We are very aware we are fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the world and we do our utmost to mitigate any environmental impact on our communities.
We run our business on as many environmentally friendly and “green aware” principals, as practically possible.
We are home based, saving on carbon footprint of commuting, energy costs of running an office (which would often be unoccupied when we are on tour) and utilising the “green” mindset of our families eg. Recycling, energy efficient homes, repurposed IT equipment, pre-owned office furniture etc.
We encourage our guests to come by train to Linlithgow to start their tours. This saves fuel and pollution of taking a vehicle into Edinburgh or Glasgow, and, also saves time sitting in traffic jams heading out of The City. We have an online video showing how easy it is to use the trains in Scotland.
While it is not yet economic, or practical (in terms of availability of charging points) for us to operate an electric vehicle, we continue to monitor the situation very closely.
Our partner transport operator, Tayforth Travel, operates a fleet of modern, fuel efficient mini-coaches and mini-buses.
In the meantime, we are offsetting our carbon footprint by planting trees. Anne first got involved with Trees4Scotland 10 yrs ago, with her previous “green” business and planted trees in the Teaglach Wood, near the village of Comrie, in Perthshire. Mary’s Meanders have purchased a number of trees in a grove held by Trees for Life. https://treesforlife.org.uk/groves/402749/
We encourage all our guests to be mindful of the environment, leaving no rubbish, and being considerate of the natural landscape.
We DO NOT provide bottled water on our tours. Instead we have reusable bottles available, for those guests who do not bring their own.
We promote local businesses and restaurants and cafés using local produce to our guests.
On our 5 day tours we stay in traditional built Williamscraig Cottages, nestled in the Bathgate Hills on the outskirts of Linlithgow. Here it is very much a case of enjoying the Countryside, being in the middle of a working farm, with Badger cams and bird feeders to enjoy the local wildlife. www.holidaycottageslinlithgow.co.uk
We participate in environmental initiatives such as the Beach clean up with Scottish bloggers organised by Suzanne Arbuckle of www.adventuresaroundscotland.com
Read all about it here www.mcsuk.org/blog/post/content-creator-beachclean
We also support our local charity Burgh Beautiful, Linlithgow, who do so much to make our town look wonderful, and who were awarded the Gold Medal for best medium town from Britain in Bloom in 2018.
To keep in touch with our environmental initiatives, follow Anne on her twitter account, which has been the same for the past 10yrs- @gogreenanne
