Over the past few years, we’ve been deeply committed to expanding our focus on the New Forest’s unique and precious environment. This hasn’t just been a mission—it’s become part of who we are. From educating both our teams and visitors about the New Forest Code, to building sustainable relationships with local partners and supporting the incredible work of Love the Forest, every step we take is about giving back to the landscape that inspires us.
Our dedication doesn’t stop there. To honour and celebrate our ongoing initiatives, we’ve introduced the Green Butterfly, a powerful symbol of our promise to protect, care for, and prolong the future of our home. This emblem represents the heart of our company heritage and reflects our deep connection to the New Forest.
Wherever you see a Green Butterfly within our hotels, it signifies that thoughtful choices have been made, based on extensive research, to reduce our environmental impact. From sourcing responsibly, minimising waste, and partnering with ethical suppliers, to making small everyday changes that have a lasting effect, the butterfly unites our past, present, and future with the New Forest we treasure.
Our work continues, and with every step, we strive to leave the Forest a little better than we found it
100% Renewable Energy
Our energy is 100% offset . We have worked with a Pozitive Energy, meaning our business is able to compensate for our CO2 emissions while supporting projects which deliver a range of environmental, social, and economic benefits in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Bug Hotels
We have introduced Bug Hotels across our collection, extending the warmest hospitality to our resident insects and invertebrates. Bug Hotels are incredibly easy to create, ours are built from discarded off cuts from bushes and trees we have landscaped. The benefits of such are:
- Broaden our understanding of nature
- Many of your garden’s pollinators are solitary insects like butterflies, moths, ladybugs and solitary bees. These insects do not live in colonies and must find a warm, dry space to build their nests and to hibernate over the winter.
- They can be beautiful works of art that enhance the appearance of your garden as well as being functional.
Ditching Pens for Recylced Pallets
Where possibly we are keen to reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic used in our venues, that’s why we’re ditching our pens for recycled pencils, made from old pallets. Giving the pallets a new lease of life, whilst serving the needs of our hotels, well what could be better.
Eco-friendly carbon-neutral air fresheners
Installed across our collection, the Phs Airscent Eco, are an eco-friendly, carbon-neutral alternative to plug-in or non-biodegradable gels or silicone scents. Using natural airflow to disperse your choice of fragrance.
- Battery free and silent operation
- Fully recyclable with organic central core
- Aerosol and liquid free
- Certified carbon neutral and VOC* exempt
Love the Forest
As proud members of the New Forest community , protecting our home remains one of our top priorities, but so too does guest educations. Love the Forest is a Charity helping fund incredible works in conservation, education and volunteering projects throughout the National Park. We ask guests to actively donate £1 of their stay to Love the Forest and in doing so have raised over £90,000 in the last eleven years.
Beehives at Bartley Lodge
In the summer of 2022, two beehives were installed in Bartley Lodge’s beautiful landscaped grounds. The introduction of bees has allowed us to maintain our wonderful garden walls and flowerbeds, whilst supporting the New Forest’s eco-system.
- Bees are critical to agriculture and growing food
- 90% of wild plants rely on pollinators like bees to survive and thrive
Bird Boxes
Given England’s temperamental climate, the installation of 60 bird boxes across four venues has generated necessary shelter for a number of birds native to the New Forest. They also offer wonderful entertainment to our guests whilst enjoying a light bite on the terrace or nature watching from a window.
Compost Bins
Recognising waste as a large environmental and economical stumbling block within the hospitality industry has seen us begin introducing compost bins across our collection. The benefits of such are:
- Improving soil health
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
- Recycling nutrients
- Mitigating the impact of droughts
Recycled Doormats
Welcoming our guests with our New Forest Hospitality extends far beyond a friendly face and personalised service at New Forest Hotels. With the introduction of welcome mats made from recycled fishing nets, we greet our guests with our sustainable values from the offset.
Linen and Towel Reuse
Linen & towel reuse programs offer our guests the option to reuse their linens and towels more than once. This allows us to reduce our water, energy, labour, detergent and sheet/towel replacement use, bettering our environmental contribution.
