Green Tourism Awards - BRONZE AWARD 2007

At the Old Brick Guesthouse we want to ensure that our impact on the environment is kept to a minimum, especially as we are lucky enough to live in South Shropshire in an area of outstanding natural beauty. That's why our participation and continual improvement in the "Green Tourism Business Scheme" is for us an important aspect of our business.

We are therefore delighted to announce that in our inspection in November 2007 we have been awarded BRONZE by the Green Tourism Business Scheme.

Helping us achieve BRONZE we:
• recycle as much of our waste as possible. Glass, cardboard, paper, tin, aluminium and drink cartons go to the local recycling centre
• send all biodegradeable waste from kitchen and garden (cardboard, food scraps, hedge and grass cuttings) go to the biodigester.
• donate discarded furniture, bedding, pillows, computer equipment and other household items to the South Shropshire Furniture Scheme for reuse.
• closely monitor our energy usage. We can then take steps to reduce, such as low energy light-bulbs and A-rated kitchen appliances, and check on our effectiveness as well as investigate issues.
• try to encourage local wildlife through bird feeders and nest boxes.
• encourage walking and biking by providing information to our guests.
• purchase responsibly using "Fair Trade" products, environmentally safe products (ECOVER cleaners, Eco balls for laundry, toilet rolls made from recycled paper, bio-degradable bin bags) and use local produce and suppliers as much as possible.

The Future:
Achieving Bronze is not the end of our Green aspirations, we still have much we want to do. Between now and our next Green Tourism inspection we aim to:
• Be better at marketing ourselves as a Green business and therefore encourage more people to think about the environment when booking a holiday.
• Make more information available to guests about local wildlife and more environmentally friendly activities.

If we do our best to help protect the environment then you can be safe in the knowledge that the impact of your holiday on this beautiful part of the world is kept to a minimum.