I visited The Alpina Gstaad this summer with my friend Alexa to learn about all the good things they are doing and used the Earthspeakr app to make videos that speak up for the planet.

A nice lady named Jasmina explained the fun experience she had planned and then showed us around the hotel. She also gave me a lavender sachet with The Alpina logo printed with eco ink on the fabric made of old bedsheets.

We visited a plastic-free room and she opened the door with a wooden key … they don’t use plastic keys anymore… and it also turned on the light in the room and turned it off when we left. Their slippers do not have plastic … it is made of sheep skin with the hotel logo on top. The glass lamps with leather straps hanging on each side of the bed are shaped like the cow bells worn by the biggest cows in the alps.

The hotel has a special car, an electric Fiat 500 from the Leo DiCaprio Foundation and it has an Alaskan scene with polar bears and seals, and they disappear when it gets too warm. This is a message that we have to stop global warming … when it gets too warm, the arctic will melt and the animals will die.  :(  

We went to the cinema and they have big, comfortable chairs and a giant screen. We viewed Mother Earth documentaries that show the importance of nature and saving it. Then we looked at the Together Bands in 17 colors, one for each Global Goal. When you buy one, they donate money to the poor. 

The Alpina make their own honey in the garden and serve it at breakfast, We visited the bee hive and met the Bee Keeper who taught us why bees are important… they pollinate food crops that produce fruit, vegetables, oils and nuts. I wore a bee protection gear and saw more bees buzzing than I have ever seen in my whole life! We learned that it took 12 worker bees to produce the single teaspoon of the yummy honey we tasted. Jasmina said that they make sure to leave enough honey in the combs for bees to feed and gave me a small pot of honey to take home.

We visited the herb garden where they grow many fresh herbs for the kitchen and saw the coolest ‘Little Alpina Insect and Bird Hotel’ made of wood by a local carpenter.

Then it was time for a zero-waste snack.  We drank Whole World Water that is filtered in the hotel and placed in glass bottles … the hotel sell this and 10% is donated to create water wells for people who do not have safe drinking water. We ate zero-waste pizza … the crust was made of sour bread dough with yoghurt cream instead of tomato sauce with some really nice vegetables on it … all are leftovers from the buffet and it was delicious. I suggested that they don’t use rucola because kids don’t like that. Then we had zero-waste juice … one was made with watermelons which I love and the other had berries. We saw raw dough and freshly baked bread, and the leftovers are used to make zero-waste pasta.

It is a great hotel because they care about the planet. It was a fantastic and amazing day at The Alpina and I am invited back to bring my grandparents for tea and cake.