Policy

Wildlands is set on 20 acres of woodland in Ballyquirke, Moycullen, Co. Galway. Wildlands is situated at the gateway to Connemara overlooking Ballyquirke Lough. We are very proud of the beautiful west coast of Ireland where we are located, and we encourage our guests to engage in their surroundings here. As such, it is in our best interest that we actively maintain and improve our environment.

We recognise the impact our operations have on the environment and are committed to identifying and minimising any detrimental effects that may occur. We care for the flora and fauna of Moycullen and Connemara we will continually strive to improve our environmental practices in a range of areas including energy, waste management and water usage.

We have implemented a variety of green initiatives, including proper waste separation, waste reduction, energy conservation, recycling, renewable energy usage, managing and decreasing our carbon output.

GREEN INITIATIVES

Team trained and briefed on our environmental policies and best practices implemented. We have an internal Environmental Officer who holds regular meetings with representatives from all departments in this regard (our “Green Team”).
Team encouraged and rewarded for promoting, suggesting, and implementing new environmental best practices.
In May 2023 we installed a 58.80kWp PV solar panel system which comprises over a third of our main building’s roof. This installation will lead to a significant reduction in our carbon footprint - we will receive almost 27% of our annual energy from the sun after the installation.
Energy efficient lighting in in place throughout the main building (2500 sqm) and in our 14 self-catering cabins. Motion sensors for lighting used inside the main building and in the cabins.
Energy efficient windows used throughout all buildings.
Our food packaging in our food outlets (Olive Tree Kitchen and Wildlands Wagon) is compostable and eco-friendly, except for our roast containers, which are recyclable. We work with our suppliers to reduce unnecessary packaging.
Shampoo, conditioner and body wash in our cabins transitioned from recyclable containers to wall mounted dispensers in April 2024.
Recycle program for paper, metal, plastic, glass, polystyrene, and food waste.
Vegetable garden on site is planted and maintained on organic principles, eliminating the use of all unnatural and harmful fertilizers.
We compost all applicable waste in our kitchen, restaurant, food offerings, cabins, staff room and offices.
Coffee grounds, eggshells and tea leaves are separated, and our Head Baker uses this waste for worm comporting purposes, creating nutrient rich clean compost which we use on-site.
Use of produce from our vegetable garden in our kitchens.
Our food outlets are completely free of single-use plastics.
We have a zero-waste policy in our food outlets. Traditional homemade cooking methods are used. Weekly checks and management of food bin weights to ensure that this policy continues.
Our food is sourced from local producers thereby reducing carbon footprint, and impact on the environment. Meat, fresh fish, salads, eggs, and cheeses are from the locality. As much produce as possible is sourced from small artisan producers.
Organic food and beverage options are used where available and applicable.
We have bins in all 14 self-catering cabins to encourage our guests to separate their waste also. The bins have clearly marked compartments for recycling and general waste. We have guest information in our cabins to invite our guests to help us with waste separation.
Our annual “Wildlands Winter Wonderland” Christmas event gifts all children with sustainable eco-friendly toys. We have a no plastic gift policy for this event which gifts thousands of children each year.
We have digitalised how we work across the majority of our departments, and we aim to be a 90% paperless work environment by mid 2024.
We have planted native trees throughout to create strong habitats for birds and other wildlife.
We use water efficient taps in our main building (2500 sqm), showers, and toilets and we use towel and linen reuse programmes for our self-catering cabins as well as recycling and composting programmes throughout the business.
Since our inception we have, and we continue to engage with, local expert environmental consultants. These experts carried extensive Natural Impact Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessments on our behalf and our location was strategically chosen to avoid any disruption to the natural woodland in the area.
Significant parts of our main building and all self-catering cabins were constructed using sustainable timber frame methods.
All landscaping at Wildlands uses native species to the area.
We moved to digital business cards, removing circa 5000 cards annually across the business.

ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS

We are committed to reducing our environmental impact through better efficiencies in the use of energy and the minimisation of waste, packaging, and water usage.
We have set ourselves reduction targets for reduction of landfill and food waste and water and electricity usage in each key area in our business and are actively working with our Team and guests on reaching these goals.
We raise awareness with our colleagues and provide environmental impact and reductions training for our team to meet our collective environmental objectives.
We never stop exploring ways to minimize the use of energy, water, and raw materials.
We comply with local and national government environmental legislations, plans and policies.
Engage our guests, suppliers, team members and partners in our efforts to protect the environment.

WASTE REDUCTION AND SEPARATION

A recycling and composting program for paper, metal, plastic, glass, polystyrene, and food waste is implemented across our business.
We segregate all our bins into three sections: General, Recycling and Compostable. All staff have been trained in this.
All staff have been trained in waste separation to ensure that any waste produced is disposed of correctly, reducing the volume going to landfill.
We have a zero-waste policy in our food outlets. Traditional homemade cooking methods are used. Weekly checks and management of food bin weights to ensure that this policy continues.
Our food packaging in our food outlets (Olive Tree Kitchen and Wildlands Wagon) is compostable and eco-friendly, except for our roast containers, which are recyclable. We work with our suppliers to reduce unnecessary packaging.
We compost all applicable waste in our kitchen, restaurant, food offerings, cabins and offices.
Coffee grounds, eggshells and tea leaves are separated, and our Head Baker uses this waste for worm comporting purposes, creating nutrient rich clean compost which we use on-site.
Vegetable garden on site is planted and maintained on organic principles, eliminating the use of all unnatural and harmful fertilizers.
Use of produce from our vegetable garden in our kitchens.
Our food is sourced from local producers thereby reducing carbon footprint, and impact on the environment. Meat, fresh fish, salads, eggs, and cheeses are from the locality. As much produce as possible is sourced from small artisan producers.
Organic food and beverage options are used where available and applicable.
Our food outlets are completely free of single-use plastics.
We have bins in all our 14 self-catering cabins to encourage our guests to separate their waste also. The bins have clearly marked compartments for recycling and general waste. We have guest information in our cabins to invite our guests to help us with waste separation.
We have a staff uniform return process which helps us to reduce waste.
Lost property is recycled with local charities where possible.
Second hand business equipment is sold off to reduce waste.

