Our cottages are individually located ( we are not a complex) and in Monmouthshire. They are within or close to an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty ( Wye Valley AONB ) and close to the Brecon Beacons National Park and the historic Royal Forest of Dean . There are any number of SSIs in the locality , clear rivers , fresh air, and excellent wildlife. Is it any wonder we like to be as green as possible! and we are in Wales,the worlds first FAIRTRADE nation.
What Green awards have we won?
First of all. Let us be clear that our green efforts do NOT mean that you sacrifice comfort in any way! We are terrifically proud to hold our prizewinning luxury 5 star ratings and we mean to keep them! Nor does it mean you will find any cranky “knit your own yoghurt” type ideas here! Our cottages are completely “normal” in use (and frankly, if you didn’t ask or we didn’t write this you might not notice we were green at all.) What it does mean is that we are passionate about looking after our very special Monmouthshire environment (and the planet in general come to that since we only have the one) and so we are always looking for a kinder, cleaner, less wasteful, more responsible, way of doing everything we do for you.
The big ways in which we have made changes are:
Our entire heating and hot water systems are an airsource heat pump which basically turns cold air into warm air by the reverse process used by a freezer. If you are not scientifically minded it seems like magic- but its clean and green, simple for our guests- and burns no fossil fuel.
At Foxes Reach we also have a solar hot water system which means that the sun heats the water when it shines ( often, in fact, even in winter, as we are high here) but when that fails the air source kicks in. You won’t notice the difference as in use it’s all “normal” but it’s a good one. Our hot tub is refilled with solar heated water and the electricity it uses to stay hot is also generated by the PV panels on the roof. The roof panels also charge a battery which provides a green charge when the sun has gone down.
Our firewood and our kindling is grown sustainably and packed into handy nets for your convenience . We don’t apply big markups to our firewood supplies, and we are often cheaper than supermarkets /garden centres for similar sacks of wood. ( please note our sacks are twice the size and weight of those often sold in garden centres. please check this before imagining we are more costly) We want to encourage you to buy our sustainable wood and use it as the sustainable and frankly gorgeous option. We are now even growing some of our own wood , returning to the traditional coppicing methods.
Wherever possible we have energy saving or halogen light bulbs and as these expire we are now changing to LED bulbs which are better still. The outside lights are on timers and the little garden lighting is all solar (except for the Christmas fairy lights- not enough sun at that time of year to twinkle them reliably for you). We dont go in for bright garden lighting. We know you would prefer to look at the stars.
We recycle and encourage you to do so too. We save paper, card, tins, glass, plastics and we have separate collections for dead batteries and light bulbs. ( We don’t do food waste collection and we don’t have compost heaps at the cottages as they do require careful management if not to become a hygiene problem as not all guests can cope with this.)
Unclaimed lost property and items no longer meeting our 5 star very smart standards go to charity shops or for recycling as appropriate. We give away items which can still be used but are no longer quite smart enough for our exacting 5 star standards.
We have thick attic insulation and double glazing throughout. When Tintern Abbey Cottage was rebuilt the entire house was covered in thick insulation from top to toe whilst Foxes Reach’s cold old floor was dug up to insulate below it so the new oak surface is now much warmer as well.
All our machinery ( dishwashers, cookers etc) has AA or even AAA ratings and/or eco programmes and we give you enough crockery and cutlery so that there is never a need to run a half filled machine. We have washing lines and pegs too!
We use eco friendly products and cool washes wherever we can. However you will have noticed that we don’t compromise on cleaning standards. Since the advent of Covid we have had to bring in antiviral chemicals and the boil wash but as soon as it is safe to return to gentler options we will do so. Linens are dried on the line as far as possible. They smell better for a blow in fresh Welsh air as well as using less power!
We do our very best to use local products. Where we can’t do this we prefer the Fairtrade or other eco option and we buy from local suppliers at least. All our regular workmen are from locally based family firms. They are craftsmen and we are proud to have them on board. When we won Best in Wales it was hard to tell if we or they were more thrilled.
We use no harsh garden chemicals and our gardens are deliberately planted to encourage the visiting wildlife. In summer you will see many birds bees moths and butterflies as a result. We don’t deadhead until the birds have eaten the seeds from the heads and we compost the grass cuttings at our own home. The lavender and santolina from the gardens, in particular, perfume the bedlinens. We have cute little wooden houses for ladybirds ( which so far prefer the window frames) and protect habitats for lone bees and other insects. Anyone know how to get rid of moles by kind means? Negotiation has failed and we won’t use poison but they drive us daft.
In the cottages you will find lists of places to eat and drink which use local produce as well as ideas of where to buy it to take home. Its convenient, it tastes better and its fresher. What more could you ask?
Apart from the good bus service from the bottom of the drive at Abbey Cottage public transport is unfortunately pretty inconvenient in our area so we know you will need to use a car to get the most from your holiday. However, we do have wonderful cycling and walking with waymarked paths, including famous routes, from our doorsteps. Whether fit enough for a real hike or just more of a gentle potter we would encourage you to get out and enjoy the scenery in the fresh air. Its free- and you will feel wonderful come rain or shine. How many years is it since you went jumping in puddles?
Our office is at our own home and we do our best to reuse and recycle the huge mass of paper we accrue. (What happened to the notion of the paper free office?) We think we are losing this battle! We use recycled and chlorine free paper.
Our electricity contracts change as we do shop around and often switch however one of the major factors in each choice we make is the extent to which electricity supplied to us is from renewables.
At our back doorstep you will always find a rather untidy heap of cottage recycling waiting for collection and when we refurbish cottages there is a vast heap of scrap wood which powers the homefires. We look like the last scene of Les Miserables , but we won’t tidy it up in a wasteful way so it has to stay and reduce though gradual use. Our own hot water is also solar and we have PV panels to run our office machinery. Our out buildings have solar lighting .Our cars were efficient diesels but now we find petrol is cleaner so we are switching again……
“The proprietors of Monmouthshire Cottages are committed to the prevention of pollution on all sites, and also committed to continual environmental improvement, whilst ensuring legal compliance with all relevant environmental legislation. The owners of the property are aware of the impact the business has on the environment and it is their aim to maintain ‘Good Practices’ and to encourage guests to respect the environment.
The proprietors are aware of the impact the cottages have on the environment around them such as energy use and waste generation. This is why the proprietors have committed themselves to several environmental improvements . Some of these include:
This policy will be reviewed annually and will be made available to all interested parties on request. It will be displayed in all three cottages and on the Monmouthshire Cottages Website.”
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