Green News

Bank Holiday Monday May 1st  - Come along to our Free sustainability tours part of Somerscience

Here are some examples of what we have done and do every day:

  • The environmental talk which we give to all our visitors is ready for the first groups arrival at the beginning of February
  • Every 4 night school residential course has either the Garden to Table or Sustainability Tour activity included in their programme.
  • Every year we increase our tree planting, to date we have planted 7,500
  • We have our own bee hives, we started with one in 2017 and we now have 5 busily pollinating our gardens
  • We have never sprayed with any chemicals on our land
  • We welcomed our first groups in February and started our annual food waste challenge, can we encourage more schools this year than last?
  • We are actively promoting our coach escort from London to the West Country for the Summer Camps
  • We have run a workshop for our teams to plan on how to minimise their use of single use plastic.  The kitchen is already looking at beeswax wraps
  • Our annual Bruton Spring Clean
  • Drinking fountains
  • LED lighting throughout the centre
  • Recycling bins all round the centre

Food Waste

A concerted effort has been made to stop food waste and here is how ....

In 2012 we wasted over 1 ton of food.  This was truly horrifying so we introduced the Food Waste Challenge.  If groups didn't throw any of their food away during their stay they became "Zero Heroes".  This simple idea has proved to be extremely successful with groups taking this initiative back to school.   In 2019 we had over 35 schools becoming Zero Heroes.  We have even won an Award for this practice.

 

Interesting Statistics

2018 we wasted 389 kilos of food waste

2019 we wasted 347 kilos of food waste

A whopping 42 kilo improvement.

 

Reduce, reuse, recycle.

Here at Mill on the Brue we really try to stick to this motto.  Our use for old tyres have made us some really comfortable benches

and some interesting activities.

 

Since 1999 we have always had our own home made recycling bins for customers and staff.

 

 

 

 

Inclusion

During our 37 years of operation Mill on the Brue has always attempted to be as inclusive as possible.
It is tough enough for a child to have to cope with a disability but to then be refused access to an outdoor centre with the oppurtunity of enjoying all the activities and games which more able children can try is a double blow.
Over the years we have welcomed groups from The Haemophiliac Society, Royal Institute for the Blind which then became Action for the Blind, The Deaf Society, and individual children with a range of disabilities from serious allergies to physical handicaps.  We have always tried to adapt the surroundings, the activities and our approach to ensure that the child has experienced the very best we can provide.
All our staff have regular training in adapting their instructional style and access to the activities and also catering and housekeeping.