. This corresponds to around 166,000 litres of heating oil that we save as a result.

  In summer, the lower guest house is cooled using spring water from the monastery's own spring. The water then flows on to our cattle barn. The spring also feeds all the wells on the site and the trout farm.

  We irrigate our nursery and kitchen gardens using rainwater from our pond.

  The facility is car-free. There are two high-performance electric car charging stations in the car park.

  Thanks to various digitalisation projects, we have largely eliminated the use of paper internally. We use 100% recycled paper for our stationery.

• Social
  We train around 20 apprentices in nine different professions. There are 50 different job profiles at the facility.

  Around 50% of the Kartause Ittingen workforce is female.

  We have launched the SKI Young Staff Programme to promote loyalty and help young employees realise their dreams.

  People with support needs live and work with us.

• Local and regional
  We cook seasonally and use many products from our own farm. A dish made exclusively with our own produce receives our ‘0 km stamp’. Wherever possible, we source products that we do not produce ourselves from local suppliers. Our vegetable supplier sources produce for us within a 5–10 km radius.

  We deliberately avoid using sea fish.

  We use wood from the Ittingen Forest in various ways: in our wood-fired bakery; to make barrels for the winery; in our carpentry workshop, where we make benches, fences, wild bee hotels, nesting boxes and bird feeders; and to produce firewood, which we sell in the monastery shop and to private individuals.

• Management and Finances
  In collaboration with the local authority of Warth-Weiningen, we successfully campaigned for a post bus service with a stop right outside Kartause Ittingen. We encourage our guests to travel by public transport.

  We are a founding member of Responsible Hotels of Switzerland (RHS).

  In recent years, we have invested around CHF 100,000 annually in our own sustainability projects.

  On our Green Trail, you can learn how multifaceted this topic is in practice in an entertaining way.