Environment

Recognition and Awards

We were delighted that in September 2022 we were awarded the prestigious Gold award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS).

Supporting Nature

• Organic pasture land for our animals
• Creating gardens to enjoy filled with trees, shrubs and plants
• Provide a bug house and bug house activity sheets to promote interest and learning
• Natural paddock area with wild hedgerow and flowers supporting wildlife

Education

• Bat conservation work, running regular bat walks and talks throughout the year
• Free Rangers outdoor school club-promoting and educating children about caring for their outside environment and nature
• Butterfly count each summer-part of national survey
• Nature sensory trails across the grounds for everyone to enjoy
• Our Sound Garden was built in 2025 and is a sensory sound garden for everyone to enjoy. This offers an area where guests can go to explore sounds, rhythm and sound vibration whilst being part of nature. 

Giving Back

• Created as a result of demand, our Friends of North Hayne Farm adoption/donation scheme has provided guests with the chance to show support and love for our animals
• As a result of its success and our pledge to support regenerative tourism, we decided to enhance what we were doing with the contributions received by connecting with the Exmoor National Park and their CareMoor for Exmoor scheme.  Making a 15% donation to support the valuable work that the Exmoor National Park do sat well with our love for the area and the need to support the many projects undertaken by the park for nature
• With a 280% increase in adoptions being made since 2025 we are able to help make a difference to the wider support of wildlife and nature within our local area

Energy and Water Conservation

• Insulating roofs
• Even little things: wind up torches in the cottages, low energy light bulbs, eco-friendly cleaning products and wash detergents all help to do their bit
• Timers on electric items e.g. towel rails
• Modern energy efficient equipment/appliances 
• Lined curtains where possible to help retain heat and provide darker rooms
• Harvesting rainwater used for our animals
• Replacing windows for double glazed ones (on going)
• Fitting showers rather than additional baths and replacing old toilets for dual flush
• Installing an eco log burner
• Installing an air source heat pump in our The Treatment Room

Earth Action North Devon

• Reducing plastic Childrens competitions
• Recognised Plastic Free Champions (awarded by SAS 2019)
• Providing beach clean bags for families to use on days out -supporting Earth Action North Devon and raising awareness
• Promoting local organised beach cleans. Want to help while you're with us? You can with Earth Action North Devon!

Recycling

• Provide recycling facilities for glass, tin, paper/card and plastic to maintain our current 35% recycling figure
• Making re-cycling fun for the children with our range of green stickers to collect
• Donate old furniture and appliances to local charities
• Encourage the use of food scraps for our rabbits and guinea pigs​

Keeping it Local

• Sourcing ex battery hens and producing our own eggs
• Local Suppliers; Devon has an amazing heritage of producing some of the best food, our cottage information folder and the notice board in the Games Room will be full of wonderful ( and local ) ideas. For our Taste of Devon hampers and we use Local Farm Box and they are another great idea and a perfect way to support a local business as well as eliminating extra car miles too!
• Provide OS and walking maps and welly boxes
• Public transport information
• Notice boards with local information and current providers to promote and support local businesses
• Encourage employees to car share and make suggestions that contribute to the ongoing sustainability of our business
• Welcome pack and produce locally sourced with minimal food miles where ever possible

🍃 Our housekeeping team now re-use as many bottles as we can, re-filling them instead of replacing them.

🍃 Bin bags are made from recycled plastic, some are bio-degradable too!

🍃 We buy items in bulk to reduce plastic waste including our toilet roll - these also come wrapped in paper rather than plastic.

🍃 Our celebration seasons can often be a time of plastic excess, we make conscious efforts to change this and replace any parties with plastic plates, cups and cutlery with washable or compostable paper ones.

🍃 Cling film used is minimal (cream tea cover only) and has been replaced with foil and paper bags for picnic which will be found in your cottage. Waxed papers are useful for days out at the beach which you can borrow from us or buy your own from Quince Honey Farm.

🍃 The farm itself is relatively low on plastic waste, we are currently working on sourcing biodegradable gloves for our Farm Hands club.

Energy Efficient Buildings

Our Games Room and Play Barn build allowed us to create an insulated (minimally heated) warm environment for everyone to relax in and installing hot tubs rather than a large swimming pool have kept energy bills and chemicals to a minimum.

Eco Cottage

In addition our latest eco cottage (Jeremy Fisher) which was completed in 2017 allowed us to build a super-efficient holiday cottage for larger families. This was an ideal opportunity to use Bio-mass heating which is one of our long term goals and something we hope to be able to one day have across the whole complex. 

Why it Matters

Caring for the environment is at the heart of what we do. By reducing waste and using resources responsibly, we not only protect our surroundings but also help keep our family holidays affordable. We're committed to reducing plastic waste across the farm and cottages while supporting local and national efforts to tackle single-use plastics and encourage more sustainable choices.

Solar Panels

We are continually looking at ways to reduce running costs (as so many of us are!) Finding ways to offer renewable energy by installing solar panels.

EV Charging

By installing solar panels this will allow us to provide car charging facilities.

Plastic Free South Molton

As proud Plastic Free Business Champions, we were founding members of the committee established in 2019 to help South Molton achieve Plastic Free Community status.

Part of the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Communities campaign, the initiative is once again moving forward after the pandemic. We encourage everyone to support our town by reducing single-use plastics wherever possible.

Wildflower Gardens

Children’s wildflower, birds, bees and butterflies garden was initially created summer 2022 as part of our North Devon Biosphere business pledge.  We continue to develop areas around the farm both planting trees, wildflowers and supporting existing flowers to help then thrive.