Story from Sweden

High on the Bjare peninsular near Barstad there is a famous tourist destination called Havers Hog below which the Halland Sas becomes the Kattegat Sea leading North to the Arctic.Its a beautiful site and has a great Hotel with views and good food.

I meet with the Owner and he explained his approach to sustainability and the environment and I was truly impressed. All their heating and hot water is produced by their own biomass boiler using local hay stubble that previously was burned in the Autumn.

All the hotel roofs have been grass covered and at this time of year are a haven for wild flowers and grasses. The grass provides amazing insulation and is great for the environment. In the main lounge and dining room they have a huge wood stove that in Winter is hugely productive using only local wood from sustainable sources. They use as much local food as possible and have their own market garden that is fully productive throughout the year. To cap it all they have pioneered with a local Swedish company a means of maintain great-usable clean water without burdening the local eco structure. I was shown the system which involves three levels of purification from proactive to react and then finally into an interact area with reeds, ponds and wildlife. The system is now being marketed throughout Scandinavia and has created a prosperous grwowing company with many staff and distributors all benefiting from what started at Havers Hog Hotel.

The projects have all shown economic sense as well as the Green feeling so why oh why can’t more of our UK hotels follow a similar pattern?

I am sure that they are trying so let’s hear their stories and spread the word.