OUR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Recycling and conserving energy (water/electricity and packaging) was very important to us when we started our bed and breakfast business.  Buying local has kept down the packaging, while supporting small local businesses.  The food is fresher, travelled less miles and tastes better.  95% of our food has travelled less than 5 miles before it gets to your plate.  I think you will taste the difference!

LOCAL FOOD:

• 95% of our food comes from local suppliers and as much regional and British seasonal food as possible.
• All our cooked breakfast ingredients come from less than 5 miles away, which supports our local community
• We use organic produce when available
• We grow as much as our own fruit and vegetables organically for our business as possible.
• We make our own jams, marmalades, chutneys and pickles for our business which is either home grown or we go to Siston Court Nurseries or St Aldams Fruit Farm/Frome Valley Fruit Farm and pick it (all local to us).

WASTE/RECYCLING:

• "Green Joanna" food waste composter
• We re-cycle the newspapers
• All our waste is sorted into paper, cardboard, glass bottles and cans
• We use recycled printing paper in our office.
• We compost all fruit and vegetable peelings and make our own compost.
• We compost the waste from the chicken houses
• All guest rooms have recycling bins to separate tins, cardboard and plastic

ELECTRICITY/ENERGY:

• Electricity from renewable sources
• Monitor our electricity and water bills
• All electrical appliances are "AAA" rated to be most energy efficient in terms of water and electricity use and used on economy mode where possible.
• Double glazed windows
• Small capacity kettles
• Panel heating in the rooms which are thermostatically controlled- when rooms empty they are turned off.
• All rooms are supplied with thermometers
• We recycle old timbers and prunings on our woodburners.
• We use energy saving light bulbs everywhere (excluding the security lights)
• We have instant electric hand washing units.
• Washing is line dried when weather permits
• We save electricity by using a solar panel that recharges the electric chicken fencing battery 
• 2 day towel change policy or longer if guests' wish to keep their towels

WATER REDUCTION:

• We have decided that we can no longer supply bottled water in the rooms due to the impact of plastic bottles on the environment (which we have recycled until now).  Instead we supply each room with a stainless steel jug of filtered water which we are happy to replenish when required. 
• All toilet cisterns are fitted with water hippos to reduce the amount of water flushed into the biodigester
• We have fitted showers instead of baths
• We top up the level of the wildlife pond by from water butts
• We use the water collected in the water butts to water the greenhouses and vegetable plot

REDUCING PACKAGING:

• We only use ECOVER biodegradable chlorine free cleaning products, as well as Ecover washing products/shampoo and shower gels and top up from 5 litre containers.
• We only use re-cycled paper toilet rolls, kitchen rolls and waste bin bags hat have packaging which is biodegradable.
• Where possible using plastic containers to store food in, reducing cling film.

LOCAL COMMUNITY/ECONOMY:

• Being involved in the Pucklechurch Environmental and Sustainability Group
• We support small local businesses by purchasing our food locally for the B & B
• Members of the Pucklechurch Speedwatch Group
• Members of the Hawk & Owl Trust
• Members of Avon Wildlife Trust
• Support the Forest of Avon Donate a Tree Scheme

• Members of South Gloucestershire Sustainability Forum

• Support with donation to Siston Church Parish Magazine

• Promote local pubs/attractions/walks

• Employ local cleaners

• Support Siston Church Parish Magazine.

• Support with donation to Pucklechurch Revel

NATURE/ LOCAL ENVIRONMENT:

• We actively encourage wildlife in the field, garden and also provide a natural habitat in the wildlife field, pond, field margins and special areas, nesting boxes and insect boxes.
• We encourage guests to visit local attractions
• We encourage guests to bring bicycles to enjoy the local cyclepaths
• We encourage kestrels to breed in our wildlife field every year.

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IDEAS ON BEING ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY

Have a look at this fantastic on line video, "The Story of Stuff" - its a funny, but scary view of our consumption and production patterns by Annie Leonard who studied the subject for the last 10 years.    http://www.storyofstuff.com To escape from the video, just click on a fern link on the left hand side.

GETTING BACK TO NATURE:

If you fancy getting back to nature, have a look at this lovely wildlife sight from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.  Its got some great events planned, a bug hunt,sounds and smells of summer, glow worm survey, watching for bats, owls, badgers http://www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/index.php?section=places:events

DID YOU KNOW?

On the subject of food and waste - have a look at the www.lovefoodhatewaste.com web site - its got a load of great ideas about food portion sizes as well as some great recipes for being economical with food leftovers.  Did you know that we throw away 6.7 million tonnes of food each year and the amount of food we waste is a major contributor to the production of greenhouse gases in the UK.

Did you know that leaving the tap running wastes over 5 litres per minute?  Put a plug in the sink.

Buying A rated electrical equipment such as dishwashers, washing machines, tumble dryers fridges and freezers save you money - they may be a little more expensive to purchase, but they are much more energy efficient.

Wait until you have a full load of washing before using your washing machine and dry washing outside when its good weather.  You'll save money on your electricity.

Use environmentally friendly cleaning products - the supermarkets now have quite a range of their own branded products - they work just as well as the "super unfriendly" kitchen and bathroom cleaners.

Washing fruit and vegetables/peeling potatoes, put the plug in the sink or use a bowl

Use your freezer more to ensure that food kept in the refrigerator doesn't spoil. 

Go back to using "plastic tubs" to store food in, instead of plastic freezer/food bags or even cling film - it cuts down the amount of waste plastic going into the landfill. 

Buy locally - its usually got less packaging (better still use your own recycled bags), its fresher, travelled less miles and healthier for you.  It keeps your local supplier going and usually costs less.

Buy free range/organic - just buy less and top up with extra lovely vegetables, or make more meals out of it (use portion control www.lovefoodhatewaste.com) 

BICYCLE HIRE:

Guests wanting to hire bicycles can do so in advance from Webbs of Warmley 0117 9673676 prices for a 24 hour hire are Adult - £12.00.  We will transport guests to and from the cycle hire shop.

CYCLING:

We have maps of the Bristol to Bath Cycle Path and the Avon Cycle Path, both are within a short distance of Fern Cottage.  You can even cycle from the Bristol to Bath Cycle Path to one of the UK's prettiest villages - Castle Combe! - Again, we have details of this and many other scenic cycle routes.  See also http://www.sustrans.org.uk for more routes.

WALKING:

We also have local walks such as Overscourt Woods and the Forest of Avon Community Forest Walk  www.forestofavon.org.uk and loads of brochures with ideas of where to walk.  We also recommend to guests to use the Lansdown Park and Ride Bus Service which is 8 minutes drive from the cottage and drops guests off right in the middle of the shops in Bath.  It is cheaper than driving and parking in Bath and is run very efficiently.