The Year of Green Action
As 2019 is the Year of Green Action, here at our Cockermouth hotel we are focusing on how our business can become more environmentally friendly to reduce our carbon footprint. Becoming more environmentally responsible is increasingly important due to the drastic climate changes the world is facing, therefore we are making it our job to make a change, one step at a time!
What do we do at the Trout Hotel?
We are dedicated to making a change and we strongly believe even the smallest changes can make a big difference. Here are some examples of how we are making our hotel and restaurant more eco-friendly:
- Biodegradable Straws – A simple yet great alternative to plastic straws, paper biodegradable straws are substantially better for the environment. Plastic straws take hundreds of years to decompose – quite shocking when you think about the short amount of time they are used for. Whether you use a straw to protect your teeth from sugary drinks or to avoid smudging lipstick, we’ve got you covered with our biodegradable substitute!
- LED Light Bulbs – We have switched to LED light bulbs as they are up to 80% more efficient than traditional bulbs. 95% of the energy in LEDs is converted into light, with only 5% being wasted as heat! With less energy being used, this reduces the demand from power plants which decreases the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being released into the atmosphere.
- Shopping Local – Here at the Trout we buy our fresh produce from a range of local farmers and businesses. Buying groceries or any other necessities locally reduces the amount of carbon being produced by transport. Not only is it helping the environment and supporting the local community, but it doesn’t half taste good!
- Eco-friendly Cleaning Products – Switching to eco-friendly products has more of an impact on the environment than you would think. Eco-friendly cleaning products are safe, biodegradable, non-toxic and are made from sustainable packaging. Not only is it good for the environment but also the wellbeing our staff, as eco-friendly products help improve the overall indoor air quality and reduce health risks.
- Recycling – Nowadays, there is a way to recycle almost everything yet not a lot of people know about it. We aim to recycle everything that we can, from plastic, to paper to glass.
- Growing Our Own – Along with buying local produce, we grow our own herbs in the garden! This not only saves money and transportation fumes, but lets us have the pride of providing our customers with our own, home grown, delicious herbs.
Do your bit!
To make a real change, everyone has to start making simple, yet effective changes. There are so many small changes that you can make to your daily lifestyle in order to become more environmentally friendly.
In case you don’t know where to start, here are some ideas that we recommend:
- Turn it off – Turning off electricals can have such a large impact and energy conservation is one of the most important ways that you can reduce your carbon footprint. We’re all guilty for leaving our computers, laptops and even tablets on standby, but switching them off when you know you’re not going to be using them will make a difference.
- Avoid wasting food – Did you know that a massive 7.3 million tonnes of food is wasted in the UK every year? This is not only a huge waste of food and money but this wastage adds to the amount of CO2 being created in landfills. Here’s an idea, why not come and eat in one of our restaurants at the Trout Hotel? Since the food is too good to waste you won’t want to leave a bite!
- Cut out plastic – Plastic is the main material that ends up in landfills and the oceans, if you can’t recycle it, try to avoid using it all together. Simple changes you can make to reduce your usage of plastic are:
– Use a material bag for your shopping
– Buy fruit and vegetables loose
– Avoid buying bottled water and purchase a reusable bottle which you can refill - Do your food shop online – By doing your food shop online and having it delivered, it reduces the amount of fuel emissions going into the atmosphere. Instead of. lets say. 20 cars all individually driving to the shop, one vehicle delivers shopping to each customer!
- Get planting some trees – Trees are such a vital element to the ecosystem as they provide us with oxygen, store carbon, stabilise soil and give a home to wildlife. However, 7 billion trees are cut down every year, for commercial and development reasons. Therefore, we need to replace as many trees as possible.
It is so important that we look after the world we live in, because at the end of the day it’s the only one we’ve got! Every change makes a difference, no matter how big or small. Here at the Trout Hotel we will continue to utilise eco-friendly resources and aim to reduce our carbon footprint in any way that we can. But remember, the more people that become environmentally friendly, the more impact we can make, so it’s your time to make a difference!