Walkers accommodation in the Scottish Highlands, Scotland

Planet

Our Lodge and its sister tour company have both been awarded Gold Green Tourism awards.

We recycle through a local private recycling company who can boast a 95% recycling rate and include a wide variety of plastics as well as the usual glass & metal recycling. Recycling is not the end of green credentials though and the Lodge can also boast a biomass heating/hot water system as we have a wood pellet boiler on site. We also conserve rainwater with several water butts to feed our thirsty plants.

The garden is being turned over almost completely to production of organic edibles – from herbs to fruit & veg. To this end we also belong to the WWOOF scheme where numerous volunteers have had a hand in turning the grounds around, rescuing them from perennial weeds and giving us productive vegetable patches.

Trees native to the region are encouraged to grow in the grounds of the lodge. One area of the garden has been over planted with non-indigenous forestry trees. These are in the process of being thinned to create more space and light for the native trees. Inappropriately placed self-sown native saplings are transplanted to more appropriate locations. Fuel for the open fire All woody garden cuttings resulting from tree and shrub pruning are cut up, dried and used as kindling or logs on our open fire.

We've been self-sufficient in kindling since we opened and look to be for the foreseeable future as we are thinning an area of over crowded forestry trees from the grounds. We are replacing them with locally indigenous species. Wood resulting from property improvements/maintenance is either stored for reuse or processed for kindling or logs (excl. treated timber). The waste product of sawmill cutoffs are another source of wood fuel as is what we gather ourselves and that resulting from thinning.

People

We encourage all our guests to join in events organised locally. We have a renowned drama group here in the village who put on regular productions which invariably sell out. Our local village hall attracts well-known Scottish bands particularly folk/traditional bands who often encourage the local kids to act as support. We only employ locally and have retained our staff for 5 years, when we first took on permanent part-time help.

We are entirely Highland based, both as a company and whilst delivering the vacations. We source as much produce as we can locally and we support a number of local business'. This is both directly and indirectly through many of our guests spend money iin the local shops and pubs thereby further helping to support employment.

We employ only local guides. Their in-depth knowledge of the Highland mountains is invaluable, greatly increasing flexibility and enhancing the overall experience.

The village is currently fund raising for a pump track which will be useful for everyone, not just the local kids. When it becomes a reality Fraoch Lodge will be recognised as one of the supporters.