In 2009 we embarked
on our Eco Tourism Project - the creation of 3 Eco Holiday Cottages.
When converting the former barns and outbuildings at Merlin Farm,
our vision was to offer exceptional self-catering accommodation
within the beautiful valley of Lanherne, whilst protecting the
environment and ensuring wildlife habitat, feeding and breeding area’s
were preserved. We constantly strive to be greener, less wasteful,
and manage our land in the most energy efficient way.
The self catering
accommodation was created from existing stone barns. As the Eco
Cottages were a recent development advanced modern building
techniques were incorporated which allowed us to significantly
reduce our environmental impact. The high levels of insulation used
in the roofs, walls and floors allowed us to achieve the highest
energy performance rating, thus ensuring guests are cocooned within.
Also due to the South facing floor to ceiling windows in the lounge
and specification of argon filled glazing these buildings are often
heated by passive solar alone.
We
have moved on from being merely legislatively compliant to
implementing a waste and recycling policy designed to reduce the
environmental impact of our business. We do this by recycling as
much as possible, minimising energy use and loss. As well as the
usual recycling we also encourage our guests to compost their
kitchen waste, collect carrier bags and batteries, bread scraps for
our chickens and even have a dog poo composter ! (See how we created
it on our blog).
We select our cleaning materials carefully so that they are
ecologically sound and do not interfere with our septic tank. We
also supply wind up torches for our guests to use. We try to support
the local economy, benefit the local community (we donate money
towards our local beach clean project and with the help of our
guests collected plastic bottles used to create an eco greenhouse
for our local school), reduce congestion and pollution and signpost
our guests to nearby “green” sources where, for example,
they can enjoy local cuisine and purchase locally farmed organic
food and gifts. We believe that your stay with us will be much
improved by these measures. Full details can be found in our “Green
file” in each property. We are also always happy to listen to
ideas as to how we can improve our green credentials.
What
do we do?
- We develop our
business in as sustainable manner as possible.
- Hot water is
provided by Solar Thermal Energy (Eco Cottages, Daymer &
Treyarnon) and Underfloor heating is provided by a ground source
heat pump (Eco Cottages) and to ensure low electricity
consumption in the colder months have installed thermally
efficient woodburners (in all cottages)
- Our Cottages
are well insulated to maximise energy efficiency (Eco Cottages &
Trevone)
- We recycle or
compost as much of our waste as possible and encourage our
Guests to do the same by providing a recycling sorting station
and composting area.
- We use logs
from trees on our land and from that of our neighbours. Guests
are encouraged to purchase any additional logs required during
their stay on site or buy locally.
- We monitor and
manage our energy use.
- We have
created an 'Eco wetsuit station', where wetsuits are rinsed by
collected rain water then hung to dry on the drying racks.
- Our linen and
towels are laundered locally where borehole extracted water and
eco friendly detergents are used.
- We provide
bath robes (in Eco Cottages & Trevone) that are made using
sustainable bamboo cotton.
- Towels heaters
are timed to come on twice a day to dry towels instead of all
day and night.
- Low energy
infrared garden heaters (Eco Cottages) are timed to 5 minutes
usage.
- We have fitted
low energy and led light bulbs where possible, reducing
electricity consumption
- We purchase
environmentally friendly materials when appropriate, i.e. coffee
and dining tables (Eco Cottages) made using wood from FSC
approved sustainable forests
- We raise the
awareness to staff so that everyone may be involved, i.e.
encouragment of car sharing.
- Our website is
our 'online brochure' thus eliminating the need for paper
brochure production
- Category A
efficiency appliances are used throughout helping to reduce
energy use.
- We only use
paper made using wood pulp from FSC approved sustainable forests
and envelopes made from 100% recycled paper.
- We provide a
'green file' for guests suggesting ideas such as 'car free' days
and other green awareness issues
- We provide
undercover storage for push bikes should guests wish to bring
with them on holiday
- We encourage
our guests to eat and purchase locally, by providing details of
local restaurants and organic farm shops, cutting down on food
miles and boosting the local economy !
