Our Approach to Environmental Sustainability
The Gougane Barra Hotel has always focused on delivering genuine Irish hospitality with local Irish food and drink. We believe that we have fundamentally operated as a sustainable business but in recent years we have moved to further enhance this approach by implementing an environmental sustainability programme and to achieve Green Hospitality Certification.
Our Policy
We are committed to operating to the highest environmental standards possible, which will protect and sustain the environment, our employees and local community, and the long-term financial viability of the hotel.
Our immediate vision is to implement as many actions as we can to minimise our environmental footprint and to maximise our support for the local economy - suppliers and local community environmental initiatives. At all times we will follow best practice advice and ensure we follow renvironmental regulations and provide relevant training to our employees to empower them in supporting our goals.
We will regularly measure and monitor our impact with a specific focus on minimising energy and water consumption and working towards a Zero to Landfill waste approach.
We will achieve third-party environmental management certification through the Green Hospitality Programme.
Our Goals
During 2024we have a number of primary goals:
- We have just achieved Eco-label Certification with the Green Hospitality Programme in April 2024
- Energy – reduce consumption by 5% with a target of a 30% reduction by 2027
- Water – reduce water consumption by 5% in 2024
- Waste – Achieve the Plastic Smart GREENMark during 2024 – minimising single use plastics
- Local Suppliers – measure our expenditure within a 50km radius and set a target to increase this for 2024 and annually thereafter
Our additional target for 2028 is to be a carbon neutral hotel. We will focus on our Scope 1 & 2 emissions and reduce our energy consumption as far as possible, purchase green electricity, along with an ongoing energy efficiency programme. We will also offset any business travel and engage with our suppliers to reduce their Scope 1 & 2 emissions (Our Scope 3 ones).
We are totally committed to purchasing food and services from local suppliers and our Food Miles are generally within a 50km radius of the hotel.
All other purchases are checked for their responsible business attributes and business approach.
Your Support
We would invite you to support us in any way you can in minimising our environmental footprint and we welcome any suggestions you have for us.
We would ask that during your stay in our beautiful valley, you apply the principles of “Leave no Trace” when visiting local sights and attractions (details available at reception) and support our local artisan food, drink and craft businesses by purchasing at least one item to take home with you.
If you would like to know more about what specific actions we have taken, click through below to access all our environmental information.
Thank you for supporting our sustainable endeavours – showing that comfort and sustainability can go hand in hand.
Neil and Katy Lucey