Boringdon Hall Hotel

SHARED COMMITMENT

On this page we've highlighted all of the positive steps we've taken to provide a sustainable hotel. We're a family business and maintains a strong commitment to the environment and to the local economic and social community. As a company, we recognise that our operation has an impact on the environment and are committed to improving our performance through a number of policies and practices in order to ensure environmental, economic and societal sustainability.

We believe that sustainable development is an imperative aspect of business and have undertaken a number of policies and practices in order to ensure environmental, economic and societal sustainability. We have a nominated Charity of The Year, for which we host regular fundraising events.

Improving facilities on a regular basis ensures that wasteful and non-efficient facilities are either repaired or removed and replaced. A full list of energy reducing measures can be found on our website but include: 90% CFLs or LED lighting, outdoor lights with low energy alternatives and PIRs/timers, zoned heating and heat recovery pool systems, well insulated hot water tanks at 60 degrees, lagged hot pipes, percussion fittings in spa and changing rooms, timers to urinals, dual flush toilets, new, efficient dishwashers  with dosing systems, concentrate cleaning materials, chlorine products banned, reduced paper marketing, use recycled paper, encourage guests to place recyclables in bins, recycle printer cartridges, batteries, paper, cardboard, glass, tins and recyclable plastics, compactor for residual waste and cardboard, monitor energy and water usage monthly.

We support local business and ensure that the majority of our turnover remains in County by employing local people, using 100% local contractors for all refurbishments and supporting local businesses for purchasing and services. All of our staff are made fully aware of our ethos when joining the company.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

We are passionate about our local, natural environment and are committed to improving our environmental performance by:

• Complying with all relevant environmental legislation and industry codes of practice
• Actively working towards reducing environmental impact and prevent pollution that occurs as a result of our operation
• Considering the concerns of interested parties such as guests, members, local residents, employees and regulators
• Setting objectives and targets to drive continual improvement programmes, and regularly review environmental performance to ensure success
• Ensuring all employees and sub contractors are aware of this policy and trained in their environmental responsibilities
• Engaging suppliers and guests in environmental initiatives which support the environmental aims of the company
• Making this policy available to our customers and the public on demand

This policy will be implemented within the framework of an Environmental Management System designed to meet the requirements of BS8555.

To save energy and water...

• We have key cards for nearly all of our bedrooms which operate the electricity
• We use 90% CFL or LED light bulbs throughout the hotel
• Our outdoor lights use low energy bulbs and are on PIRs/timers
• The public washrooms have sensor operated lights
• We have zoned heating throughout the building
• Heat recovery systems in our pool
• We set our hot water tanks to 60 degrees and ensure they are well insulated
• We have lagged all of our hot water pipes
• We use recycled cellulose insulation in the spa and added additional insulation to all our cavity walls and ceilings
• Use only FSC timber in renovations
• We have fitted percussion fittings in the spa and changing rooms and timers to urinals, along with dual flush toilets
• We use new, efficient dishwashers with dosing systems
• We purchase cleaning materials in concentrate and ban chlorine products in cleaning
• We also monitor energy and water usage on a monthly basis
• We have small cisterns with dual flushes on toilets
• We have fitted widgets into our showers
• We have a towel and linen change policy whereby guests are asked to request new towels or fresh linen as they need it

To recycle...

• We have reduced paper marketing by 40% and only use recycled paper
• We encourage guests to place recyclables in bins by entrance or within recycling bins throughout the hotel
• We recycle printer cartridges, batteries, paper, cardboard, glass, tins and recyclable plastics
• We use a compactor for residual waste and cardboard

To help the local economy...

• We ensure that the majority of our high yearly turnover remains in the County by employing 100% local people, using 100% local contractors for all refurbishments and supporting local businesses for purchasing and services.
• In our restaurant, we make the best use of local seasonal produce in our menus and avoid individually packaged items wherever possible. Our kitchen deliveries arrive in reusable crates and we are committed to constantly reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill
• We have a nominated Charity of The Year, for which we host regular fundraising events
• We support local artists via artwork displays
• We use natural and organic spa products from UK company Gaia Skincare
• Provide in-house training for students
• We also support our employees and encourage further training across all departments, last year we helped 12 employees gain further education.
• Local residents are very welcome within our hotel, spa and restaurant and we often put together offers specifically aimed at local residents.

Recent Improvements

We actively support the local environment, economic and social communities. By investing in the hotels and constantly improving facilities on a regular basis, we ensure that wasteful and non-efficient facilities are either repaired or removed and replaced with efficient and waste / energy minimizing models. Over the last few years we have been pro-actively monitoring and reducing our energy consumption within the hotel. We have invested a large amount of money purchasing efficient equipment and training our staff to use them resourcefully.

What can you do?

In return for our commitment we ask you, our visitors, to also do your bit and join us in trying to make our hotels an environmentally friendly place to stay by following these five steps to being a sustainable visitor.

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - Recycle your used newspapers, magazines, cans and plastic bottles in the bins provided around the hotel.
• Get out of the car! Enjoy a whole host of local attractions and days out using public transport.
• Stay Local, Eat Local, Buy Local, See Local
• Turn off, remember to turn off the taps when you're not using them and remove your key cards from the electricity activation system when leaving your room.
• Follow the Countryside Code

EAT WEST COUNTRY / CORNWALL AND DEVON

We are committed to buying local produce and using Cornish suppliers. We have copied a list of our local suppliers below:

Beverages - St. Austell Brewery, including the Cornish Rattler Cider and Camel Valley Wines.

Meat - MC Kelly, Crediton, Philip Warren, Launceston and M Yates and Sons, Newquay

Poultry - Creedy Carver, Crediton

Fruit and Vegetables - West Country Fruit Sales Penryn

Fresh Fish - Kingfisher, Brixham

Dairy - Trewithan Dairy, Lostwithiel, Langage Farm, nr Plymouth and Stapleton Farm, Torrington

Specialist ingredients - Forest Produce, Honiton

Whilst you are here, why not visit a local farm shop for fresh, local produce:

Bre-Pen Farm Shop, Mawgan Porth. Tel: 01637 860420

Padstow Farm Shop, Trethillick Farm, Padstow Tel: 01841 533060

Carruan Farm Centre, St Minver, Wadebridge. Tel: 01208 869584

Great Gargus Farm, Tregony, Truro Tel: 01872 530274

CARBON OFFSETTING

It has become clear that all of us need to make our best effort to reduce our dangerous carbon emissions created from day to day life. However, it is equally clear that it is not going to be possible for any resident in the UK to completely eliminate their personal carbon footprint, this is where carbon offsetting comes in.

Carbon offsetting works by helping both individuals and businesses to assess their carbon footprint, then invest in projects around the world that save the emissions of, or absorb, an equivalent amount of CO2. Through this process, they balance out their unavoidable carbon emissions and become CarbonZero.

Visit co2balance to see how you can reduce and offset your carbon emissions ethically and credibly.

ELECTRIC CAR CHARGER

As electric cars are the future, we have now installed a charging point in our car park for our EV drivers. This is charged at 55p per KwH. There is a £5 per hour idle fee if your vechille is left plugged in once fully charged.