Low Mill is a member of a group of holiday properties whose owners have pledged to:
- preserve and protect the local environment
- use energy efficiently
- enhance the local economy
- encourage re-use, recycling and composting
- choose local suppliers
- reduce waste by sharing supplies
Other holiday homes in the group include
- Fairfax Corner in York http://www.fairfaxcorner.co.uk
- Itteringham Mill in Norfolk http://www.itteringham-mill.co.uk
What does this mean in practice?
- We encourage our guests to buy locally. In Kirkby Stephen there are four supermarkets of varying size, a proper local butcher, a local green-grocer and a local baker. No need to stock up beforehand or to get one of the major retailers to deliver!
- There is a compost bin and heap in the garden. Recycling boxes are in the wood store. There is also a recycling centre in Kirkby Stephen.
- Very little of our waste goes to landfill. Recently (2019) we replaced the tiles in the kitchen with a (softer, warmer) vinyl floor. All the old tiles were successfully ‘freegled’.
- On arrival you will not get a ‘free’ (ie fully included in the price…) bottle of cheap wine. What you will find in the cupboards will be teabags, coffee, sugar, spices and condiments, cooking oil…. We encourage guests to use what they find, replace anything that gets used up while you’re there. And if there’s half a box of cereal that you don’t want to take home – leave it for the next guest.
- All of our services (plumbing, chimney sweeping, etc) are provided by local traders.
- In 2021 we replaced oil-fired central heating with an air source heat pump. We also improved the insulation, raising our EPC from D to C.
Low Mill Kirkby Stephen 