At Avana Retreat, we wish to be recognized for best practices in environmental and social sustainability. We aim to help people in Mai Chau acknowledge the importance of preserving their living environment and traditional culture. Our environmental commitment is best expressed by close interaction with nature. We plan to return the environment and surrounding landscape back to what it was long ago. We invest in the local community’s growth, the well-being of its citizens, and the health of the local economy because we acknowledge that sustainable practices not only enhance our guests’ experience but maintain the destination’s appeal.
Hmong people cultivate our terraced rice fields. Local performances such as traditional dance, fabric weaving, and bee-wax painting demonstrations are frequently set up at Avana to allow cultural exchange between guests and local artists. Books, musical instruments, agricultural tools, and a variety of other items that showcase minority people’s lifestyles are displayed in our library and exhibition space.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally each year. That is one-third of all food produced for human consumption. With this in mind, we learn to use the resources in our kitchen carefully. We acknowledge that surplus food that comes from our restaurants is valuable to local communities so we share our food leftover to be utilized by locals for livestock feed. Also, to ensure that our food has been grown sustainably we source our food from local farmers and suppliers.