We are therefore delighted to announce that in our inspection in February 2007 we have been awarded GOLD standard - Excellent, by the Green Tourism Business Scheme.

Helping us achieve GOLD we:

• recycle as much of our waste as possible. Glass, card, paper, tin and aluminium goes to the local recycling centre, kitchen waste is either composted and used in the garden, or is fed to our hens. We even shred much of our paper as possible which can then be used for bedding for the hens and ultimately ends up on the compost heap.

• We 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.

• We try to encourage local wildlife through bird feeders, nest boxes, insect homes and a wildlife friendly pond. We are currently replanting a large flower bed with bird and insect friendly plants, and converting a section of lawn to meadow. And we try to encourage visitors to enjoy the wildlife with local walks and our popular nature diary.

• We have our own hens who recycle much of our kitchen waste into fresh free range eggs, and their manure is used to feed the garden. Other is composted and used on the garden.

• We purchase responsibly using "Fair Trade" products, Environmentally safe products (ECOVER cleaners, toilet rolls made from recycled paper, bio-degradable bin bags) and use local produce and suppliers as much as possible.

The Future:

Achieving Gold 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:

• Complete our waste water recycling plant, currently under development. For details see our Blog
• Investigate further renewable sources of energy at Pottery House, such as wind turbines, solar panels, wood chip boilers and ground heat pumps.
• 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.