Environmental Policy

Combermere Abbey and its estate is privately owned and operates a number of businesses - holiday cottages, weddings and events and an organic farm. 

COMBERMERE ABBEY is a truly exceptional place, an environmental gem.  Its large mere , ancient woodland and historic parkland all form part of a breath-taking natural habitat, rich in flora and fauna.  The estate history is almost 900 years old, with a number of important historic properties, and an organic farm.

At Combermere Abbey, we are passionate about the environment, its protection, enhancement and long term sustainability.  We recognise the importance of preserving our environment for future generations as well as making it available to a wider public on a managed recreational and educational basis. 

We are continuously striving to balance the impact of a visitor based tourism and events business with our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint and contribute positively to the wider community.  Our team aims to conserve natural resources by ensuring the responsible use of energy, water and materials whilst maintaining and exceeding the expected quality levels of our guests. 

Our membership of the Green Tourism Business Scheme is part of our commitment, and we are currently awaiting our grading visit. Our marketing philosophy is linked into other tourism groups and associations who support the GTBS code of practise.  These include Premier Cottages, EASCO, CLA and Tourism Alliance.

We are taking measures that are reasonably practicable to:

• Adopt a policy of 'green procurement', taking environmental factors into account in all purchasing and supplier contracts using where possible local suppliers, artists and retailers and incorporating organic and fair trade products when available.  Guests can purchase products produced from our unique Fruit Tree Maze - jams, chutneys and juice.
• Reduce waste at source and recycling paper, cardboard, plastic, and glass.
• Use environmentally friendly cleaning products where possible, utilising micro-fibre cloths that minimize the need for cleaning products.
• Reduce water and detergent use by weekly washing of bed linen and towels at the local laundry, recently given a Green Laundry Award. Guests are invited to let us know on arrival if they require an additional linen change.
• Adopt the practice of responsible and efficient energy management to reduce consumption in all our operations.
• Encourage guests to remain on the estate for a day during their stay, offering walks and bicycles for their use. Each cottage has a ‘Blue Book' of information regarding local walks, cycle routes, places to eat and local markets and festivals.
• Undertake rain and grey water harvesting for recycling in The Glasshouse, our restored greenhouse and wedding venue.
•  Operate a reed bed sewage system for dirty water, and use no chemicals in our fruit tree maze, walled gardens and vegetable garden. 
• Work with and support our local community and disadvantaged groups in the wider community.  We offer tours of the Abbey and Gardens, host countryside and environmental groups, participate in annual flora and wildfowl counts.
• We work closely with our local agricultural college to use our woodland for specific training courses.
• We supply logs for the fires and wood burning stoves from our own estate supply.
•  Maintain a non-smoking environment in any of our buildings, and offer guests designated outdoor smoking areas. 
• Improve the energy efficiency of the listed buildings by introducing secondary glazing and improving loft area insulation with natural products.
• Plant a tree for each guest and wedding couple in a designated woodland plantation, as a thank you for their business and a reduction in their carbon footprint.
• We use re-cycled paper in our marketing material, writing paper and recycle office equipment and items such as cartridges.  We use a central ordering system.

We encourage our guests to adopt 5 small steps with big impact:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  Limit purchase with unnecessary packaging, separate rubbish and use our recycling bins.  Report maintenance issues promptly to the Housekeeper.

Stay Local, Eat Local, Buy Local, See Local.  Enjoy walking, cycling and outdoor activities by staying on the estate or the nearby routes. Buy souvenirs and gifts from local producers and artists.  Support the local economy by visiting local pubs and restaurants, farm shops and eateries.  Enjoy the wealth of historic properties, gardens and attractions in Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and North Wales.  See What's On section of the website for details.

Reduce the carbon footprint. Spend a day on the Estate -enjoy picnics, birdwatching, painting,  fishing on the mere, walking in the woods, buying from the award winning freezer menu on site, take a DVD from our complimentary library.  Give the car a holiday as well. 

Chill out and switch off.  Turn off taps, switch off lights and equipment and close curtains to minimise heat loss during winter months, when leaving a room or cottage.  Enjoy a moonlight walk through the gardens and adjoining wood. 

Follow the Countryside Code:  A reminder to protect and respect the estate and enjoy its beauty, but do not litter or allow dogs to foul public areas. Respect our dog policy.  Leave gates as found and do not stray into areas designated as private and no entry - Combermere is a working farm and it is for your own protection and safety.

We welcome any feedback and suggestions on how we can improve our sustainability and your enjoyment.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS:

Several of our cottages, which have not been offered as holiday lets in recent years, are being completely upgraded and refurbished in the Spring 2011.  They will come on stream in June, and we expect them to gain 5* as our existing cottages do.  They are being designed specifically to host larger groups of guests and this wonderful opportunity allows us to introduce up to date energy saving technology wherever possible within a listed building environment .

Our environmental standards will be annually reviewed and updated, and we expect to include an upgrade of existing cottages to introduce new technology in our annual maintenance plan.