|
 At
Broadway Manor Cottages, we care about our environment and we have
joined the Green Tourism Business Scheme and have been awarded a Silver
grading reflecting our dedication to sustainability and green tourism in
Worcestershire and The Cotswolds.
We are committed to working in a sustainable way and take
care to reduce, re-use and recycle at all times. We are
undertaking the following actions in order to achieve this and have also
listed below how we strive to reduce our waste, pollution, carbon impact
and environmental impact.
-
We
comply with the requirements of environmental legislation and
approved codes of practice.
-
We
continuously seek to improve our environmental and social
performance.
-
We
raise awareness and encourage participation in sustainable business
practices.
-
We
liaise with the local community and are actively involved in local
trade associations and events.
-
We
aim to use local labour for building and ongoing maintenance of our
buildings and gardens.
Reduce
-
Our aim is to reduce the amount of waste we throw
away and recycle as much as possible.
-
We purchase items without packaging or in packaging
as free of toxics wherever practicable.
-
Whenever possible shopping is purchased on foot or by
bicycle or delivered as a part of a delivery round (lowering food
mileage).
-
We grow our own fruit
and vegetables.
-
The majority of our windows are double glazed.
We have replaced the Velux windows in Rafters with glass that has a
better thermal efficiency reducing heat loss and have replaced many
of the Velux blinds with blinds that have an aluminium backing which
also reduces heat gain and loss.
-
The majority of our and
walls and loft areas insulated. During the summer of 2009 we added
to the insulation in our loft areas and many are now insulated with
insulation blankets to a depth of at least 20cms (8"). Some of our
vaulted roofs are lined with insulation boards and some of our walls
are dry-lined with insulating boards to reduce heat loss.
-
All radiators (where possible/practicable) have thermostatic valves fitted
to help minimise energy use. Our hot water cylinders (including
those in Rafters and The Stables) are pre-insulated with foam.
-
All bathrooms have showers.
-
We are fitting low energy bulbs wherever practicable
(reducing our carbon impact).
-
We use rainwater wherever possible to
water the garden.
-
All of our surface
water is piped into the stream at the bottom of our garden and
surface water from the Cotswold escarpment feeds our wildlife pond.
-
The water and central heating in our
cottages and apartment is provided be energy efficient boilers. The
boilers in Corner Cottage (replaced in late 2006) and The Stables
(replaced in the spring of 2009) are energy-saving condensing
boilers which should cut our heating and hot water bills by between
15-20% and should be up to 30% cheaper to run than the old boilers.
-
We have installed solar
panels to heat some of our water.
-
We use a local laundry service to launder your linen
and towels.
-
We replace electrical appliances with ‘A’ rated or
higher appliances and aim to purchase durable long-lasting goods.
-
We turn off electrical appliances rather than leave
them on stand-by and encourage our guests to do the same.
-
Rafters
and 3, The Willows has an energy
saving approved digital LCD TV (recommended by
www.energysavingtrust.org.uk).
-
We regularly monitor
and manage our energy and water usage.
-
We use a web host for
our website that relies solely on renewable energy.
Re-use
-
We re-use carrier bags for shopping or use
biodegradable jute bags and have jute bags available for our guests
to use during their stay.
-
Egg cartons are reused or returned to the egg
supplier or if not practicable, recycled.
-
Any wire hangers are
returned to our laundry service for recycling.
-
We re-use paper whenever possible.
-
The Manor House, when
it was rebuilt in the late 1980s, used mostly Cotswold stone
reclaimed from the surrounding grounds and we aim to use as much
recycled and local materials as much as possible in our building
projects.
Recycle
-
We use the fortnightly local recycling service for
all that can be recycled: plastics, cans, glass, paper, card and magazines.
-
All garden and organic kitchen waste can be recycled.
A compost bin for guests' use is located near The Willows car
parking area.
-
We recycle used stamps
for the RNIB supporting blind and partially blind people.
-
We use logs from our
land and woodland to fuel our log fires.
If you would like to join us in protecting our environment we
invite you to:
-
Switch off your lights when you are not using them.
-
Use water with care.
-
Turn your television off at the mains when you are
not using it rather than leaving it on standby.
-
Line dry your washing on the rotary airer provided
rather than use the tumble dryer.
-
Leave your car behind and walk into the village
(there is a torch in the kitchen so that you can walk back safely in
the dark) or use local bus services to get to your destination.
Please use the style provided to access the nearby footpath.
-
Purchase local produce from the village. This
will help the local economy and reduce environmental impact.
-
Use the jute bags or
reuse a plastic bag when you do your shopping.
-
Use the recycling bins and wheelie bins provided to recycle your
paper, card, plastics, glass, etc and compost your kitchen waste
using the compost bin provided.
Wildlife
in our Grounds
We
encourage wildlife in our garden and woodland areas and if you stay with
us you will see a wide variety of wildlife during your stay. Our
regular inhabitants include:
-
A number of garden birds including the: Blackbird,
Blue Tit, Chaffinch, Gold Finch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, Green
Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Grey Heron, House Martin, Kestrel, Kingfisher, Long-tailed Tit, Magpie, Mallard (ducklings
born Spring 2009 and 2010), Moorhen (4 chicks born June 2008), Pheasant, Pied
Wagtail, Quail, Red Kite, Robin, Song Thrush, Sparrow, Sparrowhawk
(3 chicks born Spring 2010),
Wood Pigeon and Wren.
-
Badgers
-
Butterflies and moths
-
Foxes
-
Grey Squirrels
-
Muntjac also known as Barking Deer and Roe Deer
-
Rabbits
-
Weasels (seen May 2010)
During
your stay you are invited to take time to wander through the grounds and
see whether you can spot any of the above or even some not mentioned.
Please record any sightings in the Nature Diary in the Laundry Room.
Click here
to take a look at our online Nature Diary.
If you
have any suggestions of how we can protect our environment further, or
attract more wildlife into our garden, we would be delighted to hear
from you.
   
|
Cotswold
Holiday Cottages