Introducing WONDER – Holkham’s Sustainability And Conservation Action Plan

April 10, 2021 | WONDER | 5 minute read

Wondering what WONDER is all about?

Introducing WONDER – Holkham’s Sustainability And Conservation Action Plan

Sustainability and a pioneering spirit sit at the centre of Holkham’s vision – a vision which has given way to the creation and launch of WONDER, the estate’s new sustainability and conservation action plan. As a core part of the estate, and as a business located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Pinewoods shares in the visions and ambitions outlined in WONDER.

So, why WONDER?

We took inspiration from the meaning of the word: ‘a feeling of amazement and admiration caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar’. We all believe Holkham is remarkable and wish to cherish, nurture, and improve it for future generations.

However, as you are probably aware, it is also a place vulnerable to the effects of climate change, associated sea level rises and risk of flooding. This very real risk to Pinewoods, only increases our drive to become more sustainable. We have been welcoming families and holiday makers for over 60 years, and to ensure we can continue for the next 60 years and beyond, we need to work towards improving our practices and cherishing our environment for the benefit of future generations.

WONDER focusses on three core objectives and the investment in real, live projects – from carbon auditing and biodiversity projects to the reduction of plastics and waste to landfill.

1. To pioneer environmental gain with a goal to increase natural capital every year, with every decision made.
2. To champion low carbon living with a goal of becoming a carbon negative estate by 2040.
3. To tread lightly, and stamp out waste with a goal to reducing the amount of non-recycled waste we generate by 10% each year for the next 10 years.

We will delve deeper into each objective and share with you Holkham’s goals and aspirations and what they mean here at Pinewoods, throughout the year. But in the meantime, whilst we work behind the scenes to ensure best practice throughout the site, we hope you will be inspired to do your bit too…perhaps you already are!

Let’s stamp out waste…

Recycling is one of our core objectives this year. We intend to reduce the amount of waste generated at Pinewoods, whilst increasing recycling rates. Disappointingly, our current ratio of general waste compared to recycling generated by guests is 14:1. This must change, and in 2021 we are working hard to make it as easy as possible for guests to separate their rubbish and recycle effectively. With your help we can reverse this statistic and substantially reduce the general waste leaving the park. We also aim to reduce the amount of single use plastic in the shop and try to influence our key suppliers still using single use plastic. Keep an eye out for our next blog instalment on how we propose to do this.

Could you be a Pinewoods Green Champion?

Small changes during your stay at Pinewoods can make a significant difference. We have thought of several ways you can reduce your carbon footprint, reduce your waste, and do your bit for the natural world around us, but we’d love to hear more from you! This is our call out for ‘Green Champions’ – share with us how you are doing your bit for the environment without compromising your holiday home. Although your caravan holiday homes become your ‘home from home’, there are some differences, and we know storage space is just one of them! It is not just about waste and recycling, we would also like to hear your great ideas and methods you use to holiday sustainably whilst at Pinewoods, or perhaps you’d like to submit an idea you would like to see from us.

Sustainable ideas to try…

Now that the park has finally reopened, we are keen to share just a few ways in which you could start living more sustainably at Pinewoods… try separating your waste using our recycling bays, try keeping your gas usage to a minimum, switching to LED lightbulbs, switching plugs off between use, keeping a couple of flower pots on your terrace to attract pollinators, hanging a bird feeder from your fence, steering clear of ground nesting sites on the beach, leaving only footprints and ensuring no litter is left on the beach, taking your reusable cup to the Beach Café for your coffee and cycling or walking into town instead of driving.

Every member of our team is essential to the success of this strategy, and we believe you are too. It is by sustainability becoming an instinctive and natural behaviour that we will succeed.

More information on each objective, along with the story so far can be found on the Holkham website. Click here to take you there.

Join us on our journey, where we hope to inform, inspire and influence each other along the way.