WATER REDUCTION

Reducing our water usage and waste generation are a huge priority for us. We understand that excessive water is a huge energy drain, and as we endeavour to continuously reduce our carbon footprint.

We use water efficient taps in our main building, showers, and toilets and we use towel and linen reuse programmes for our self-catering cabins as well as recycling and composting programmes throughout the business.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

We have set ourselves high standards of energy efficiency. We have implemented many strategies to reduce our energy consumption and we are always looking to reduce and improve our energy usage wherever we can.

In May 2023 we installed a 58.80kWp PV solar panel system which comprises over a third of our main building’s roof. This installation will lead to a significant reduction in our carbon footprint - we will receive almost 27% of our annual energy from the sun after the installation.
As our building is new (2020) all lightbulbs are long-lasting, high grade LED bulbs, we also have motion sensor lights throughout the main building, in the self-catering cabins and in the back of house areas to reduce unnecessary energy usage.
Our building and our cabins have thermostats that can be independently changed to regulate the temperature. This ensures there is no excessive usage or issue with the heating system. We regularly monitor heat usage across the entire business - whole areas can be shut down during quieter periods, thus reducing our energy usage.

LOCAL PRODUCE

Vegetable garden on site is planted and maintained on organic principles, eliminating the use of all unnatural and harmful fertilizers.
Use of produce from our vegetable garden in our kitchens.
Our food is sourced from local producers thereby reducing carbon footprint, and impact on the environment. Meat, fresh fish, salads, eggs, and cheeses are from the locality. As much produce as possible is sourced from small artisan producers.
Organic food and beverage options are used where available and applicable.

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

We support environmentally sustainable tourism by our guests.

Bike racks available for Team and guests.
Bike to work scheme for Team.
We educate our guests on the local flora and fauna through our activities including bushcraft.
We have a range of picnic packages for our guests to avail of and packaging used is compostable.
By 2024 we will have electric charging points available on site for use by all types of electric cars in our main parking area to encourage further use of electric cars.
Our annual “Wildlands Winter Wonderland” Christmas event gifts all children with sustainable eco-friendly toys. We have a no plastic gift policy for this event which gifts thousands of children each year.
Sustainable supply chain is of huge importance to us. We strive to partner with companies who have similar ethos to ours, and have sustainability at the forefront of their business.

NATURAL WILDLIFE AND HABITATS

Our entire site is abundant with natural flora and wildflowers to help the productivity of pollination.
We grow our own vegetables in our vegetable garden on site without the use of pesticides and herbicides.
We have planted native trees throughout to create strong habitats for birds and other wildlife.
We are increasing our pollinator friendly planting.
We run litter picks in our surrounds.
Wildlands’ location was strategically chosen to avoid any disruption to the natural woodland in the area.
Since our inception we have, and we continue to engage with, local expert environmental consultants. These experts carried extensive Natural Impact Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessments on our behalf and our location was strategically chosen to avoid any disruption to the natural woodland in the area.
Significant parts of our main building and all 14 of our self-catering cabins were constructed using sustainable timber frame methods.
Our activities including our main outdoor attractions, Zip ‘n’ Trek and Zip ‘n’ Trek Junior, along with our playground and our Jeeps course, were mainly built using sustainable timber.
All landscaping at Wildlands uses native species to the area.
All outdoor park lights are directed down to ensure no light pollution.

GUEST FEEDBACK

Guest feedback is important in helping us maintain and improve our products and services, including our environmental practices. We encourage all guests to give us feedback via a number of forums including online surveys.

RESPONSIBLE MARKETING

We use web-based marketing activities as much as possible and we do not use mailshots. We keep in contact with regular consenting customers through the use of e-zines. We minimize the printing of brochures and leaflets.
We moved to digital business cards, removing circa 5000 cards annually across the business.
We encourage all teams to technology such as MS Teams to reduce travel where possible.

MEMBERSHIPS

We are members of The Green Hospitality Programme – the only Irish developed environmental certification standard for the hospitality sector. The programme uses criteria recognised by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. The Green Hospitality.ie awards are recognised nationally and internationally as standards that allow members achieve good environmental performance and allow visitors to choose “Greener” hospitality businesses knowing that defined criteria are being implemented and monitored.

We are working towards ‘Gold Standard’ certification that espouses the highest standards possible.

OUR FUTURE OBJECTIVES

To further reduce our energy usage.
To further reduce our waste generation.
To increase our planting of native trees throughout our business.
For our work environment across all departments be 90% paperless by mid 2024.
To have electric charging points available on site for use by all types of electric cars in our main parking area to encourage further use of electric cars by end 2024.
To continue to work with Green Hospitality Ireland and our aim is to be certified as ‘Gold Standard’, a certification that espouses the highest standards possible.