In 2022, 140 PV panels were installed, which supplies some of our electricity, helping to reduce our carbon footprint. We also use a biomass boiler.
In 2023, we installed an electric vehicle charger available for visitors to use. Visitors simply need to have the Pod Point app to avail of this service.
We follow the waste hierarchy by reducing, reusing, recycling and composting waste wherever we can. We reduce single use plastics by providing takeaway food and drink in compostable packaging and only offering drinks in recyclable glass bottles or cans.
We’re managing the lawns in our car park area in a way which encourages more wildflowers and the wildlife attracted to them. We do this by only cutting grass along the edges of the lawns and leaving the grass in the centre to grow long, cutting it and removing it once a year, in September.
We also clean our wastewater using a reed bed filtration system which harnesses the natural superpowers of wetlands.
Our coffee is all Fairtrade but the good news doesn’t stop there! We add the used coffee grounds to the compost heap in our garden. This compost is then used to grow fruit and vegetables, which we use in the Kingfisher Cafe.
If you’re a frequent visitor to the Kingfisher Cafe, you might have noticed that we also give away our used coffee grounds for free to visitors. Coffee grounds are great for adding nutrition to your soil or getting your compost heap going. A mulch of coffee grounds can also deter slugs, snails and ants. Grab a free bag of used grounds for your grounds next time you enjoy a coffee from the Kingfisher Cafe.
We use local suppliers where possible and also grow some of our own fruit and vegetables on site. We do this peat-free as peat extraction damages wetlands. No chemical pesticides or fertilisers are used in the garden either (we like our bees too much!).
Our apple orchard contains old Irish heritage varieties of apple trees such as ‘Irish Peach’ and ‘Cavan Sugarcane’, many of which have almost disappeared from our countryside. Our orchard is not only protecting these old heritage varieties of apples for the taste sensation they provide but ensures they can be enjoyed by future generations of visitors to Castle Espie.
