Our Ethos & Climate
Our no-airs and graces, come in your muddy boots attitude has created a wonderful, uniquely casual yet warm environment, where laughter is encouraged. Our family-style hospitality and wholesome atmosphere means that when you visit us, to stay or just to eat, you’ll be welcomed into the fold and feel part of The Yan clan in no time!
Read on to find out the sustainability initiatives we have implemented here at The Yan.
The Climate
Being surrounded by stunning landscape, we are all too aware of how important it is to protect our precious part of the world and the wider planet. That is why being environmentally conscious is embedded within our DNA, without sacrificing our guest experience.
Food & Drink
We are very lucky to live in a part of the world that creates some of the best produce in the country. We support local producers and suppliers by creating menus that are seasonal which allows us to keep our food miles to a minimum. In recent years we have also been growing and generating as much of our own produce as possible. This is something that we are continuing to develop as we strive towards carbon neutrality. Here is a full list of our food and drink eco-initiatives:
Our menus are as seasonal as possible so we can use as many local producers and suppliers to reduce our food miles.
We encourage pre-ordering where possible to reduce food waste. Read more here..
Our mindful menu is carbon calculated to give our guests all the information the need for a choice that is right for them. Click here for our figures
We return boxes and packaging to our suppliers to reuse. Bits we can’t, we recycle or put into the compost.
You may see our ducks and chickens wandering about on the farm - all the eggs produced by these beauties get used on the farm.
Will, Sally and some of the other team members have worked hard in recent years on our veggie patch. We grow lots of delicious, seasonal fruit and veg here on the farm, and so do our team at their homes too! From gooseberries for one of our delicious syrups, pears on your chocolate mousse or beetroot on your soup, we love using our own produce.
All of our meat comes from within the county. Our lamb is literally from just beyond the doorstep. It comes from here or the farm across the road. It doesn’t get more local than that!
We use our local brewery, Grasmere Brewery for all of our beer, and some of our gins and vodka. They donate all of their hops to local farmers which they then use for feed.
All compostable food waste is composted and used in our gardens.
All of our cooking oil is returned, cleaned and then reused.
We don’t use any single use plastic, even the water for your packed lunch is in a cardboard carton!
All of our cleaning chemicals and washing detergents are eco friendly, we use a KOH cleaning system, an eco-certified universal cleaner with no harsh chemicals.
Gardens
We ensure that we use our gardens as a tool to help increase biodiversity whilst bringing joy to our guests! Here are some of our climate-conscious gardening practices:
As we mentioned above, we have started to grow our own fruit and veg on the farm!
We have tried to increase our biodiversity on the farm by not only growing a large variety of garden flowers and also by planting wildflowers in the sections of unusable land.
In the last couple of years we have introduced bees on the farm! We also have hives here at The Yan and Will has been learning apiary. The bees benefit the wider ecology of the area, pollinating our trees, flowers and plants. We hope to start producing our own honey soon too!
We do everything we can to support the local wildlife. We are big supporters of encouraging the presence of red squirrels to the area and we even have a couple on the farm currently! Do look out for them. You’ll also see bird feeders, nesting boxes and owl boxes dotted around the place too.
To water our garden, we collect all of our surface water which we use to water the hanging baskets and plants around the farm as well as keeping our ducks and chickens well and truly hydrated.
All garden waste is put back into the compost and used again in the garden.
Heating & Water
All of our heating and water systems are as eco-friendly as we can possibly make them as well as other measures to ensure we remain as energy efficient as possible:
Dave’s pride and joy is our 100kwh biomass boiler which provides the heating and hot water for the whole farm via a district heating system.
With the help of the Lake District Foundation, 2022 saw the installation of an air source heat pump to supplement the biomass boiler, alongside increasing the efficiency of our buildings with high-grade insulation and Argon filled double and triple-glazed windows.
We have replaced all open coal burners on the farm with log burners. To be as sustainable as possible, we only use and provide our guests with kiln dried hardwood and eco-firelighters, that come from local and sustainable sources.
All ash waste from our log burners and biomass boiler is put into our compost and then used on our gardens.
We have smart controls installed in all of our properties to ensure that heating is used as efficiently as possible.
All of our showers and taps have aerators/restrictors fitted reducing water usage without affecting water pressure.
The toilets all have dual flush systems.
To save water and energy we have reduced the number of baths on the farm and no hot tubs.
Electricity
Like our heating and water systems, we have implemented renewable electricity systems on the farm and have used energy-saving measures where possible:
100% of the electricity on the farm is supplied using hydroelectricity. Tongue Gill Hydro is adjacent to us on the coast-to-coast path up to Grisedale Tarn. It uses fell water to drive the turbine which creates electricity.
2023 saw the installation of three separate solar power systems, this is self-funded and installed by the awesomeEleck Energy
To be as energy-efficient as possible, we use LED lighting throughout the farm and all of our lights are on timers and sensors where possible.
We’ve moved all LPG cooking appliances to more efficient electric induction ones.
We use energy-efficient refrigerators in our properties and in our bistro.
All TVs are energy-efficient smart TVs.
Day-to-day switches
We have made lots of easy eco-switches throughout the farm. Although seemingly small, they all help to protect our planet:
We don’t use any single-use plastics on the farm. No plastic water bottles, shower caps, straws etc.
All of our cleaning products are eco-friendly with our main product being the KOH refillable system which uses 10x less plastic than regular cleaning products, is vegan and cruelty-free.
We have replaced all of our complimentary sponges and cloths with compostable alternatives.
Our " Who Gives a Crap" toilet paper is derived from bamboo and recycled products. The delivery of our toilet paper is carbon neutral and the packaging is plastic free. They also donate 50% of their profits to charity partners to bring toilets to the billions of people who need one.
We only use Pure Lakes toiletries in all of our loos and bathrooms around the farm. They are locally made using natural, biodegradable ingredients and come in fully recyclable containers that we refill.
We upcycle where we can, using waste wood to make furniture. The tables in The Yan bistro have been made this way with Dave’s fine hands!
Helping our guests
We want to ensure we set our guests up to help the environment while they are away:
Our farm recycling centre and compost bins enable our guests to help us dispose of waste responsibly. All paper and wood are shredded and used in our chicken coop. Cardboard, plastic and glass are collected by Cumbrian Waste and recycled. All our commercial waste is separated on the farm and then collected.
We provide compost bins to all of our guests. All compost waste will be added to our compost heap and used on the gardens.
We encourage guests to move around the area on sustainable transport. We provide a secure heated bike store, electric car charging points, information on walks from the door as well as information on local bus transport.
Supporting the local community and economy
Ensuring we support our local community and economy is very important to us. We use local Cumbrian suppliers and small family businesses where possible as well as supporting local charities such as Fix the Fells and Great North Air Ambulance Service. Donations can be made via a QR code in The Yan lounge, or added to your booking at check out. We also recycle all of our old appliances and furniture through our local community.
