ORCHARD LODGE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
 
The village of Boscastle, the Valency Valley and the dramatic North Cornwall coast has some of the most beautiful scenery you could find anywhere.  In fact, it's probably why you decided to spend your valuable holiday time here.  The population of Cornwall is around half a million – yet every year this number swells to around five and a half million!
 
Here at Orchard Lodge, we decided that if Cornwall is going to remain as beautiful for your grandchildren as it is for you, then we needed to take action.  We have become members of CoaST – the Cornwall Sustainable Tourism Project and we have gained a special Gold Award given by the Green Tourism Business Scheme.  This means we have to prove that we care about the environment we live in – and not just drain it of its resources to earn our living.
 
These are just some of the things we do:
 
●  We have installed a new central heating system which uses a condensing boiler, to cut down on
    carbon emissions and save energy.  The system is compatible for use with solar panels which we
    have also installed this year.
●  We have replaced all our appliances with ones given 'A' grades for efficiency.
●  We monitor our use of resources and energy – oil, electricity and water – to try to make savings. 
●  We have changed our electricity supplier to one which offers a 100% renewable tariff.
●  We recycle all our plastics, cardboard, tins, aluminium, bottles, newspapers and old fabrics.
●  We buy as much of our food and ingredients from local suppliers as we can, to support their
    businesses and cut down on food miles.  And with the help of a local farmer, we are rearing our
    own pig for sausages.
●  We use low energy light bulbs
●  We offer reduced rates to visitors who arrive by public transport or on foot.
 
And these are some of the things you can do to help Cornwall:
 
●  Ask for clean towels, by putting the used ones in the shower, only when you need them,
    not every day.
●  Use the jute CoaST bags in your room for recyclable rubbish like plastic bottles and newspapers.
●  Turn off all the lights when you leave your room.
●  Turn off electrical appliances at the wall when you have finished using them.
●  Try using public transport for some of your days out while you're here – if you want to visit
    somewhere close by, we might be able to help!
 
All these are small things – but if five and a half million of us do them every year... just imagine...!