Our Green Story
Although a formal commitment to sustainability is a recent part of Cambo’s story, a concern for nature and the wider community has been a part of our aims and working practices for many years. The estate was an early adopter of organic farming and other sustainable management practices including providing habitats for bugs and beasties in the woods, organising tree-planting sessions with volunteer groups, working with the local village school, along with larger projects such as the successful restoration of the old stables and walled garden.
In more recent years we have added a heat pump for Cambo House (which draws its heat from the Cambo Burn) to replace the old oil boiler, and hosted new Off Grid accommodation units powered by solar panels.
However there is still lots more to be done as often it is the little things that really count and add up to make a difference. For example, recognising that some of the everyday processes we were doing were not compatible with long term sustainability, we started the move away from single use plastic, ended the hosting of firework displays at weddings, and switched to the use of biodegradable confetti for weddings at Cambo House.
In 2023 we signed up for the Green Tourism standard to commit to making further improvements on an ongoing basis, and in 2024, we achieved our first award, achieving Silver under the Green Meetings standard.
There are challenges ahead – for example making historical listed buildings more efficient and accessible can be difficult and costly to achieve without compromising their character, and many of the adaptations needed to make Cambo more sustainable will have a financial impact, at least in the short term. However we are determined to do everything we can to achieve the Gold standard, so follow our journey and watch this space!!
But we sincerely believe in maximising the assets of the estate for the benefit of all, in the most sustainable way possible, to ensure we are not compromising the fragile ecosystems and environment which make the Cambo estate so very special for both visitors and the people who live here, and which are also so fundamental for the future of our planet.
Watch this space, and follow along with us as we continue on our Green journey….