Environment
Solar energy and water conservation
Getting to the desert does leave a rather poor carbon footprint. And also Morocco is not exactly at the forefront of good environmental practices. There are far too many badly tuned cars belching out fumes, rubbish disposal techniques are poor, there is too much garbage and there is huge scope to increase the use of renewable energy (mind you their consumption of energy per head is a lot less than US and Europe).
However, we do have a conscience and try to do our little bit. Lighting in the camp (which is essentially the bedrooms only) is solar. We sort our garbage, and dispose of it in the most environmentally sensitive way possible. Food products are locally sourced.
The most priceless commodity is water. It’s scarce. Although there are plenty of wells in the desert it is being consumed far quicker than it is being replenished. So, rather than offer showers, we provide hot and cold water for washing in two separate pewter buckets. It is however quite amazing how good a wash you can have using only a fraction of the water one would use for a shower. We provide about 30 litres of water for each wash, but in reality 15 litres is normally more than enough for a scub and a hair wash. And, of course, through using less water we make less trips to the well!
