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At Coldmartin we are committed to the care of the environment. We have therefore taken the following measures to minimize any impact our business may have on the environment:
• Coldmartin guest accommodation is a recent conversion of redundant farm buildings. From the design stage through to completion of the project every effort has been made to ensure that a broad range of environmental issues are considered in this business.
• We aimed to reduce greenhouse gasses by designing efficiency into the building and equipment. We are currently replacing our old electrical equipment with A-rated products.
• All our radiators are thermostatically controlled. We check thermostats at each room change to ensure that they are set appropriately.
• All our windows are double glazed and fitted with trickle vents to maintain a supply of wholesome air encouraging visitors to turn radiators down rather than opening windows and allowing precious heat to escape.
• We have a programmme for replacing existing light bulbs with low energy bulbs to reduce energy and replacement costs while maintaining the ambience of the guest accommodation with comfortable light levels.
• We regularly review our energy consumption and set targets to try to reduce consumption. Targets for 2006 include aiming to reduce consumption of national grid electricity by 1/3 by exploring the viability of installing a small wind turbine subject to planning permission.
• We encourage visitors/guests to use water in a responsible manner.
• We check for dripping taps and have recently purchased and are installing a 3,500 litre storage tank for rainwater.
• We use aerator taps fitted with aerator valves to reduce water use.
• We maintain our hot water at 60 degrees which is hot enough to prevent bacterial contamination but reduces carbon emissions and maintains a high level of service without unnecessarily heating water .
• As our existing paper supplies are used up we are replacing them with recycled paper where possible.
• We recycle glass, paper and metals and compost any vegetable waste. Food waste of a wholesome nature is recycled to supplement the diet of the local farmers' working sheep dogs
• We use Ecover Non Biological Laundry Liquid in an attempt to reduce the release of harmful chemicals into the environment.
• We do not replace towels and linen on a daily basis as a matter of course, as this is often unnecessary and wasteful. We are, however, happy to replace towels at any time our guests may request.
• Where possible the coffee, sugar and hot chocolate we use are Fair Trade products and come from growers in the developing world who have been paid a fair price.
• We have maps and timetables for visitors to encourage walking and use of public transport. We also offer our visitors access via the internet to www.walkingworld.com, which has a huge range of walks of varying lengths right on the doorstep.
We encourage our visitors to consider the importance of improving and maintaining the environment for future generations and if they have any suggestions about how we might improve our environmental performance we are most pleased to hear them.
We aim to undertake green purchasing wherever possible in order to reduce food miles, support local farming, shops and businesses, improve the local environment, aiding the economic stability of the area.
All our meat, eggs and honey are locally produced and sourced. All other produce is bought locally.
All maintenance and repairs not undertaken by ourselves is outsourced to local tradespeople. |
