Scone Palace Green Tourism Policy
Scone Palace is situated in over 200 acres of beautiful grounds in the heart of Perthshire. The five star stately home is visited by over 100,000 visitors per annum. It is our aim to help preserve this environment for future generations who visit, and we have outlined our plans as a team to become a more environmentally friendly visitor attraction in our Green Policy.
The primary aims of Scone Palace’s green tourism policy are as follows:
1. Waste Management - we are committed to reducing, re-using and recycling as much of our waste materials as possible. We currently recycle paper, glass, cardboard, aluminium cans, juice cartons, milk cartons, milk tops, plastic, stamps, batteries, polythene, printer and toner cartridges and organic matter. We actively promote ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ and are currently working towards a Zero waste office.
2. Energy Management - we aim to install energy efficient lighting and appliances where possible and in doing so strive to become a carbon neutral visitor attraction. We undertake weekly monitoring of our energy consumption with our target being a 20% reduction in 2013. This will be done through a full loft insulation of the Palace alongside the ongoing process of replacing halogen light bulbs with energy efficient bulbs.
3. Supplier Management - we strive to purchase local produce where viable in order to reduce the impact of transportation on the environment, and to support the local economy. We also produce vegetables from our own Kitchen Garden.
4. Social & Communication - Through interacting and communicating with our customers, the local community and wider society we aim to support sustainable tourism. We work with the local community on social projects through providing donations for a wide range of local groups and are delighted to host a number of charitable events. We also encourage visitors to be responsible by promoting the Responsible Visitors Charter and Green Tourism through displaying the Green Tourism logo.
5. Natural Heritage – we continue to enhance the grounds of Scone Palace and to protect the flora and fauna present by supporting the Perthshire Big Tree Country, iCONic Project and Red Squirrel Project. We are also members of the Perthshire Gardens Collection. We encourage interest in local wildlife and horticulture through our grounds tours and Orchid and Snowdrop Festivals as well as being members of the above projects.
6. Travel – At Scone Place we encourage all our visitors and staff to use public transport. Bus timetables can be found in our notice boards, and staff rooms.