- Lower water and electrical use from washers and dryers
- Less wear on towels from the washing machine
- Less hours spent on housekeeping
Plant-based Toiletries
Found in all bedrooms and public bathrooms, our 100% recycled, plant-based toiletries are supplied by Care About Earth. A passionate organisation determined to reduce their environmental impact whilst delivering the highest quality products for our guests to enjoy.
- Recycled cardboard packaging
- Recyclable paper
- Recyclable stone-paper packaging
- Plant-based raw materials
- 100% bio-sourced
- Refillable packaging
- Do not use ingredient with animal origin
Enzyme-based Cleaning solutions
Utilising concentrated enzyme-based cleaning solutions within the kitchens and public areas reduces the need for excessive water transportation from production to end-use, whilst enzyme-based solutions break down the dirt molecules and poor smells, rather than terminate the bacteria.
Refillable Water
Refillable still and sparkling water bottles are available in all bedrooms throughout the hotel collection; reducing the use of single-use plastics.
Volunteering
Team members from Bartley Lodge and Central Office joined a volunteering group alongside the New Forest National Park in chopping nuisance birch trees to make way for heathland growth. Volunteering sessions are available throughout the year and we urge anyone interested to visit https://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/communities/volunteer/
Ranger Showcase with Erika Dovey
We take our responsibility to educate our guests on how to safely adventure the New Forest extremely seriously and this begins with ensuring our team members have the necessary tools to do so. South Ranger Erika Dovey joined our team members during autumn to ensure our knowledge of the National Park was top notch, including sharing the New Forest Code and putting to bed any myths which may have cropped up throughout the years.
New Forest Marque
Committed to sourcing ingredients from as close a radius as possible and more importantly sustainably, our entire collection is recognised by the New Forest Marque for championing local produce on our menus. From picked-that-morning vegetables, freshly caught fish from in-shore day boats, free-range meat from local farms and eggs from happy hens, we’re so pleased to be able to support small artisan producers and their families.
New Forest & Hampshire County Show
During the summer, we were pleased to support the New Forest & Hampshire County Show in sponsoring the Local Produce Area and Countryside Area Kitchen. It was a brilliant day celebrating all things New Forest and welcoming its prosperity for many years to come. Our chefs demonstrated the taste of the season alongside many other talented personnel. We also supported the New Forest Marque by distributing Local Produce Guides to passers by.
Supplier Visits
Understanding the journey our dishes is incredibly important to us, as the heritage and traditions which guide many of techniques used by our partners are what makes New Forest produce truly one of a kind. We have had the privilege of visiting the Commoner’s Larder, New Forest Spirits, New Forest Shortbread, New Forest Fruit and many more local businesses, with many featuring within our Forest to Fork series, which can be found here
Electric Vehicle Charging
Harnessing sustainable travel is incredibly important to us, especially given our unique New Forest location. EV charge points can be found across our collection. Each hotel, excluding Burley Manor has a BP Pulse and a BP pulse (50KW). Burley Manor has a 13-amp champing point, perfect for intermittent charging. All electric car charge points are chargeable.
Electric Maintenance Van
As our Maintenance Team tour the New Forest daily, it was only right we lead by example with our Electric Maintenance Van. Give the team a wave if you drive by, you won’t miss it’s electric green design.
The Queen’s Green Canopy
In celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, we planted a number of trees across our collection. Shingle Oak, Whitebeam & Cherry Trees.
Biodegradable Coffee Pods
Given the increasing awareness regarding harmful coffee pods and their inevitable ending in landfill, we have introduced biodegradable coffee pods to Burley Manor. The main raw materials used are starch, glucose, vegetable fibres, inorganic filler materials, and biodegradable additives
Lawns to Meadows
In 2020, we ditched our lawns for meadows in the gardens of Burley Manor and Bartley Lodge to encourage insects, invertebrates and birds to interact with the land.