Best Practice Purchasing policy

Best practice purchasing policy: Buying and using products that have minimal impact on the environment is to be encouraged. Think about where you source any products you purchase such as food, office supplies and cleaning products, but also consider other types of purchases such as services from sub-contractors, utility suppliers and investments.The use of local or organic food, even growing your own, or local crafts such as pottery, furniture etc. benefits the guest but also contributes to the local community.

Example: It is possible to use naturally sourced cleaning & bleaching agents (i.e. vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, tea tree/lavender oil, alcohol, borax). They still are the best all-purpose agents today which are biodegradable (even edible!), safer for children, economical and very easy to make.

• Grow your own fruit and veg – organically if possible. 
  
  Kerala B&B accommodation We grow paddy, vegetables, fruits and spices in the organic farm. Cow, goat, rabbits, hen, ducks etc. for diary, poultry and meat are fed organic feed as part of our commitment to organic production and organic way of living.
  
  
  
• Use your resources – fruit trees growing in the grounds, for example.
  
  
• Keep your own animals – if not for meat then perhaps a few chickens for eggs.
  
  
• If you can’t produce your own food, buy it locally - neighbouring farm, a local cooperative, or the local market. This way people in your immediate community benefit from your business, and you’ve not contributed to global warning as your food hasn’t travelled miles by air or freight.
  
  Example from the owner of this Snowdonia B&B and campsite: "Sometimes you come across 'organic' labelled fresh vegetables flown from all over the world, and I often feel that this is self-contradicting and self-defeating organic principles. I think it is also important to think about from where the products are sourced, and think about how environmental and organic the product really is, if we are to think about the environmental issues at a global level.
  
  This is one of the main reasons we decided to terminate our contract with Soil Association at least for the time being too - we felt that their environmental concerns and organic principles did not seem to extend beyond their certified farms. Chemical spraying in our immediate neighbouring farms was not taken into consideration nor vast amount of diesel fume we had to pump into the atmosphere to weed the whole farm mechanically. As we believe organic principles as far as our sheep and land is concerned, we will never stop farming organically and as much chemical-free as possible, but we are going to have to rethink about our attitude towards being certified if we are rejoining Soil Associations or other organic certifiers in the near future."
  
  
• Support traditional methods of agriculture by not buying food that isn’t indigenous – tourists are seen as wanting steak in French Polynesia, so local farming methods have been destroyed because farmers have started keeping cows. Introducing foreign species can also cause ecological problems.
  
  
• Consider varieties of food (particularly fruit) that have been deemed unsuitable by supermarkets and so are in danger of dying out.
  
  
• Buy seasonally available food and support the Slow Food movement
  
• Buy organic food where possible, and where produce just isn't available locally, support the Fair Trade Movement.
  
  
• Don’t just source food locally; you can also buy furniture, painting, linens, candles, for example.
  
  Villa holidays in Crete, Maheri Curtains, throws and the traditional bed linen have been made by local women. Wall hangings and embroidery from the Women’s Co-operative at Gavalohori feature in some of the houses as well as silk produced by the women of Kallamitsi Amigdali.
  
  
• Buy FSC certified timber products to ensure that they are from a sustainable source.
  
  
• Or buy toiletries that aren’t tested on animals, or products that contain natural ingredients.
  
  
• Think about packaging too – the less the better.