Our support for Sustainable Tourism

The Lake District is a magnificent area that rightly attracts a large number of visitors each year (approx 8 million in 2006).  It is also the home for some 42,000 inhabitants, many of who are in business to serve the needs of the visitors.  Not to mention all the sheep!

Tourism is the biggest single employment sector in the region, generating over half a billion pounds of revenue each year.  Visitors come to the area for a variety of reasons, but one common factor is to enjoy the magnificent setting created by the special mix of fells and lakes.  However, we all need to be aware that this volume of visitors will have an impact upon the very environment that they have come to enjoy.

Riversdale welcomes all our guests and aims to make their stay as enjoyable as possible whilst they are in the Lake District.  At the same time, we do try to help to minimise the impact that we all have on our local environment by adopting practices which are in harmony with our desire to support Sustainable Tourism.

In general, we aim to:

• reduce our use of non-renewable resources
• re-use or recycle as much as we can
• put something positive back into the area
• promote these practices as far as possible
• strive for continual improvement in our performance

We will achieve these aims in a number of ways, not least of which will be by complying with all relevant legislation and regulations.  We have started down the road to achieve appropriate accreditation to verify our efforts and have currently achieved the Bronze Award from Cumbria Business Environment Network.  We are now working towards our Silver.

Some of the specific measures we have adopted to date are detailed below for your information.

• All heating is controlled by thermostatic valves on the radiators, where a setting of 3 is usually enough to keep the room at a comfortable temperature
  
  
• The boiler supplying the heating and hot water is a highly efficient condensing type, controlled by a timer to operate from 6am to 11pm.
  
  
• All wc cisterns are of the “low flush” variety to conserve water, whilst the taps use aeration and pressure reducers to achieve the same goal.
  
  
• Guests are offered the opportunity to help us cut down on unnecessary laundry, and at the same time contribute to local conservation projects – more details are given in the Information Folder.
  
  
• Low energy light bulbs are in use wherever lights are left on for extended periods.  This does not include the bedrooms where we request that guests switch off when not in use.  Similarly we highlight the need to eliminate power waste caused by leaving appliances switched on, or on standby, when not in use.
  
  
• We believe in offering our guests a quality breakfast and wherever possible this should be from a local source.  Details of local food suppliers are provided alongside the breakfast menu.
  
  
• All paper, glass, cans, plastic and cardboard is recycled.  Guests can help by leaving waste of this nature to the side of the bin in the bedroom.
  
  
• We collect and donate funds to a number of local charities and conservation bodies to help them in their work to preserve the local environment.  More details of some of these can be found in the “Tourism and Conservation Partnership” folder in the guest lounge.
  
  
• We welcome guests’ ideas and suggestions as to how we might expand on this list, and seek their support where practical.