Green Tourism

Habitat @ Ballater is situated within the Cairngorms National Park.  The Park has been established to safeguard the areas wonderful scenery and wildlife whilst ensuring that communities within the Park are able to offer both residents and visitors all the services they require.

At Habitat @ Ballater, we are committed to running a business that offers our visitors a wonderful standard of facilities.  We encourage all our guests to join with us in trying to do so in a way that has as small an impact on our natural environment as possible.  Please read our Responsible Visitors Charter.

Habitat @ Ballater ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

We are committed to being as "Green" as possible:
 
Energy Efficiency: We use low energy light bulbs where possible.  We have installed double glazing.  The hostel has a very high standard of insulation.  All our hot water and central heating is supplied by a ground source heat pump.  We provide a traditional dryer in the laundry room.  We provide hot water bottles for guests.  We have a wood burning stove and all our fuel for that is locally sourced.

Fair Trade Products: We provide Fairtrade tea, coffee, sugar and chocolate for our guests.

Eco-friendly Products: All our cleaning products are eco-friendly.  We also use recycled paper products.

Support Local Businesses: We provide visitors with a list of our local shops and try to encourage guests to shop locally rather than bringing large quantities of supermarket bought produce with them.  We use the local laundry, use local trades' people and shop for supplies locally.

Water Efficiency: We try to discourage visitors from bringing supplies of bottled water.  Some of our showers are designed to limit water use.

Recycling:  We recycle glass, cans, paper, plastic bottles, cardboard, batteries and stamps.

Staff Awareness:  All our staff are aware of our environmental policy.

Transport and Travel: We are members of Visit Scotland Walkers Welcome Scheme.  We provide public transport information to our guests.