Green, in our business it’s the difference
we choose to make, Greener Choices,
Greener Island, Greener Ireland.
Our
Ecotourism Policy
Orla and I have operated The Beach since December 2010, the timber frame construction building was built in 1979, it was constructed in a log cabin fashion with 200mm of Insulation between the outer and inner skin and in the ceiling space there is 300mm of insulation meaning the building is well insulated and has a good ability to retain heat. The building to the rear is considerably older than that, it is mapped on the island from the late 1700’s and unfortunately is not so well insulated.
When we took over the bar in December 2010 we had a vision for where we wanted the business to go and how it could best improve the quality of life on the island. We set out our stall at opening on a daily basis in the morning before the boat would arrive, refurbishing the kitchens and installing modern equipment, having a food offering for locals and visitors to the island alike every day of the year as the other properties close from October to Easter.
We wanted to have an accommodation solution open to people wanting to visit the island all year round too.
We decided to try to do all this with an Eco conscious hat on, we renovated the B&B, painting, decorating, developing all new en-suites using labour from the island and the county and all materials were bought locally.
After kitchen fit out, most of it used equipment, we invested in upgrading the heating and plumbing, installing Solar Heating Tubes to heat our domestic hot water and upgrading our boiler to a condenser boiler that is 93% efficient. This was needed to heat the B&B building due to its age.
Since then all decisions have been made with a best practice thinking behind them and built on we hope environmentally sound ideals.
We have always strived to do as little harm environmentally as we can and in the past year we have endeavoured to do this in the following ways.
Environmentally sustainable practices
- We have installed Kingspan DF100 Solar Tubes x 40, they service a portion of our domestic hot water usage, they keep the highly insulated Stainless steel hot water cylinder ambient over 35c, this is the most energy sapping temperature to achieve from cold.
- We have insulated our B&B to retain more heat and lessen the amount of energy required to keep it warm.
- Installing over phases new energy efficient LED lighting in the building.
- Adjusting our purchasing so we get more stock less frequently of non-perishables thus lessening the number of deliveries required.
- Purchasing from ethically minded suppliers like Gannet Fishmongers who invested in an Electric van for deliveries.
- We are looking into an Electric van for our own deliveries too.
- Creating an energy awareness in work in regards to waste, energy and water usage so we can work towards using and generating less of each.
- Through our website we promote Eco minded accommodation providers
- We have begun to serve Fairtrade beverages and foods where available
- We try to promote our business in a responsible way through social media and websites as opposed to using print media.
- We have created and adopted a Green Purchasing Policy to keep our purchasing in line with Eco minded best practise.
Contributing to Conservation
- We are members of the Irish Wildlife Trust and Birdwatch Ireland and actively encourage others to join and spread the message through our website
- We support Seal Rescue Ireland and through our Eco experiences we offer a payback or contribution to Seal rescue Ireland .
- There is currently underway a resurgence of the Bofin Conservation Trust and we will become an active member of the organisation when it reforms
- We would be involved in Island clean-ups and happily donate some of our staffs time to help in the clean up of our area
- We promote on our notice boards anything local as it arises and also on our news and eco section of our website, we are planning to host public meetings in the pub on invasive species and stopping their spread.
- We have developed a wildlife zone behind the pub, we have planted wild grasses and flowers up there to promote the growth of the bumble bee population and other birds too, we had a corn crake up there for a short period last year
- Even though there are not really any nesting box birds on Inishbofin we are putting a large one in place incase the robins that nest in the bank nearby would like a change of scenery
- We are awaiting advise on native tree planting areas, should an area be identified we will be donating beech trees to the cause
Interpretation
&
Education
- We have developed an interpretive plan so that our guests can learn about the island and see where to make discoveries of their own
- We are going to develop a story map in conjunction with one of our experiences, this will be an interactive learning tool for the visitors to enjoy
- Some of our experiences are guided and some are self guided, in the guided the guides are locally living guides with a passion for the island and a desire and love for telling guests what they will experience and this will help them embrace the experience and take home some learning and love for the island, the self guided walks have a guide book, in time will have a story map and an interactive App to help them explore and discover.
- The experiences we have devised have all been catered to primarily families, and more so multigenerational families that can all explore and enjoy this island for kids to grandparents together.
- We hope that with the newsletter we are developing that they will continue to enjoy the journey and the memories and return to enjoy more some day.
- We actively will promote other experiences on the island by other vendors in the spirit of community
Natural Area Focus
- We work together as a community to allow tourists and visitors to walk freely to get to see historical sites and places of interest
- We have begun training in and have adopted the principles of Leave No Trace
- We have created 4 nature based experiences, they are both land and sea based and in each of them the visitor gets to learn about their surroundings and some history of the island , archaeological information and fun facts, learn some of the folklore and culture of times gone by
- Promoting our experiences to small groups so as to have minimal impact on the areas that they will go to enjoy our experiences
Responsible marketing
- We have developed a responsible marketing plan for the business, we plan to use as much social media as possible in conjunction with our website to promote the business
- We will also open up cross border links in order to twin up and jointly market ourselves and other like minded businesses
- We will promote other businesses on the island on our website and hope that together we promote the island in the best possible way and capture the imagination and desires of the tourists that want to visit our island.
Benefiting local communities
- We aim to create local employment wherever possible, a high percentage of our staff are local
- We would be avid supporters of everything island, we like to give back to the community that is here to support us all year
- We support local suppliers, from local fishermen to the markets when possible, we would support local mussel farmers in the Killary
- We like to encourage the youth and the returning to work, we provide and host training programs and work experience on site
- We promote local guides to take our visitors on guided tours of the island and impart their sea of knowledge and lore onto them
- We are founding partners of BiaBofinne, our local food group encouraging food based industries on the island and a weekend long food festival each year
Visitor satisfaction
- We encourage feedback from tourists and locals alike, we will have visitor satisfaction cards to accompany the experiences and find was there good eco learnings had in the experiences
- We are on Tripadvisor and Booking.com for guest reviews
- We are rated by guides such as the McKenna guide for good food and a place to stop along the Wild Atlantic Way
Cultural respect and awareness
- We will strive to ensure we in no way obstruct the guests enjoyment of the flora and fauna that the island has to offer
- We will promote the islands heritage, culture and lore in the best way we can
- We will invite cross border organisations to visit and see what we can do in conjunction with them to promote our respected areas.
