We are blessed to live in a beautiful part of a beautiful country and want to do our best to make it even better for our children. We have been striving for many years to make our lives more sustainable and hope to carry on this journey for years to come. Here are some of the things we have done to become a more sustainable Bed and Breakfast, and we continue to do more.
When we moved into our house many years ago it was a big, draughty, solid walled, single-glazed Victorian house, and very difficult to keep warm. We insulated and drylined and all the walls, installed insulation in the loft and under the suspended floors, double glazed the windows and draft proofed all the chimneys around the doors and under the skirtings.
We were delighted recently when our house achieved an EPC rating of “C”, equivalent to the new build houses in our area. This has helped us keep the house and Bed and Breakfast warm using a fraction of the energy we used to and has enabled us to install more energy efficient heating. It also helped making us a more sustainable Bed and Breakfast.
In 2022, with the help of local company Rural and Country, we exchanged our gas boiler for an air source heat pumps which now provide all our hot water and central heating, far more efficiently. We have also installed solar panels which will generate most of the electricity used around the B&B and will power the heat pumps. We don’t expect to be completely off grid electricity wise but will be a long way there, and a step further in become a sustainable Bed and Breakfast.
All our meat comes from our local Weaverham butcher, George, and our eggs are free range local farm eggs. Our honey is locally sourced, not yet from our own hives, but sometimes from the hives of our lovely neighbours. We’d like to get better at growing our own produce but from time to time can offer you apple juice made from our own apples, and sometimes even tomatoes fresh from the garden. We cook to order so there isn’t much wastage, but any excess we can usually make use of cooking for our family.
We are trying to reduce our use of single use plastic and have refillable containers for our soap and shampoo, and fresh coffee and milk in the rooms which avoids the use of plastic sachets. We have recently stopped using plastic bin liners, using biodegradable bin liners in the bathrooms instead. We will recycle items that you place in the recycling section of your waste bin.
In early 2024, we made a conscious decision to transform our front lawn into a flourishing garden that benefits both our guests and the local wildlife. We began by creating a dedicated flower and plant bed, filled with bee and butterfly-friendly species, to attract and support these vital pollinators.
Recently, we took another exciting step by adding a small wildlife pond. While you won’t find fish in this natural habitat, we’re hopeful that it will become a thriving ecosystem for a variety of small creatures, with our ultimate goal being the arrival of a beautiful dragonfly.
Once we have a good idea how our solar panels perform, we are planning to install an electric vehicle charging point. In the meantime, guests with electric cars are using our outdoor socket to trickle charge their car overnight. Our towels take a lot of energy to launder as they need to be tumble dried to stay fluffy, so we are researching options to help reduce this impact.
We are learning new things and getting new ideas every day and would love you to share your ideas and insights with us. All of your hints and tips will help us become a more sustainable Bed and Breakfast. We have started a Sustainability Plan , a work in progress so we’d love to hear your suggestions. Check out a presentation Harro recently made at a Virtual Summit for Hospitality hosts OurJourneySoFar
