Information Centre

Tigh na Leigh - Our Environmental Statement

As a business we are committed to minimising our impact upon the environment, and whenever possible fostering greater understanding of appropriate ecological practices. This encompasses  an entire range of activities which surround the day to day running of our Guest House , together with our long-term vision and objectives.

from the day we started our project ‘Tigh Na Leigh’ we tried to install and use as many ecologically sound products as possible. These included the installation of condensing boilers to produce heat and hot water. ’A’ rated appliances and low energy light bulbs. The utilizing, where possible of second-hand building materials such as paving slabs for the hard landscaping in the garden. Never mind the miles of insulating rock wool we used in roofs, walls and even under the floors. We have installed either double glazing or secondary glazing in the majority of our Bed & Bathrooms—the windows in the ground floor public areas are next on our list of things to improve. Most batteries in use are rechargeable. Our big project for 2011 to reduce the amount of gas needed for heating water is a solar thermal installation on the Guest House roof.

We have landscaped the garden and created a heaven for wildlife by planting hedges, about 60 trees and bushes but also leaving some ‘wild areas’ with dandelions, nettles and long grass to encourage insects, frogs & birds to make this their home. Our pond was discovered almost immediately and now provides a habitat and feeding place for bats, frogs, herons and all sorts of insects (no midges though).

We are very proud to promote locally reared Scotch meat.  We use meat from Highland Drovers, which supplies pedigree Scotch Highlander cattle, reared and matured in Perthshire.  Our Pork is again a completely Scottish enterprise, Puddledub Pork from Auchtertool in Fife and whilst we use only Scotch lamb, we actively source Black Hebridean Sheep from the Alyth Hill Farm at Westfield.

Fruit and vegetables are from our own kitchen garden (you are welcome to have a look & a taste) or sourced from local farms and farmers markets, but may come from further afield during the Scottish winter.  Evening meals and our breakfasts are cooked to order, thus reducing waste and providing our guests with the best quality food.

Recyclables for council collection are sorted into paper, cardboard, plastic, tins and glass. Cooking Oil, Batteries, printer cartridges and mobile phones are recycled. Still useful older Furniture, Appliances & CRT TVs have been given to local charities. Vegetable scraps from the kitchen and most garden waste are composted on site.  Left over bread goes to the house keepers chickens in exchange for eggs. Even at full capacity the guesthouse manages to limit waste to one domestic - sized wheelie bin every fortnight which eliminates the need for business specific bins and pick-up. Normally the waste produced by up to 11 guests and ourselves is less than that produced by the average family of four!