Travel News

Peer to Pier: Eco Travel in the Scottish Highlands

Locations in this article:  London, England

Everyone is talking about getting to London for the Olympics, but if you’re in London you’re probably thinking about getting out of town. This month, as part of our focus on the UK for the Olympics, we’re showing you some other interesting alternatives. This weekend, Meg Pier takes us up to Scotland with an interesting look at an eco-lodge.

An eco-sphere is an environment where everything serves a purpose and is integrated, with even the smallest part contributing to a healthy whole. I found such synergies at the Rumblie, an eco accommodation located in the small village of Laggan on the western edge of the Cairngorms National Park in the heart of the Scottish Highlands. Owners Simon and Fiona Dodds sat down with me to share their life as owners of an eco-friendly guest home in the Highlands.

Meg Pier: What’s involved with being a “green” tourism property in Scotland?

Simon Dodds: The Green Tourism Business Scheme is now considered worldwide as a benchmark, and a lot of other tourism organizations in different countries look to this scheme as being a model and a standard for greening your business.

Fiona Dodds: When we first went onto the Green Scheme, we scored Gold at our first attempt, which was quite an achievement. The Green Scheme audit covers everything from how you market yourself to how many pints of water you use. The purchasing audit covers everything from mugs to lampshades and toilet paper to how many miles away your food comes from.

SD: We have to record what we put into our bin, and so we weigh everything. The number of bottles, plastics, cans, cardboard, and paper we recycle.

FD: Last year was our bi-annual audit, and we were in the top 2 percent of the UK and Ireland. We’re the only Scottish guesthouse that made it onto the National Green Award shortlist. The awards ceremony was held May 25 in Edinburgh. We achieved “Highly Commended” – joint second which puts us in effectively the top three Green/Eco B&Bs/Guest Houses in the UK. We are both really thrilled to have gained this award. It’s always nice to be recognized for what we do.

more>>