Every little helps

Invest In Our Planet

Each year, World Earth Day & Plastic Free July are just two events which are trying to raise awareness of ways we all do our bit to help be more eco conscious.  It’s not something that we talk about often, but I know it’s important to a lot of people so thought you may be interested in how our cottages try to help your holiday eco friendly! 

There are always going to be opinions as to pros and cons of some eco friendly practices, but we really do appreciate that many of our owners are trying to make a difference, however small. 

We have also asked the lovely Jo at Collar Club to give us some top tips on how to keep our dogs entertained on holiday as well as some ideas on how to keep your dog friendly holiday eco friendly. 

Dog Friendly & Eco Friendly

Here are what some of our cottages have to say about how they are making small changes to make a big difference. 

The Grove

• Natural cleaning methods with white vinegar, baking powder, bicarb and lemon juice. 
• Bamboo cleaning cloths & a steam cleaner used during changeovers.
• Most bulbs are LED and there are outdoor solar lights. 
• Fully double glazed with cavity wall insulation and loft insulation for energy efficiency
• Eco friendly detergents used
• Biodegradable poo bags supplied
• Provide a recycling bin for glass, paper, metal, plastic & card

Hidden Gem

• Local suppliers used: Nero’s Kitchen dog treats, Cooks of Ingham (juice jam cakes and biscuits), Hirst farm shop, Caister village bakers (bread), Norfolk Kettle crisps (How hungry has this made you??)
• EARTH rated poo bags for guests
• Out of Eden/basic Earth toiletries are recyclable and not tested on animals (vegan friendly) 
• Recycling: green bins for recycling items. Council take to recycling centre or we do if overloaded. 

White Cottage

• We provide Beco dog poo bags. 
• Our dog biscuits are from Nero’s which is within walking distance if you run out!
• Crisps are kettle chips made in Norfolk. 
• Bread is from Bread of Haven which is in nearby Ridlington.
• Recycling bins at the cottage

Wagtail Cottage

• We always use green and eco friendly cleaning products.
• We are now looking at biodegradable poo bags
• Recycling is offered at the cottage too

Vineyard Cottage

• The house electricity is all via solar panels. 
• We ask guests to separate recycling items
• The house is A rated insulated so conserves heat loss. 
• We use eco friendly cleaning products and biodegradable liners. 

ELECTRIC CARS

The East Ruston Cottages company car is a Hyundai Ioniq5 - very efficient EV with a charging point at the home office.  And we are very happy to now have 8 cottages with charging points too! Just click here to find out which ones > Cottages with EV Points

How to make your dog holiday sustainable

The lovely Jo from Collar Club subscription box is a sustainability expert and has some super easy ideas for you if you want to make a little difference and also some fab eco friendly ways to keep your dog entertained while you are away!

• Look for treats with compostable packaging
• Take treats with you that you know are eco friendly so you don’t have to panic buy while you are away (you can check out the 'Plastic Free' section of Jo's website)
• Look at treats like Beautiful Joe’s who have gorgeous metal tins tins to which you can reuse and reduce packaging, and if that isn't good enough, they also donate a packet to a rescue for each one purchased!
• If you want to buy some local treats, see if any-one makes treats with local ingredients (honey, vegetables) or uses local butchers. 

DIY Dog Entertainment

Socks!

The odd sock collection. Don’t even think about lying... we’ve all got one... (in fact we have an entire drawer dedicated to odd socks! )

I mean where do those odd socks even go?! And why does the washing never make a pair vanish... just one of each? Anyway, let’s save those philosophical questions for another day and get back to our diy dog toy tips.

​You can do LOTS with odd socks. One of my favourites is the “pass the parcel a la pooch” where you stuff one sock inside another...inside another... inside another, placing treats between the layers as you go! Stuff the inner socks down and tie in a knot and let your pooch rip and snuffle their way through the layers. You can always create a couple of holes to make it easier.

Another option is a DIY tug toy.  Pop an old ball (tennis, rubber it doesn't really matter!) and depending on the length of the sock, tie one or both sides of the ball and prepare for a stretchy game of tug-of-war!

Egg Boxes

Ahhh. The simple egg carton. Used by every household the world over... a simple cardboard piece of packaging. But have you ever thought of turning one into an easy breezy dog enrichment toy?

Pop a few treats in the bottom, leave it open (so it acts like a slow feeder bowl...) or close it up to create a more testing challenge! 

You can also stack one box inside the other to make it super super tough.

When you're done, whack it in the recycling or even better, the compost!

You can order one of Jo's boxes to be sent to East Ruston ahead of time and we will make sure it's delivered to you! Just drop us a message before your holiday and we will let you know how to do it.

Thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed this post, I'd love to hear how what little changes  you are making to be more sustainable!

Sue