Reducing our carbon footprint

We do everything we can to reduce our carbon footprint. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is an inevitable product of the way we all live today. It is produced primarily in the burning of fossil fuels in electricity generation, the powering of vehicles, trains and aircraft, and home heating and cooking.

It is widely accepted amongst a global coalition of climate scientists that the Earth's atmosphere is warming rapidly and that this change has been brought about by the activities of humans.

Put simply, gases released into the atmosphere by human activity are forming an insulating barrier around the Earth, preventing the natural release of heat from our atmosphere. There are a number of gases that are held responsible for this process, which is sometimes referred to as the ‘greenhouse effect'. While methane and other gases contribute to the problem, the chief culprit, by virtue of the volumes produced, is carbon dioxide.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) co-ordinates the review and assessment of the science of climate change. In its fourth assessment report (2007), the IPCC concluded that:

"Warming of the climate system is unequivocal as is now evident from observations of increases in global average temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global mean sea level"

At Bedruthan we feel that is it our duty to reduce and mitigate our contributions to climate change, which is why we have teamed up with co2balance to encourage our guests to offset the carbon emissions produced by their travel.

Since 2006, co2balance has been planting trees in a new woodland called Tinners Forest on behalf of our guests choosing to offset their holidays. co2balance counteract the emissions from guests' travel arrangements by planting native broadleafed trees on land which is owned and protected by a charitable trust. The trees will be allowed to grow, feeding oxygen back into the atmosphere. 

The mission statement of co2balance is: "to provide a simple and practical way to individuals and businesses of balancing their unavoidable carbon dioxide emissions in a way which also benefits the British landscape and its value as wildlife habitat."

Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, but we acknowledge that the uptake is slow compared with other avoidance offset projects. However, we believe that carbon sequestration (the process of capturing carbon dioxide through planting trees) is an important long-term project which can help capture some of the CO­₂ already released from fossil sources. As well as the carbon uptake, our afforestation project with co2balance provides significant biodiversity benefits as well as community forest for our guests and local residents to enjoy.

Our collaboration with co2balance has enabled our guests to feel that they are making a positive action to counteract the negative effects tourism can have on the county they have come so far to visit. If you wish to offset the emissions from your journey to us, please let reception know upon your departure. An additional £5 will be added to your bill, which goes directly to co2balance to purchase and plant a tree. 

For further information please visit www.co2balance.uk.com or email your queries to our Sustainability Manager, Suzie Newham on snewham@bedruthan.com