ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

Bovey Castle has been awarded Dartmoor First by the Dartmoor National Park Authority for its efforts to protect and promote Dartmoor, both as a business and a tourist destination for our guests. Bovey Castle strives to minimise the ecological impact that the hotel has on the environment by keeping our operations green and adhering to the hotel's environmental policy.

Bovey Castle’s water supply is sourced from the River Bovey, which cuts through the valley below the hotel. The water is then pumped up to two holding tanks on the highest point and then gravity fed back to the hotel. The water quality is tested monthly by water specialists Clearwater, demonstrating the success of this sustainable water system. During periods of heavy rainfall, our water may contain higher levels of peat, occasionally causing a harmless discolouration of our tap water. The estate reed beds also act as a haven for wildlife and insects and create an ecological oasis while purifying into clean water.

We work closely with the local community and have built local relations with them; this can be anything from purchasing the hotel’s eggs from a farmer nearby to car sharing between employees – we are committed to reducing the hotel’s carbon footprint as much as we can and supporting local businesses.

We actively encourage our guests to only request sheet and towel change when necessary during their stay and to use energy sparingly; a small step like this has an immeasurable impact on highlighting potential wastage within hotel bedrooms.

Simple measures like bins for recycling cans and waste paper, teamed with the hotel's policy of printing only what is necessary, ensure that the hotel's staff are also playing their part in Bovey Castle's green campaign.

The size of our estate enables us provide a new home to 15 former battery hens, who are cared for by the hotel's activity co-ordinators and shown to Bovey Castle's guests during the early morning animal visit. Bovey Castle's gardens department harvests wood for our open fires from our owned and managed woodlands, with a tree replacement programme to ensure more trees are planted to regenerate.  Compost from all green waste is returned to the estate’s gardens and grounds on a constant rotation basis.

The hotel is constantly evolving its sustainability policies and looks to improve these on a regular basis. A new recycling scheme that covers cardboard, glass, plastic waste,  oil, batteries, tyres, hazardous waste and workshop waste has been launched with the assistance of local contractors. As this system has only been in operation since the summer, the success of this collaboration will be assessed later on this year.