How this holiday makes a difference
Environment
Much of the local wealth of the New Forest is though Tourism. Our aim is to use local knowledge to reduce the impact of tourism on wildlife and countryside. The New Forest is an extremely sensitive environment; it is a European Special Sight of Scientific Interest. The impact of the walking group on the environment will be kept to an absolute minimum. To ensure this, group size is kept to a maximum of 10-12; we always stick to way marked paths; we ensure that we take all our little home with us; any dogs are kept on a lead in order not to interfere with forest animals.
We feel passionately about our impact on the beautiful New Forest. We are trying to be as careful as we can.
The accommodation used on this short break walking holiday takes the following measures to ensure minimal energy usage and minimal impact on the surrounding environment:
- Your room is cleaned with environmentally friendly products (less pollution)
- We use low energy light bulbs (reducing our carbon impact).
- We buy our energy from renewable resources
- The insulation of the building has been improved as much as possible
- Your water is heated in an energy efficient boiler
- We collect run off water from the roof to water the garden
- Your housekeepers will recycle the paper and glass waste in your room bin
- We change your sheets every three days – reducing washing
- Your laundry is washed with environmentally friendly products in an energy efficient machine
- During the warmer months your laundry is line dried
- We strive to make efficient use of paper (visitor info packs, confirmations by email)
- We strive to reduce portion packs where possible
- We try to organise our day so that we are not wasteful and use machines efficiently
- We return the jam jars, New Forest water bottles, egg cartons and boxes from the farms to the producers for re-use
Community
We advise customers where they can purchase locally produced food and produce along the route of their walk and encourage them to use local services.
- All the ingredients of your cooked breakfast come from the Forest
- We use Fair Trade products where no local product is available
Landscape
New Forest Walking Breaks was conceived whilst on a walking holiday in Andalucia; what we brought back from that experience apart from the obvious, was the care taken to make as little impact on the environment as was possible together with the emphasis on putting something back into the local economy. In the New Forest, our walking breaks will endeavour to educate by: talking about the history, the present an the future; walking through diverse landscapes; providing information on how ‘Commoning’ works; explaining the schemes in place to protect flood plains, ancient woodlands and the very important bog lands; encouraging guests to arrive by public transport and using accommodation and restaurants that source local produce.
