Well we’ve finally done it. Ireland is the second country to declare a ‘Climate Emergency’. Individual action is required and while we won’t save the world on our own, we at Boyne Hill Estate believe that any action we take will hep to make up part of the solution.
Actions we have taken to date:
Over the past few months we have been eliminating all single-use plastic across our operations:
• We’ve replaced plastic straws with paper ones
• Our in-room complimentary water is Ballygowan in glass bottles
• Any waste that can’t be composted or recycled goes in bio-degradable plastic bags and we have invested in a machine that compacts the cardboard to improve efficiency of waste pick ups.
• We have installed low energy bulbs across the estate.
We are renowned for our delicious food here in Boyne Hill Estate and we buy local produce from the Boyne Valley where possible. However, we know we can improve in this area and we have longer-term sustainable ambitions for our 38 acre Estate which include:
• Reducing food waste
• Introducing more meat-free menu options
• Growing as much of our own food where possible to reduce food transport.
To date, we have planted a range of berry bushes; raspberry; strawberries; blueberries; goji berries as well as tomatoes, potatoes and rhubarb. These are all in our Victorian Walled garden. We will add to these over the coming months and years. This ‘Farm to Table’ approach is something which we are very excited about and I walk through the garden every day to check on their progress… let’s just say a watched plant doesn’t grow! Our Chef is also waiting patiently for a planned herb garden so we hope to get started on that before the end of the summer.
We also hope to partner the local bee-keepers association in Navan to see if we can get our own bee-hives and start producing some honey to go with Chef’s delicious home-made brown bread…yum!
Cider-making is also an option we are pursuing as we have a range of apple trees in our walled-garden some of which are rare breeds.
I could go on and on outlining our plans to make Boyne Hill Estate one of the ‘Best Private Venues in Ireland' but let’s just leave it there for the moment….
Triona (Owner and planner extraordinaire!)
