green tourism business scheme
We are very fortunate to live in such a beautiful area, with such a rich and varied wildlife, and with the help of guests we are doing our bit to help conserve this.
The Green Tourism Business Scheme is the leading sustainable tourism certification scheme in the UK, with over 1400 members. Businesses opting to join are assessed by a qualified grading advisor against a rigorous set of criteria, covering a range of areas, like energy and water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity and more.
Businesses that meet the required standard, receive a Bronze, Silver, or Gold award based on their level of achievement. The current network of members is comprised of a wide range of business types, including accommodation providers, visitor attractions, corporate offices and others.
We are very pleased to have been awarded a "Silver" award in 2006 by the Visit Scotland Green Tourism Business Scheme and are hoping to achieve Gold in our next assessment.
We already manage the site in an environmentally friendly way, but this scheme will help us to build upon the practices that we already have in place. For example, we already provide recycling facilities, bike hire, information on local walks and access to locally caught sea food. However over the last few years we have added to this list with biodegradable cleaning products, a no smoking policy and a new septic tank to name just a few changes!
Our latest addition has been compost bins in each caravan, with biodegradable bags to keep them clean. We are also currently working on expanding our own vegetable garden and adding soft fruit bushes so that we can offer guests our surplus produce. We've also built a small chicken run in the vegetable garden for our latest clutch of chicks. Hopefully this area should be fully up and running by the autumn and be a useful addition to the caravan site for future years.
We have always managed the grounds as organically as possible, with only the very occassional use of spot weedkillers on specific problem plants (normally those blooming docks!) but most other weeds are dealt with by mowing, digging or hand weeding. The result is a beautiful mixed turf with orchids, lousewort, milkwort, vetches, harebells and other wild flowers coming through. We are also experimenting this year with allowing selected areas to be cut less often to see what other species we can encourage, and this had been successful with red campion, knapweed, stitchwort, bluebells, foxgloves and hawkbit all flourishing. Hopefully we can gradually build up wildlife corridors along the edges and into sections of the site to give more cover for wildlife such as voles, shrews, toads, frogs, newts, slow worms, and insects that we already have.
The next step is me (Rosy) undertaking a permaculture design course over the summer and autumn. As I find it very hard to describe what it is I'll cheat and include a quote from the Permaculture Association: "Permaculture is about creating sustainable human habitats by following nature's patterns. It uses the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems to provide a framework and guidance for people to develop their own sustainable solutions to the problems facing their world, on a local, national or global scale. It is based on the philosophy of co-operation with nature and caring for the earth and its people." If you would like to know any more then have a look at the Association's website, or ask to borrow a book while you are here.
Our Environmental Policy
We are committed to looking after the environment in which we operate and minimising our impact upon it. Measures taken include:
- Membership of the Scottish Tourist Board's Green Tourism Business Scheme, which provides accreditation and encouragement for tourism businesses to reduce the environmental impact of their activities.
- The reduction of waste, both from the business running and visiting guests - “reduce, re-use, recycle”. Systems are in place for the recycling of paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, tins and cans, compostable waste, bedding, electrical equipment and more.
- Energy and water efficiency through monitoring, modernisation and education.
- Support local economy through the use of local suppliers.
- Encourage visitors to walk, cycle and use public transport during their stay.
- Inform and educate guests about the wildlife and environment around them.
- Manage the landscape of Sunnybrae in a sustainable and environmentally sensitive manner.
The following tourist attractions in the area are also members of the Green Tourism Scheme:
Bonawe Iron Furnace, Taynuilt (gold)
Dunstaffnage Castle (gold)
Cruachan Power Station, Loch Awe (gold)
Iona Abbey and Nunnery (gold)
Duart Castle, Mull (silver)
Glengorm Coffee Shop (gold)
