Green Holidays | Merlin Farm Holiday Cottages Cornwall
Our Green Policy
What we do
We recycle as much of our waste as possible.
Paper free online booking dramatically reduces our need for consumables and our website acts as our online brochure eliminating the need for paper brochure production.
Our Eco Cottages are well insulated to maximise energy efficiency & Cathedral Style windows provide passive solar heating further reducing need for other heating source. We regularly monitor and manage our energy consumption. Towels heaters are timed to come on twice a day to dry towels instead of all day and night. Low energy and led light bulbs and high efficiency appliances are fitted throughout.
Our local laundry company washes our bed linen and towels using water extracted from a borehole conserving water and using eco friendly detergents.
We are a sustainable site generating green electricity onsite via 216 solar PV panels. Hot water is provided by Solar Thermal Energy. Underfloor heating is provided by a ground source heat pump.
We provide guests with organic, natural, ethically sourced and eco-friendly refillable toiletries from Wild England.
We purchase sustainable and unbleached bamboo toilet paper from Naked Sprout.
We encourage wildlife by installing Barn Owl and Bat boxes around the site as well as leaving 10% of our 27 acre site in a 'natural' state essential for Barn Owl hunting ground, this includes the hedgerows and wetlands we own bordering the River Menahyl.
Cottage walls are adorned with local artwork. Signage & cottage keyrings are made using reclaimed wood from our local craft shop.
Guest robes are made from sustainable bamboo yarn.
What our guests can do
MANAGE WASTE EFFECTIVELY
Sort any recyclable waste into the Mixed or Glass recycling. If you don't want to take your buckets, spades & body boards home, leave them at the farm and we'll see that they are re-used by future guests
CONSERVE ENERGY
Switch off lights & TV's when you go out. Keep only essential lights on at night. Use the dishwasher and washing machine using daylight hours making use of the solar pv generation. Use the energy efficient programmes when using the dishwasher & washing machine.
SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES
Buy local food and services whilst you are here to help the local community that you came to visit. "If everyone in Cornwall spent just 50p per week on Cornish produce it would deliver over £10million into our local economy in a year". A list of all the facilities, shops, restaurants and activities can be found on our 'Mawgan Porth' page on our website
LOWER YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
Leave the car behind for a day, take a picnic and explore the nearby coastline, countryside and woodland. There are miles of beautiful walks direct from Merlin Farm. Bring your cycles or use local transport.
BE KIND TO THE ENVIRONMENT
Whenever you visit the beach always take your rubbish away with you. Don't buy single use plastic bottles, use your own refillable drinks containers. Help keep our beaches clean and marine life safe by doing '2 minute beach cleans' whenever you visit.