Visit Sidmouth are committed to helping our members and other businesses in the region be as sustainable as possible. Being sustainable is not only good for the environment but will help generations to come enjoy East Devon. Being sustainable also offers opportunities to save money and widen your appeal to potential customers – all good things!
According to research undertaken by Euromonitor, 76% of people are more concerned about sustainability than they were in 2019. More and more people are looking at green or slow tourism as an alternative to a more traditional holiday, so by improving your own sustainability, you can appeal to those customers.
Resources and toolkits
The best way to create your sustainability plan is to be aware of your own carbon footprint and you can easily discover this using a calculator from the Carbon Trust. It’s free to use and takes into account 12 months worth of fuel and energy consumption.
Be sure to keep your website up to date with the local public transport so you can encourage visitors to be car free. You can also install electric vehicle charging points, there are grants available for this through a government scheme.
Where possible, you can make use of your outdoor spaces by joining in a Save the Bees campaign or growing your own food to reduce your food miles.
An easy way to make a start is by reducing your food and landfill waste. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s report from 2021, water bottles, plastic bags, bin liners, food packaging, disposable toiletries and cups are the most frequently polluting products. There are a host of businesses who can help decrease your waste, by providing ways to redistribute left over toiletries rather than sending them to landfill and other ways to reduce single use plastics.
Become plastic free
Start making a list of which items your businesses uses that are made of plastic and make a note of which ones can and can’t be recycled, this will help you find alternatives.
Don’t replace everything at once, research your alternatives and replace as and when.
You can find a variety of toolkits and other resources via Visit Britain
