Puxton Park Tourist Attraction, located in Hewish, near Weston-super-Mare, makes changes to help the current climate emergency.
Climate change is a known issue and the UK government has a target to become ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030.
Managing Director of Puxton Park, Alistair Mead, says “It’s important to help where we can. In addition to the thousands of trees on site, we will be planting another 2,500 trees and shrubs this winter to help the UK against the climate emergency.”
According to the Woodland Trust, the best weapon against the climate emergency is trees. Woodland and forests absorb atmospheric carbon and store for centuries through photosynthesis. With just 13% of the UK’s land area is covered in trees, compared with the EU average of 37%.
Lower or no emission vehicles, an increase in recycling methods and the installation of solar panels have been the focus across the UK in an effort to slow down the effects of climate change.
Alistair says, “We have already made changes within the Park through introducing new eco-friendly compostable food packaging in The Meadows Restaurant and our newly refurbished Clover Café to make sure we can recycle as much as possible.”
Puxton Park is continually committed to sustainability and improving its environmental management on and around the park.
Another exciting project that Puxton Park is undertaking is the installation of a 10-megawatt solar park on its land. This solar park will power over 3,000 homes annually (based on an average annual consumption of 3,300kWh of electricity per household).
Around 50% of the Park is run from solar energy, with panels lining the farm shop, dairy barn and cheese factory roofs.
The Park’s reception building is covered in a living, green roof. The sedum planted there in 2007 is incredibly absorbent and grows in shallow matts layered across it. This system dramatically reduces rainfall run-off because the water is collected by the plants and drained more slowly, which helps to prevent flash flooding. It also filters pollutants, creates a wildlife friendly space, protects the roof materials from weathering and frost and even works as insulation, reducing energy costs.
The onsite dairy farm is certified organic, which helps reduce chemical pollution and encourages native wildlife to flourish around the Park.
Puxton Park has also been recognised for their efforts to source local and fair-trade products and services, to reduce energy and offset the Park’s carbon footprint.
With an average of 250,000 visitors per year, Puxton Park can make a firm contribution towards improving the climate emergency by making these changes to their business practices and substantially reducing their carbon footprint.
