• Cornish biscuits from Simply Cornish
• Cornish Wine from the Cornish Cyder Farm
• Cornish Apple Juice from Karensa Aval
• Cornish Beer from Sharp’s Brewery
• Cornish Milk from St Piran Dairies.
• Organic Soap from Cornish Soap Box

Gardening and the Outside Areas

• All our outside taps are fed with grey water from a well.
• We garden in a sustained manner, feeding our plants with a food made from liquid from our composting system. We also use our homegrown compost to enrich the soil.
• Composting bins are provided in each of the carriages, and guests are encouraged to use them.
• We use environmentally friendly slug guards, never pellets
• In St Germans we grow our own flowers to put in the vases in the lets, and guests are welcome to use herbs from our prolific herb bed.
• We buy our plants from local suppliers, and can highly recommend Tartendown Nurseries, and in Hayle the farm shop along Penpol Terrace is excellent for bedding plants and local flowers.
• In St Germans we encourage the birds by providing plenty of bird feeders.
• In St Germans guests have unlimited access to our ten acres of ancient woodland, situated a short walk away from the carriages, and are offered the opportunity to visit a local apple orchard under the Countryside Stewardship scheme.
• In St Germans we are regularly visited by a moth expert, on account of the diverse range of moths. He has produced a catalogue of moths spotted, which is available in the carriage
• In the grounds of Hayle we cultivate a wild area, which is the perfect habitat for all sorts of flora and fauna, strimming only after the wild flowers have seeded.

In the office
Good practice starts at home, and in the Railholiday office this is no exception, so we:

• Use recycled paper only.
• Keep scrap sheets for writing and printing internal memos.
• Heat the office using a woodburning stove, and in winter all hot water and the kettle is also heated by the stove.
• Power the office and the Old Luggage Van with a 3.6kW solar panel installation.

Public Transport and Travel
Here at Railholiday we strongly believe in the joys of public transport, and for this reason have chosen sites for our carriages beside working railway stations. In order to encourage our guests to escape the queues and enjoy the countryside by catching the train, bus, walking or cycling we:

• Have written a book of day trips by train, which is provided in each carriage.
• Supply up to date timetables.
• Send information on day trips by train and timetable information to guests with their second booking confirmation.
• Provide a comprehensive web page, with links to public transport pages.
• Offer guests a £25 cash back incentive if they leave their car at home. (£10 if the holiday costs less than £195)
• Include information on local walks.
• Catch the train to Hayle to do our gardening and maintenance work, only needing to drive down a couple of times a year. (It's amazing what you can transport on a train off-season!)
• Actively promote attractions that are accessible by train

Recycling and Waste

• All carriages are provided with composting bins.
• There are excellent facilities for recycling in all carriages. There is an inside bin in all carriages for glass, plastic, paper, card, cans and tins, and clear instructions on what to do with the recycling.
• All toilets are fitted with water saving devices, and the toilets at St Germans are fed with grey water from a well.
• The bathroom taps in the carriage at Hayle are the original push and pour type, so cannot be inadvertantly left on
• Showers are fitted in all carriages.

Social and charity work
We actively play a part in the local and wider railway community.

• Lizzy is on the committees of the St Germans Rail Users’ Group, commited to raising awareness of the local rail service and carrying out surveys to assess rail usage and attending the South West Public Transport Users Forums.
• Dave is the treasurer for the St Germans' Village Community Shop Project. We also are regularly involved in fundraising for a variety of local and National charities, including St Germans School , St Germans and Downderry Cubs, The Railway Children and the RNLI.
• In 2010 we donated holidays to The Railway Children, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, The Campaign for Better Transport and a holiday fund for a friend with terminal cancer, raising over £1000 in total for these charities.
• We are currently building links with Saltash.net Community School to offer work experience for students with an interest in tourism.

Sustainability

The premise for the Railholiday idea is one of sustainability - converting redundant coaches and giving them a new lease of life, and in many cases saving them from being destroyed. We are careful to keep as much original material as possible, and wherever possible use salvaged material in the conversion work. In addition, we also:

• are a holder of the South East Cornwall Tourism Association's Green Acorn Award for Sustainable Tourism.
• are a member of Coast.
• Provide guests with a leaflet encouraging them to be green. This leaflet will be soon online, with a link from this page
• attend sustainability seminars and constantly re-appraise how we can improve our green record
  

Looking forward
It is our intention over the next year to continue greening our business. Our targets for the medium and long term are;

• To build on our walking, cycling and outdoor pages, to encourage guests to become involved in sustainable activities while in Cornwall on holiday.
• To continue building on the Day Trips by Train database.
• To build into the new site we are currently developing more options for sustainability, including a woodburning heating system, and an underground tank for ground water storage.
• To replace all old appliances with more energy efficient ones, once they are no longer usable.
• To landscape to provide flowers all the year round to put in the carriages, and to move increasingly to perrenial planting.
• To develop our Green Links page.
  
  
  
  

  Railholiday is commited to being a sustainable tourism business. As part of this we offer a £25 cashback for guests arriving by train. Our carriages in St Germans have the added benefit of free broadband internet access.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  Contact Railholiday by email at office@railholiday.co.uk or by phone on (+44) 01503 230783. © Copyright 2012