From Green to Silver
By Tim Rumney, 26 March 2010 –
We started our Green initiatives nearly two years ago when an environmental organisation was looking for a hotel for a global conference and was keen to choose a venue that would support good practice in environmental responsibility.
Two years on and we achieved not only our bronze and silver award at the Cumbria Business Environment Network Awards Dinner on Tuesday night but also the Excellence Award in the silver category for the organisation that more than any other had gone above and beyond the criteria.
In that time we have (amongst other things):
- Introduced a woodland management programme creating a woodland walk for guests and the local community and improving the habitat for plants and animals.
- Planted an orchard using local provenance apples and creating a food source and habitat for wildlife.
- Encouraged flora and fauna throughout the site, created a herb garden and used rain water for irrigation.
- Fitted aerated shower heads and tap nozzles saving on water and gas.
- Introduced dual flush toilets to all refurbished bathrooms.
- Used LED lighting where possible significantly cutting down on electricity consumption.
- Last year diverted 33.83 tonnes from landfill (257.9 bins) by recycling plastic, glass, cardboard, paper and tin cans.
Not everybody is convinced by the climate change argument and those that are sceptical have a right to their opinion (although I disagree with them) but I do not think that anyone could argue that our initiatives have been a good thing.
We live in a consumption based society with finite resources and at some stage our behaviour will have to change. We have done our little bit to encourage that change. We are by no means perfect and we need to do more but from small acorns…