- We encourage
wildlife and biodiversity. We have provided Barn Owl and Bat
habitats by fitting specialist boxes around the site as well as
leaving 10% of our 27 acre site in a 'natural' state essential
for Barn Owl hunting ground, this includes the hedgerows and
wetlands we own bordering the River Menahyl
- We have
recently planted 250 Monterey Pine Trees as part of our
sustainable firewood programme
How
our Guests can help
We can work together
to make less impact on our surroundings; we ask our guests to do the
following:
- Use the
recycling and composting facilities on site.
- Don't leave
windows open when you go out as the underfloor heating has to
work harder or gas wasted unnecessarily; when you go out please
also turn off all lights.
- Use the
dishwasher and washing machine using daylight hours making use
of our solar pv generation
- Only keep
essential lights on at night. Do you really need the kitchen
lights on when you are asleep?
- Use only the
ecological cleaning products we supply.
- Please help
conserve water by not rinsing wetsuits in the bathroom, instead
use the Eco wetsuit rinsing station under the lean-to in the car
park. They can then be hung on the drying racks above. Please
also thoroughly shake or rinse sandy clothing outside before
placing in our washing machines.
- Buy
local food and services whilst you are here to help the local
community that you came to visit.
- Leave the car
behind for a day, take a picnic and explore the immediate
beautiful countryside or coastal walks using the footpaths
locally.
- If
you don't want to take your buckets, spades and bodyboards home,
please don't throw away. Leave them at the farm and we'll see
that they are re-used by future guests. Conversely please feel
free to make use of any beach items left by previous guests
- Plant
a tree at Merlin Farm to offset your journey
Future
- Creation of
compost toilet to serve stable block and guests should they be
willing to give it a try and learn more about it !
- Creation of
outdoor solar heated shower for guests to use returning from the
beach.
- We have been
in contact with Eco-Drive and hope to install a charging point
for electric hire vehicles in the future. We will be encouraging
guests to travel down to Cornwall by train and pick up their
electric car at the nearest railway station for use during their
stay.
- The site has
an existing Well and Borehole which we hope to use in the future
to irrigate the site.
- We
are looking to create an allotment area at Merlin Farm where
members of the community can grow organic vegetables.
|
|
"Staying
at the eco-cottages gave us a sense of what the tourism industry
should be providing - quality, relaxed and peace-enducing
accommodation whilst harvesting the heat of the sun and in the
ground and sourcing Fair Trade, organic and other eco & socially
acceptable products. Having funded GTBS programmes across West
Somerset and Devon for Exmoor National Park Authority and met lots
of GTBS-approved businesses, I can say from first-hand experience
that Merlin Farm ranks very highly."
Phil Cookson -
Aardvard Environmental Matters
www.aardvarkem.co.uk
Green
News : March 2012
Merlin Farm Eco Cottages has been shortlisted
for the Green Tourism Business Scheme Goldstar Awards 2012. The
shortlist is compiled from the highest scoring Gold graded
businesses from 2011 representing the greenest 2% of the total 2400
GTBS membership. The awards will be announced at a ceremony to be
held in Edinburgh on Friday 25th May.
Green
News : Dec 2011
Merlin
Farm is now generating its own electricity using 216 Solar PV panels
sited in the field adjacent to the holiday cottages. This was the
last recommendation from our SAP calculations to take the Eco
Cottages into the 'A' band for energy efficiency and make them
virtually carbon neutral ! Because the total amount of electricity
generated will exceed the current site consumption we are able to
export green electricity back into the grid which goes a long way to
making our business carbon neutral.
Green Press
>
Merlin Farm in Green Living Magazine
>
Merlin Farm on Traveling Greener Blog
Green
Days Out
Stay
local during your stay to avoid using your car. Visit
this page
for a list of things to do locally and link to the local bus
timetables
Green Links
>
The Green Tourism Business Scheme
>
The Coast Project
>
Cornwall Sustainability Awards
>
Green Traveller
>
Aardvark Environmental Matters
>
Eos Energy
>
Good Energy
>
Eco-Drive
>
Traveling Greener |
