Becoming More Sustainable
At Berwick Lodge, we understand how important it is to respect the environment, especially having seen the positive affects on the environment over lockdown. We've been looking at ways to significantly reduce our carbon footprint and support local.
According to UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), 20% of the CO2 emissions from the tourism industry, are accountable to hotels. We recognise how we could be contributing to this and have made eco-conscious decisions in each aspect of the hotel, to ensure that we're reducing our emissions.
Our guests are encouraged to be sustainable when they can, with helpful green reminders around the hotel. We want to show them that we can still be stylish and provide high quality of service, while helping to keep our environment healthy.
In The Bedrooms
- We've identified that most of our emissions stem from our rooms, so have made some eco-friendly decisions:
- Robes are available now on request and we encourage our guests to reuse their towels, leading to reduction in energy use.
- Toiletries are locally sourced and luxurious - Bramley Products are from Somerset and they only use natural ingredients in their products. This means we are eliminating transportation pollution as well as giving back to the local community.
- We've partnered with ‘Who Gives a Crap?’ toilet paper, who donate 50% of their profits to help improve sanitation in third world countries.
- Plastic coffee pods have been replaced with WWF Coffee pods - Arabica coffee in a compostable pod
- Electric car charging points are available in the car park, chargeable at £25 per use.
In The Gardens
Now more than ever we understand the importance of respecting the natural surrounding and have strived to maintain it. Over lockdown, we have introduced some very exciting aspects into the gardens and our Head Gardener Robert worked continuously to ensure everything was in place before we opened back up!
- We are delighted to tell you that a swarm of bees now live in our hive! We'll be producing sustainable honey for use in the kitchen and the rooms.
- Robert doesn't use pesticides in the gardens, only organic treatments, and encourages wildlife to settle. Wild flower seeds have been scattered, the colours of which encourage butterflies to visit and a woodland ‘bug hotel' now lives on the edge of the gardens.
- Fallen trees from our woodland are chopped up and stored in the log shed to season, for use in the hotel’s log burners and open fires- which helps to avoid deforestation. We are so grateful to have access to such a beautiful area of woodland, so we are trying to give back!
- Apples that grew in our orchard over lockdown were picked and sent to not-for profit Gloucestershire company, Trust Juice, who rely on the help of Stonehouse (Glos) students with learning difficulties, to process the apples and make them into apple juice for our guests in 2022.
- Our newlyweds can now leave a lasting memory of their wedding by planting a tree on the grounds. This helps to offset some of the carbon footprint a wedding can create.
In The Restaurant
Within the restaurant we have taken measures to reduce wastage and eliminate emissions from importing food.
- Our chefs try to use locally sourced and seasonal produce in every meal. We grow herbs in our very own kitchen garden to use in dishes and our nearest beef supplier is from next door at Berwick Lodge Farm!
- Coffee is ordered from Wogan Coffee, based down the road from us in Bristol
- Our house wine ‘Three Choirs’ is sourced from their vineyard in Gloucestershire and local gins make an appearance at our bar.
- We have signed up to the Too Good To Go app, ensuring that surplus food goes into someone's tummy and not the bin!
If you have any other ideas about how we can help, please do drop us an email with suggestions, to info@berwicklodge.co.uk
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