At Orchard Side Bed and Breakfast, we take sustainability seriously and truly believe that we can all do our bit to look after our precious planet and support the environment.
We are always looking at ways to reduce our consumption of energy and water, and actively increase our use of recyclable materials by eliminating single-use packaging and plastic bottles.
Embracing Kitchen Waste Innovation
Our new addition to reduce our environmental footprint and enhance our sustainability practices is the NutriChef Kitchen Composter, a state-of-the-art system that transforms our daily food waste into valuable pre-compost material right in our kitchen.
This innovative composter handles everything from fruit peelings, egg shells, to coffee grounds and tea bags through its advanced dry, crush, and cooling functions, dramatically reducing the volume of waste that would otherwise go to landfill. What impressed us most is its sophisticated odour-reducing filtration system, which maintains a pleasant kitchen environment while operating virtually silently—perfect for our busy B&B kitchen where guest comfort is paramount.
The pre-compost material produced feeds directly back into our beautiful gardens, creating a closed-loop system where breakfast scraps eventually nourish the flowers and vegetables that enhance your stay. It’s incredibly satisfying to know that your morning coffee grounds and fruit from your continental breakfast will help create the stunning garden views you’ll enjoy during your visit. This investment represents our ongoing commitment to sustainable hospitality—finding innovative ways to care for our environment while maintaining the exceptional standards our guests expect.
Gigi herself is a vegetarian, so she ‘walks the talk’ and is keen to offer alternative breakfast choices to the standard meat options. Her speciality is Overnight Oats, which many guests are keen to try as an alternative breakfast option, and most guests ask for the recipe, so here it is ….
Waste materials are sorted into relevant recycling bins, and all kitchen waste is composted in the Nutrichef. Reducing food waste is a big focus here, so guests are asked to pre-order their breakfast each day, allowing Gigi to provide a bespoke breakfast and individual portions. Gigi shops locally every few days to avoid overstocking the fridge and cupboards, and this approach has helped reduce food wastage by at least 25% in the last 10 years of operation. Most of the breakfast produce is purchased from the Hanley Swan Village shop, which focuses on local produce such as sausages, eggs, and bread.
We encourage guests to turn off lights and appliances if they are not in use, especially when they leave the room. Unless requested, bathroom towels and linen are not changed during a guest’s stay, and the heating is switched off during the night.
EV Charging Station
An ICS Intelligent Charging Station is installed at Orchard Side Bed and Breakfast for guests to use for charging their electric cars. Read more here
We live in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, so we all want to do our bit to keep it that way.
