Our green pledge
At Grobdale we will always try our best at everything we do, including how we treat our environment and ultimately our planet. We all have a responsibility to improve our impact on the planet, and any action however small, is worth doing.
Tree planting
One of the first things we did when we arrived at Grobdale, was to draw up a plan, to plant more trees here. There are very few trees on our land, some of which were very elderly, with limited life left in them. We wanted to increase the tree population here to help our carbon footprint, but trees also have many uses other than their ornamental value.
- They will give both the wildlife and our livestock shelter from the weather, be it to give shade from a hot sun in the summer or a tree canopy umbrella in the rainy wet months of winter.
- We wanted to create a woodland corridor to bring the wildlife closer to the farm and increase the food stores and biodiversity for the wildlife we already have.
- By planting more trees we would slow down the water run-off into Grobdale lane our nearest river, reducing flood impact on the flora and fauna here, as well as possibly reducing flooding further down the valley.
- Trees create different levels of foliage and growth, and so increase the habitats for both plant and animal life therefore increasing our biodiversity.
Green Build
We designed the cottages where possible with the environment in mind, not everything can be as green as anyone would like it however, we have a lot of features that reduce our impact. Good quality, (not UPVC) aluminium clad timber double-glazed windows and doors, insulated walls and ceilings to reduce heat loss. Led lighting throughout the cottages and farm, some on timers all of which reduces power use. Each cottage has a few vintage pieces of furniture that came from local antique shops and auctions, sitting alongside modern efficient bathrooms and well equipped modern kitchens with energy efficient appliances. We love to re purpose beautiful older pieces where possible rather than buy new.
A ground source heat pump providing all the hot water and some of the heating. Energy efficient log burning stoves, using local timber from here, on the farm complete our heating for each building. We have log stores all over the farm storing and drying timber as it becomes available.
A 12kw Solar panel array with 16kw of battery storage providing a good portion of our electricity use, our provider for the rest of our power needs, are always the green option.
The water supply, as you’d expect comes from the hill rather than a utility company, or more precisely 150m down via a borehole, and is pumped through a series of filters rather than chemical additions or cleansing making our drinking water truly clean.
We are regularly updating the products for our cottages, the latest addition is to install two EV charger points for guest and visitor use. We recognise that electric vehicles are on the increase and so by providing charging points we can encourage the growth in the technology.
They are accessed via an app and are not pre-paid, it is a pay as you charge system. They are 7kw units and classed as trickle charge rather than fast charge so more suitable for overnight charging.
Further information on our chargers is available here https://www.connektcharging.com/
Our Cottages
Lots of the items we all use in our day-to-day routine tend to be disposable, so single use items are reduced at Grobdale as much as possible. We provide high quality bins, shower mats, shower caddy’s, recyclable washing up items along with washable dish cloths to cut down on our short life span products. Most of our cleaning products are plant based, they also come in recycled bottles, that can also be recycled again. Our doormats can be washed and re used, also they are pretty local as they are made in a mill in north Yorkshire from recycled plastics (I must say these are my favourite item). Even our toilet rolls have zero plastic packaging and use sustainable bamboo to produce the paper.
All the things that would normally get replaced quite regularly are either longer use, or can be recycled, or can be washed and re-used.
We obviously like to recycle and encourage our guests to do the same, by making it as easy as possible ( though all of you seem to be keen recyclers) and then Lauren is our recycling fairy, spiriting away all the bags to be sorted and binned correctly.
Local business support
Supporting our local economy will always be high in our minds from using local food suppliers for our welcome packs so all guests including our canine friends are welcomed with an array of local (where possible) treats. Lots of our items in the cottages are locally sourced, from the art on the walls to the scent in each cottage.
Our social media is full of local businesses and attractions for our guests to enjoy everything our local economy as well as what the natural environment can offer. Follow our Facebook and Instagram feeds to find out what is going on here in D&G during your visit.
Buying local not only supports the businesses in our area, but also reduces our product road miles. A circular economy is something that we are always trying to improve.