Sustainability at MonkBridge House

 

Our plan 

As a business we want to be successful but in doing so want to ensure how we succeed  is done in a sustainable, ethical  and environmentally friendly manner.    We therefore regularly review,  monitor  and plan for where and how we can improve.    Listed below are some of the actions we have taken.

Acions at a Glance

 

Energy Saving

  • We monitor our electricity and gas consumption using smart meters to help us plan more effectively.
  • We have recently installed 22 solar panels linked to a battery storage system.   We also added a system that uses solar power to heat hot water so saving on gas (our energy bills have halved).
  • When rooms are unoccupied, we turn off or turn down heating.
  • We control heating times using a smart NEST thermostat and have added thermostatic valves to all radiators in guest rooms.
  • During the 2021 refurbishment we installed a new energy efficient heating system and added additional insulation
  • We have switched  to LED lights.
  • We have added  timers to light circuits in public areas (e.g stairs,  outside porch lights)  so they go off after an appropriate time and in refurbished bathrooms introduced  low level lighting  that comes on when you enter via a sensor and automatically switches off a little later.
  • We installed new triple and double glazed windows in rooms at the rear of the property and as we are in a conservation zone,  at the front repaired and refurbished all the existing heritage Victorian sash windows including adding in draught excluders.
  • Curtains in all  bedrooms have thermal linings.
  • In the second floor guest bedrooms we installed sun tunnels to bring in additional natural light  and in the bathrooms of rooms 7 and 8 sun tunnels mean internal rooms also received natural light minimising the use of electric light during the day.
  • We installed a Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery system so heat is extracted from hot air venting out through the roof and the recovered heat is used to heat freshly filtered air that is then piped into each guest room.

 

Electric Vehicle Support

  • We have installed two electric vehicle charging points in our car park for guests with electric or hybrid cars.

 

Recycling

  • We collect our and our guest's waste and sort into seperate recycling bins  (cardboard, glass,  bottles, cans).
  • We collect all kitchen oils and take to the local council refuse center for conversion into biofuel.

 

Plastics use 

  • We have switched to using branded reusable glass water bottles in our guest rooms.
  • We use refillable liquid soap and shampoo dispensers and our supplier (Noble Isle) is committed to using locally UK-sourced ingredients.
  • We make our own organic soap.
  • We bake  homemade shortbread and put this in our guest rooms in reusable tins rather than cellophane bags or supplying prepackaged busocuits.
  • We  use of glass bottles for individual yoghurts rather than individual plastic portions.

 

Saving water 

  • In the recent refurbishment, we fitted dual flush and low flush toilets and opted for showers (which use far less water)  rather than baths.
  • We have trained our staff to not let water taps run and minimise the number of times they flush toilets when cleaning rooms.
  • We discovered a well in the 2021 refurbishment and have recently installed a pumping system so we can use ground well water to water the garden
  • We capture additional water in 250 litre water butts

 

Laundry

  • We let our guests determine how frequently towels and bedding are changed.
  • We’ve added more towel rails in the bedrooms so towels can dry quickly and in our refurbished bathrooms have installed smart electric towel rails (easily adjustable and can be programmed to switch off after a short period).
  • We  use a local commercial laundry that has introduced a “green protocol”  which includes Ecolab’s Oxy Guard Washing System using 40-degree washing temperatures for all washes,  a commitment to gas machinery throughout the plant, significantly reducing their carbon footprint, and purchasing new Washing Machinery cutting water usage by 30% and they have eliminated all plastic wrapping for all customers.

 

Cleaning Products 

  • We purchase a multi-purpose, high-concentrate degreaser-cleaner  “ Clean-Care”  which has passed both Virucidal and Bactericidal tests.   T  One five-litre bottle can make up up 500 individual cleaning spray bottles.   With a solution that cuts down on packaging, uses less plastic, can be recycled, and is bio-degradable, Clean-Care also helps us reduce our carbon footprint.

 

Shopping locally

  • We source many of our breakfast menu ingredients nearby.
  • We buy our bacon and sausages  from a local butcher in Bishopthorpe,  our Black Pudding from Doreen of Thirsk,  Fresh Farm Eggs from Johnsons at Terrington,  Honey from Yorkshire Beekeepers, Bread from the Bluebird Bakery in the Shambles and Milk from the Dales Dairy  in Grassington.
  • We use a local wholesale fruit and veg market for fresh mushrooms,  tomatoes and fruits,  where possible always choosing local produce.
  • We also make our own jams,  preserves, butter,  bagels and Irish soda bread.

 

Food Wastage

  • During the COVID pandemic we had to reconfigure the way we did breakfast.   We introduced a breakfast rota with timed slots to maximise social distancing and we asked guest to pre-order from a selection of items. This meant we could cook food “fresh to order”, knowing a particular guest would be eating this at that particular time,   rather than for example needing to have enough items pre-cooked in case everyone arrived en masse and all selected a fulll cooked breakfast.    We quickly realised this new approach meant we reduced waste and we could also offer a greater range of produce.
  • By pre-ordering  items,  guests can  also control  the size of their breakfast (some opt and eat 10 cooked  items,  others opt for one or two)
  • We have also  replaced single-portion servings of cereals,  preserves, and butter with larger jars of cereals and largely switched to homemade jams and homemade butter.

 

Our Grounds

  • We try to encourage local wildlife and have birdfeeders, bee houses,  a pebble pond and bat and bird boxes.
  • We minimise the use of watering to the start and end of the day and in flower, containers use water retention crystals.
  •  We also choose plants to minimise the amount of any watering that is needed.

 

Composting

  • Although we don’t have a large garden, we do have a “hotbin” composter which means we can produce organic compost in 30-90 days,  over 30 times faster than a typical cold compost.   This means we can compost much more material (garden and some food waste) than we might otherwise.
  •  We ensure any externally bought compost is peat-free.

 

Guide last updated: Jul  2024