Thinking of the environment and being environmentally conscious needn’t stop when taking a holiday. Many hotels and leisure complexes are leading the way in the environmental stakes by lowering their carbon footprint.
Many businesses are looking at ways in which to be more environmentally aware green. One such way is by applying for the ISO14001 accreditation. The ISO14001 proves a company’s environmental credentials which in this day and age enhances the corporate image and actually saves the company or organisation money by reducing energy consumption. The hotel and leisure industry is notorious for its energy consumption. From the hot water and laundry to the on-site facilities such as heated swimming pools, saunas, and Jacuzzis. All are energy intensive and contribute significantly to a hotel’s energy demand and carbon footprint.
The Lake District is seeing an increase in tourism related businesses taking a more serious look at their energy consumption and resulting carbon footprint and are taking action. The larger Lake District hotels and leisure complexes obviously have the most to do but there is help in the form of CBEN, the Cumbria Business Environment Network and supporting tourism partnerships. This area is a haven for walkers and many visitors take a very keen interest in environmental issues.
There are a huge number of ways hotels in the Lake District can improve their carbon footprint. The introduction of alternative, renewable energy generation technologies onsite is one of the biggest but most beneficial to both the environment and the energy bills of the business. In the current climate of rising energy prices, it is beneficial for both. Biomass energy production is being implemented in the area for example in the village of Eskdale and as the location of many Lake District hotels are amongst large managed woodland areas, there is potential availability of raw materials. Installing a biomass burner can save a large hotel up to 35,000 per year on their energy ill although this is dependent on future LPG prices.
Other ways in which a Lake District hotel can implement changes is by installing a charcoal oven, Installing low energy light fittings, minimization of waste and the creation of recycling schemes, solar power, hydro power and new, efficient LPG boilers.
All this action can then be used for marketing purposes. There is not a news bulletin that goes by without an environment story somewhere. A tourism business which has implemented changes such as any of the above have a real unique selling point. They can recoup the costs of installing these alternative energy sources but increase their visitor numbers at the same time so benefitting the environment, the hotel’s profit and the guest’s conscience.