Our Sustainable Practices & Measures:
The team at The Outing Festival is working alongside the Inn at Dromoland are committed to protecting and enhancing the environment for future Generations. We are continuously striving to improve our environmental practises which include the implementation of various policies, particularly in relation to waste management and energy consumption control.
We have taken numerous actions to date as part of our ongoing sustainable journey including the following measures:
-We make a significant effort to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle wherever practical.
-We are gradually reducing our use of single use plastics across all departments of the hotel along with our festival (reusing signage, stage props flags and bunting etc).
-We have a cross-department team of ‘Green Champions’ who help in our efforts to educate all of our team members on our sustainability efforts and latest green initiatives.
-Our still and sparkling water for sale to guests are made of glass or in can format, with both options being fully recyclable.
-All guests are now informed of our newly introduced bedroom cleaning service offering which aims to reduce our C02 emissions and help preserve our natural resources. (Click here to view our detailed flyer)
-In recent years, the Hotel has installed their own Water Reservoir which in turn has reduced our water consumption by up to 70%. We have also installed 8 LPG Boilers which produces 250 Kilowatts of Hot water.
-The Hotel now has an electrical charging point for electric cars.
-As much as possible, our team of chefs source our food from local suppliers in turn reducing food miles and our overall carbon footprint. We at the festival asking in our booking portal ask dietary requirements so to help in area of additional waste.
– Our office printers are set to print in greyscale and double-sided as default, to save on ink and paper. Our festival team work with the hotel on this and festival programme is avaiable on our Website, social media and on digital screens in and around festival grounds.
– In terms of our location on the Dromoland Estate, natural fertilizer made on-site by our gardeners, is used throughout. This is supplemented by coffee waste and shredded paper from our offices being composted and turned into ready to use soil.
– We have on-site cardboard/paper compactor and waste packaging are collected throughout the resort to be baled. The average weight of a cardboard bale produced by our baler is approximately 660lbs or 300 kg. Recycling company (Clean Ireland) collects ready-to-go bales and credits our account.
– We have a written green purchasing policy that is applied at all stages of the purchasing cycle. This is designed to promote the use of local products, in order to promote the local economy and reduces carbon footprint by choosing local suppliers.
– Our recent investment in new equipment is driven by the desire to have machinery which is more environmentally friendly than previous. All our new equipment this year and going forward will be run with the latest technology tier 4 diesel engines where necessary. Electric or non- fossil fuel burning will always be first choice if there is an option. Tier 4 engine comply with the strictest EPA regulations on carbon emissions and significantly reduce emissions of particulate matter.
– As part of our aim to reduce single use plastic throughout the resort, all staff have been given their own branded bottle for use..and so have festival goers as part of sponsorship from some of our partners.
– We have own wells system for the resort and water pumps data is monitored by sensor log software – recording usage, pumps status, leak detection and water levels in real time.
– Any clothing from lost property that remains unclaimed after a designated period of time is recycled.
– All kitchen equipment is regularly audited to ensure optimal usage times are enforced to save on energy costs.
– A switch off-policy is encouraged throughout the hotel to avoid computers etc.. unnecessarily being left on standby mode.
This is a non-exhaustive list that we are continuously adding to, with the ultimate aim of reducing our overall Carbon Footprint.
