What is Sustainable Tourism?
“Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities" (UNWTO)
OUR JOURNEY
SUSTAINABILITY POLICY
Here at Slieve Elva B&B we recognise our responsibility to respect the natural environment and are committed to achieve environmental best practice, where practically possible throughout our business activity. We are proud to be members of Sustainable Travel Ireland and full paying member of The Burren Ecotourism network.
We continually seek ways to conserve and protect natural resources, to minimise wastage of raw materials and energy, whilst providing a consistent and quality product and service to our guests.
We conduct internal environmental reviews and annually assess our progress towards an improved environmental performance and revise as necessary.
Our customers and guests are made aware of our sustainability policy to give them the option to help us achieve them.
Activities that are established at Slieve Elva B&B include:
- Energy Conservation:
- Use of Energy Saving bulbs and LED, including motion activated lighting
- Encourage a “switch off policy” with staff and guests.
- Individual room radiator thermostatic valves and timed heating.
- Monitor our energy usage on a monthly basis.
- Generating and exporting our own electricity through solar panels.
- In periods of low occupancy, appropriate sections within the B&B are isolated so heating can be turned off and lighting reduced to emergency levels only.
- Upgrade to a new high efficiency boiler and regular boiler checks.
- Purchasing of energy efficient equipment.
- Planting of our first native apple trees to balance out our carbon footprint.
How do solar panels like their eggs?
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Sunny side up!
- Reducing Waste Recycle/Re-use:
- No individual small single use toiletries.
- Use recycled products wherever possible.
- Move towards using environmentally friendly cleaning materials.
- Utilise the internet and email as a means to distribute invoices, newsletters, brochures, etc.
- Make use of local food suppliers wherever possible, reducing food miles.
- Homemade baking & other products to avoid harmful food additives:
- We make our own jams and spreads, jars are reused to minimize glass wastage.
- Also homemade: yoghurt, breads, cakes, granola, cheese, ...
- Central heating using BioLPG
- In-house water bottling system for guests whereby filtered water is supplied in re-useable glass bottles, significantly reducing our glass and plastic bottle wastage and carbon footprint
- Small kettles in guest bedrooms to reduce electricity required to boil a kettle.
- A water butt supplies water for our garden and plant watering through rainwater harvesting.
- Where possible we use ozone generation for laundry. We reduce water consumption, energy and use of detergents.
- Laundry, by reducing the quantity of towels we wash.
- Good maintenance – mending leaking taps.
- Full loads in washing machines and dish/glass washers.
OUR MISSION
- Work in an environmentally responsible manner.
- Seek to conserve natural resources by ensuring the responsible use of energy, water and materials yet still provide the quality of service expected by our guests.
- Measure performance and set objectives that will be regularly revisited with the aim of continual improvement by reducing, re-using or recycling in areas such as: water consumption, waste materials produced and energy consumption.
- Gain support from our guests and ensure that they are made aware of our environmental policy.
- Source products that have minimal environmental impact and are sourced using fair trade policies – packaging, recyclable products, local sourcing of services and products and energy efficient electrical equipment.
- Responsible purchasing. (to reduce the environmental impact of the B&B caused through travel)
- Regularly conduct reviews to ensure our operations remain compliant with this policy and to set or revise targets to ensure continual improvement for the future.
- Slieve Elva B&B supports the principles of the Burren Code to help safeguard the Burren landscape.
Future aims:
- Development of our own vegetable and fruit garden.
- Installing a greenhouse / polytunnel.
- Expanding orchard and related activities like juicing, local farmers market. Creating more diversity choosing all native heritage fruit trees.
- Aim to provide Chickens for our own egg supply.
- Switching to an electric car to reduce our carbon footprint even further.
- Electric vehicle charging point.
- Small wind turbine.
- Bigger scale rainwater harvesting and filtration for use in toilets, showers, …
Some simple measures for Guests to help us with our continued efforts:
- Turn off lights or electrical items in your bedroom when not in use.
- Consider the usage of your towels during your stay
- Please take care with the removal of make-up before bed
- Allow us to recycle any newspapers that may no longer be required
- Avoid dripping taps
- Turn down the heating before opening the windows
- We request for equipment not to be left on standby or prolonged charging
- Adhere to our No Smoking Policy in the House & Grounds.
- To follow the Code of conduct for Burren visitors, Leave no trace principle.
