Sustainability is important to the team at Barleylands. We will always try to find a sustainable route to doing our bit for the environment.
Below are some of the things we do to ensure we are a sustainable visitor attraction, and the ideal venue for schools to visit.
- When cooking with our visiting schools, we use seasonal local produce, and even grow our own in our educational polytunnel. This is not only sustainable, but a great way of teaching future generations about growing their own and to think about local producers.
- All our animal feed is sourced locally, produced by other Essex farming families. Our sister company even grows the Wheat that goes into the animal feed!
- We grow a lot of fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers in our polytunnel and garden plots which are fed direct to the animals.
- Our Straw and Hay is grown on the Philpot family farms.
- We are an Approved Farm Park for the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) https://www.rbst.org.uk/, and are involved in the conservation, breeding and promotion of rare breeds, and share facts and information about the importance of rare breeds to our farm park visitors and schools who visit our education programme.
- RBST members already know that naturally reared, predominantly grass-fed animals are kinder to the environment.
- We recycle our glass, tin, cardboard, and plastics used on the farm and the wider working farm.
- We minimise energy and water waste by using knee activated taps and harvesting rainwater wherever we can.
- We use ‘stop’ taps and automatic lights in our farm buildings.
- We have had solar panels installed for 10 plus years.
- Manure is collected daily and is then returned to the land to nourish the soil for crop growth.
- We love food, hate waste, and the packaging purchased for our cookery workshops to allow children to transport their fabulous cooking home is either recyclable or biodegradable.
- Schools are encouraged to take any leftover lunch home in lunchboxes. This allows parents to see what children have eaten, and to recycle their leftovers responsibly or finish at home.
- As part of our education display in the discovery Centre we have displays promoting recycling and explaining food miles.
- Recycling is encouraged throughout the park and recycling bins are provided for visitors.
- Energy consumption is minimised through extensive use of LED lighting and light sensors in key areas.
- As we replace machinery and equipment we try and keep things sustainable e.g. replacing our petrol buggy with an electric one in Dec 2023 and replacing paly equipment with wood rather than plastic.
- We encourage the use of ‘re-usable’ systems by installing water bottle filling stations around the park and asking children to ‘bring your own bucket’ for animal feeding. .https://www.barleylands.co.uk/news/re-usable-bucket-system-starts-next-week/
- Our website and App encourage visitors to ‘go paperless’ and staff are now using a digital app to do daily checks and record information.
- The Barleylands shopping village encourages people to shop locally and support small businesses. https://www.barleylands.co.uk/thevillage/
- We determinedly source sustainable produce for our Farm Park shop so consumers can buy with confidence.
- Lastly, we recycle items to use as enrichment for our animals, be it a card board box for the rabbits to chew or an old tyre for the meerkats to hide in!
