As a wetland conservation charity, sustainability means making the best use of our resources while minimising our impacts on the environment and society.
Sustainability has always been at the heart of what we do and played a key role when Sir Peter Scott founded WWT. It was his belief that we all have a responsibility to care for the natural environment so that future generations can continue to enjoy it.
At Caerlaverock we follow the waste hierarchy by reducing, reusing, recycling and composting waste wherever we can. We have a wildlife garden and a reed bed filtration system for cleaning our wastewater.
Our sustainable practices
Find out about the practices we have adopted at Caerlaverock to be more sustainable and discover some ideas you can put into practice at home.
All the electricity that we use on our sites is from renewable sources, made by wind turbines or solar panels. You could buy renewable electricity at home.
Most of our lighting is energy efficient LED lighting. This means we are using less electricity so generating less climate changing carbon emissions. We are replacing others as the bulbs fail. You could do the same with the light bulbs that are used the most in your house.
We turn everything off at the plug when not in use. This includes the ‘standby’ lights on computers. Save energy and money by doing the same at home.
Our building is insulated with eco-friendly insulation made from newspaper.
We use electric power tools on our reserves instead of petrol ones where we can. These are quieter for wildlife, reduce the risk of oil spills (pollution) and produce less greenhouse gases.
This energy reduction means our 2019 site building carbon footprint was 34% less than in 2014.
Many of our taps and toilets are water saving. You can help at home by saving water when brushing your teeth, putting a plug in the sink when washing up or having quick showers not long baths.
All the cleaning products that we use are environmentally friendly reducing the impact on the water environment. You could use environmentally friendly cleaning products at home.
We have a Sustainable Drainage System (SuD) in our car park, natural features that allow water to flow slowly back into the ground reducing flooding and creating habitat for wildlife. You could do the same at home, changing solid surfaces in your garden or drive with grass or special surfaces that let the water through.
The dirty water (poo and pee!) from our buildings is treated on site in a wetland treatment system which uses plants to clean the water, creates habitat for wildlife and means that we don’t have to use energy to pump this water off site to a sewage treatment works.
The rain water from our roof gutters is diverted into ponds for wildlife. You could try something similar at home.
As well as all our ponds, gardens and green space, we also have bird boxes, bird feeders and insect houses around our sites. You could have a bird box, bird feeder or insect house in your garden or on your windowsill. You may even be able to make a mini pond in your garden or yard.
We have green roofs on some of our buildings including some of our bird hides – creating habitat and food for wildlife and providing great insulation for our buildings.
We reduce, reuse, recycle and compost vegetable waste on the site. You can recycle at home and try to buy things with less packaging (reduce). If you have a garden or allotment you could have a small compost bin there for vegetable and fruit waste or your council may collect food waste.
Many of our benches and bins around the site are made from recycled plastic (using the plastics we throw away to make something new).
We’re taking action on pollution causing single use plastic. We don’t sell water or soft drinks in plastic bottles in our restaurants, instead we will refill your refillable water bottle or sell things in more easily recyclable cans, cartons or glass bottles. We don’t provide plastic straws. We don’t sell plastic carrier bags in our shops. You could bring in your refillable water bottle when visiting the centre!
All of the wood that we use on our sites for making things like fences and benches is from carefully managed forests that protect wildlife and plant more trees to replace what has been taken.
We sell things in our shops to encourage wildlife friendly living and learning.
Our takeaway cups are made from plant based materials but its better to use a reuseable cup for hot drinks and we give a discount for this. Why not bring your own when buying a coffee at the centre?
Our membership magazine is wrapped in packaging made from plants and will break down in your home compost bin.
Where we have to print things, we only use paper made from 100% recycled paper and our leaflets are all printed using vegetable inks.
The paper towels to dry your hands in our toilets are all made from 100% recycled paper.
We have covered bike racks and provide bike pumps and bicycle repair kits if you need them.
Our site is on Cycle Route 7 and information on these car free routes is on our website.
You could cycle into the centre or take a bus from Dumfries. You will also get a 15% discount on admissions.
Electric vehicle charge point: We have two charge points installed at Caerlaverock. We monitor their use and associated income and carbon savings. The charge points are on the Podpoint network. You will need to download the Podpoint app onto your smartphone to be able to use them. You cannot pay for their use at the site.
