John Muir's Birthplace | Green Tourism

Going Green at John Muir's Birthplace

John Muir's Birthplace opened in August 2003. From the start we decided to follow green and sustainable principles as far as we were able. We bought materials for our workshops from Scrapstore and charity shops, used fairtrade tea and coffee, sold locally made and recycled goods in our shop and brought green issues to the fore through our displays and work with schools and groups.

In 2007 we earned our Gold Green Tourism Business Scheme Award and were highly commended for our environmental education work. Staff at John Muir's Birthplace continue to work towards meeting green goals such as better energy efficiency, reducing our carbon footprint, promoting car sharing, the use of public transport and developing our green action plan.

In an effort to reduce our carbon footprint and environmental impact, we are constantly reviewing our performance and trying to make improvements in the following areas.

Monitoring

We monitor the following resources and make savings where possible:

Gas and electricity

Water use

Car miles

Energy

We reduce our carbon footprint by using:

A-rated refridgerator

High efficiency Boiler

LED lighting in most areas

Thermostatic and timer controls

We are planning to:

Increase the loft insulation and draught proof the windows

Water

We conserve water by:

Fitting aerated taps

Fitting a low flush toilet

Using environmentally friendly cleaning products

Visit GREEN SPRING CLEAN for recipes to make your own environmentally friendly cleaning products for the home.

Waste

We limit waste going to landfill by:

Encouraging reduce, reuse and recycle from purchasing to waste disposal

Recycling materials for use in our children's workshops

Promoting ‘Waste free packed lunches’ to visiting school groups

Purchasing

We consider environmental impact when ordering goods by:

Using recycled paper or paper from sustainable sources

Selling stationary and gifts made from recycled materials

Selling locally produced crafts and cards

Buying Fairtrade tea, coffee and biscuits

Using local traders to provide food and drink for events

Travel

We promote the use of public transport by:

Linking to public transport sites on our website

Promoting public transport in our leaflets and adverts

Providing details of a wide range of local walks, cycles and non-car based activities

Car sharing wherever possible

For links to timetables for public transport see our Visit section

Wildlife

We do not have our own grounds but promote the importance of caring for wildlife through:

A programme of children's workshops on environmental themes

Family drop-in events and outreach on environmental themes

An on-line Nature Diary

A member of staff is a representative on the John Muir Country Park Advisory Group

We are investigating the possibility of fixing swift boxes at the rear of our building

Community

We support local environmental organisations such as Fairtrade Dunbar, Sustaining Dunbar and Dunbar Community Woodland Group and work closely with Friends of John Muir's Birthplace and the John Muir Trust. We can supply a venue for meetings and promote their activites through our noticeboard and website. We also work closely with primary and secondary schools and East Lothian Countryside Ranger Service.

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Going Green at John Muir's Birthplace