Cumbria self catering cottage, England
How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Our mission is to create a high quality self catering holiday cottage while reducing the impact of our business activities on the environment. We ask our guests to assist us.
We aim to have measures in place for careful monitoring of energy and water use, and waste reduction. We believe in ethical and local sourcing of foods, toiletries and services. We promote responsible tourism practices by encouraging guests to explore the locality’s natural environment through walking and cycling, bird watching, and visiting local nature reserves. We look to enhance and preserve local wildlife by sensitively managing our land (having recently planted 960 hedging plants and 600 native trees, and built a pond and providing shelters and nesting sites).
Our economic mission is to operate the business on a sustainable financial basis of profitable growth increasing value for all our stakeholders.
We are committed to ensuring our guests can enjoy this locality with its diverse and unspoilt landscape, abundant wildlife and distinct local produce.
Our current green business strategy includes
- providing quality accommodation in Keeper’s Cottage, a recently converted Victorian farm building with a low carbon footprint,
- sourcing good quality local products and services where we can,
- monitoring water and fuel consumption, and reducing waste where possible,
- recycling our water to use in the vegetable garden – produce is offered to guests,
- providing home-reared lamb, chicken and eggs to guests,
- providing on-site recycling for waste materials,
- managing our land carefully,
- encouraging guests to record sightings of flora and fauna that are reported to appropriate nature organisations such as local red squirrel watch, the Woodland Trust and the RSPB,
- encouraging guest participation in our sustainable efforts,
- encouraging guests to plant a tree at High Grains as part of their holiday carbon offsetting,
- regularly revisiting our green objectives,
- joining the Green Tourism Business Scheme.
We have already
- established energy consumption monitoring systems,
- installed in Keeper’s Cottage an energy efficient central heating boiler and radiators with individual TRVs,
- insulated external walls in the cottage with 50 ml thick king span panels and 12.5 ml foil-backed plasterboard, installing 150 ml king span + 30 ml timber flooring, installing ceilings with 180 ml foil backed insulation,
- installed double glazing in the cottage,
- installed toilets with flush restricting devices to reduce water consumption,
- composting facilities in place,
- provided recycling facilities for glass, metal, plastic, paper & card,
- used only sustainably sourced timber,
- recycled building materials such as stone, bricks, slates and timber and using traditional lime based mortar.
We are also
- checking between guests that all TRVs are set at our agreed settings,
- checking between guest that electrical equipment is working at maximum efficiency,
- replacing filament bulbs with energy saving ones,
- using solar panels to extend the poly tunnel’s productive season,
- providing guests with eco friendly soaps and detergents,
- providing guests with A rated white goods,
- providing locally sourced welcome hampers,
- providing outdoor activities for children supplied by the Woodland Trust, Westonbirt Arboretum, the Forestry Commission and others,
- receiving information to guide our business and to pass on to guests from the World Owl Trust,
- sending infomration collected by us and guests to organisations like Save our Squirrels/Cumbria Red Squirrel Watch/RSPB
- recycling waste paper for printers,
- supporting other local businesses bringing wealth and employment into our local area,
- purchasing locally and promoting local farm shops, pubs and restaurants,
- promoting local therapists for health and well being delivered on site,
- providing a nature diary for guests to record wildlife sightings which are shared with local and national organisations,
- promoting local walking routes,
- promoting local cycling routes,
- majoring on electronic web marketing and direct online bookings,
- inviting guests to feedback on our green practices,
- guest-by-guest measuring of energy use, waste and recycling.
Being green at Keeper’s Cottage
Because we at Keeper’s Cottage and High Grains aim to improve our operational practises in ever-increasing sustainable ways we aim to
• comply with the requirements of environmental legislation and appropriate codes of conduct,
• reduce emissions, waste and pollution,
• reduce our use of non-sustainable resources, especially water, electricity, fuel,
• encourage our visitors to participate in these aims and practises,
• seek out and use suppliers and contractors who espouse these aims,
• play an active part in the future of our local community.
To this end we have joined the Green Business Tourism Scheme as an indication of our commitment.
We recognise that all products and services generate environmental impacts and we are committed to minimising our negative impacts and improving our environmental performance; additionally we hope to enlist the co-operation of our clients.
Community
Our impact on society involves targeted marketing and our year round business contributes to local and regional tourism spend and employment in local shops, pubs, restaurants and attractions. Promotion of local crafts and products in guest information folders encourages guest spend in local and regional speciality and small shops
Our corporate social responsibility
Since retiring we have refocused our activities to be home-centric and drawing upon our friends’ and families’ frequent repeat stays with us we restored some of the former barns to a high quality tourism business. The neglected Victorian farm buildings offered an ideal business opportunity but required imagination, dedication and considerable financial investment. We have restored the buildings using, where possible, local materials and local craftsmen. We wanted to create a tourism business that meant visitors to Bewcastle spent time and money in our community, a fact that goes against the current trend; Bewcastle has visitors drawn by its heritage and history but no shops, no cafes, no restaurants – no commercial operation where the visitors leave behind a positive contribution to the community. Indeed we at High Grains set up and lead a local initiative to raise substantial sums of money for safeguarding the Bewcastle cross, its church and wider community. Again we are co-ordinating a fuel purchasing group for Bewcastle residents.
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