As owners of Dene Cottage we have always been aware of our environmental responsibility. The cottage being without mains electricity when we bought it was an attraction for us, we saw it as a chance to have a ‘green’ holiday home. We enjoyed the challenge of refurbishing the cottage and introducing initially a couple of solar panels, then a small wind turbine and as our demands for electricity in the cottage increased, more solar panels. The cottage is insulated to a high level, walls, underfloor and roof, all the windows are double glazed and the patio window gives passive solar heating, when any heating is needed it is stays in the cottage!
All our cleaning materials are eco-friendly and we put our ‘environmental hat’ on whenever we have to change or renew anything in the cottage we consider the environmental impact of our choice.
One benefit of the location is that we are within walking distance of the village of Dounby, it is only a 5-10 minute walk. If you choose to walk up by the farm, this avoids walking on the roads. In the village there is:
- NEW – MILK IN GLASS BOTTLES! The Dounby Butcher now sells local Orkney milk, there are glass bottles in the cottage to take to refill, reducing a huge amount of plastic waste locally. She also sells a huge variety of local meat produce, fish from Westray and also Westray Bakery products which is a must to try while in Orkney, and to stock up on before you leave!
- A small Co-operative supermarket which is very well stocked, and sells many Orcadian food products including cheese, bread, cakes, oatcakes, beer and wine, the co-op also has fuel pumps
- Hotel with a café, a pub and an excellent restaurant
- Wonderful craft shop full of locally made goods
- Post office
- Hairdresser
- Chemist
Also within easy walking distance is the excellent Merkister Hotel on the banks of the Loch of Harray, where you can have a drink on their terrace area or a meal in their bar or restaurant, a wonderful way to spend a long summer evening. Both the local restaurants use locally produced produce as much as possible.
In Orkney recycling is very much encouraged, not only from an environmental point of view but also because all non-recyclable waste is shipped to Shetland to their Energy Recovery Plant, not as good as recycling, but definitely better than landfill!
The cottage is equipped with a variety of plastic boxes in the hope that these can be used for food storage rather than a plastic bag.
If you choose to travel to Orkney without a car there is electric bike hire in Kirkwall, the bikes can then be charged at the cottage with our 100% green energy! There is also secure storage for bikes in the shed. There is cycle hire in Stromness who will deliver bikes to the cottage for the guests and collect them at the end of the hire period. http://www.orkneycyclehire.co.uk/
There are busses from Dounby to other parts of the Island, but you should check timetables as they are not very frequent.
From Green to Greener – Our next steps
“It is our intention over the next few years to create paths in the 6 acre field outside the cottage which is reserved for wildlife and is not cultivated, hopefully these will allow visitors to meander past the burnt mound, observing the birds and wildlife as the wander all the way down to the river where we hope to have a bench, a lovely place to watch the sunset or just enjoy the peace and quiet and the surrounding nature.” August 2019
SUCCESS!
During lockdown, in 2020, one of our sons manages to cut a path through the meadow sweet, the irises, and the long grasses in the field adjacent to the cottage field which has less breeding birds, thus avoiding disturbing them on walks. The path loops round and meanders through the field, taking about 15 minutes to walk from the cottage and back.