Why do we call ourselves an eco campsite? Does eco mean ‘green’? What is ‘green’?
From our perspective, it means that we try to be kind to nature, to encourage wildness, to provide habitats for wild creatures and to encourage our visitors to do the same.
We live on a small peninsula with a Special Area of Conservation to the South, and a number of Special Areas of Conservation to the North. We are acutely aware of the biodiversity loss… biodiversity meaning the rich web of nature consisting of the tiniest little plant or insect up to the largest Whales in our oceans.
Nature is not there to be tamed, but to be admired. How can we do that? well, we are constantly trying to find ways to do that.
Conserve and Protect
We manage a 10 acre native woodland here providing a small number of pitches within the emerging nature reserve. Kevin keeps the trails clear and they are well defined with hand crafted wooden trail markers. We keep another approx 10acres wild and we know by the ‘runs’ created by foxes and badgers, that this is an important habitat for them. Snipe and Woodcock and more recently Water Rail use our rushy land to bed down and our reed bed and willow marsh surely hosts a multitude of creatures yet to be discovered.
Keeping things natural rather than manicured
We do try to give a good example in our management of the site here. We keep things wild and have an abundance of wild flowers from Spring to September with a host of insects, bees and hoverflies. We don’t use weedkiller. Yes it would make things so much easier and the place would look so much tidier. But… it would be a lot less interesting.
Raise awareness/Educate
We try to run an intimate camp site here where we get to spend time with people during their stay and have open discussions about the practicalities of trying to be a bit more eco conscious. Knowledge is a 2-way street. We learn so much from our guests.
Waste – Water – Energy
The key here is less…. produce less waste, use less water and energy. We capture water in rain water harvesting tanks that work quite well for flushing our toilets. Our big ‘shed’ and toilet block has a raft of solar tubes converting the suns heat into warm water for showers. We have separate bins for waste including compost and encourage guests to be very waste conscious when disposing of rubbish.
