Green Fields

Do you worry that the hotel room you’ve booked hasn’t been fitted out with low-consumption loos, alternative energy sources or have an active policy on recycling, re-using and composting? Are you swapping low-cost flights for gentle train journeys and off grid-getaways?

Even if you’re more worried about how well stocked the mini bar is, it’s undeniable that a stay in a hotel, or a quick getaway to the Maldives can impact not just your wallet but the beaches you are craving.

There is another way.

Staycations are not a new thing. But what is becoming more tempting, and more justifiable to spend those hard-earned wages on, is the cornucopia of festivals and events that pepper every weekend of our UK summer. Over 18,000 listed on Eventbrite alone in 2018. Safari tents, Bedouin, vintage, pod pad or tipis, there is a luxury tent to suit any far-flung location you aren’t going to.

If staying more grass roots is your thing, then you are in the right place.

But not all festivals are created equal. Glastonbury this year was the first festival to ban single use plastic. And the stories of tents being pitched and then left are well documented. An estimated 250,000 tents are abandoned at music festivals across the UK every year, amounting to 900 tonnes of plastic waste going into landfill. A depressing carbon footprint for a back-to-nature pursuit.

Even brilliant new technology from Dutch company Kartent won’t be enough to raise your eco credentials. They are partnering with festivals around the world to pre-pitch tents made from 100% recyclable cardboard. According to the website, these “will stay dry with some showers for sure”. Needless to say they are only currently available to book at festivals outside the UK.

We think the greenest approach is also the oldest. Yurts, bell tents and wooden suites. Built using sustainable, traditional materials such as larch and canvas, they are designed to last. Each of our yurts will have toured the UK to hundreds of festivals, and will have provided luxurious, comfortable and warm 5* star accommodation to over 20,000 guests. That is a lot of disposable tents not in landfill.

Once you stay in a yurt or bell tent you can see why they are the perfect nomadic, eco home. Cool in the summer, warm in the winter. Awesome for chilling at festivals. Perfect for creating low impact, sustainable experiences for savvy adventurers.

It’s not just the place you lay your head that matters. Baby wipes. Long a camping staple are the scourge of the UK coastline, whilst synthetic or down filled sleeping bags also score poorly from an environmental or welfare perspective. Stay in one of our ensuite-huts or Bedouin bell tents and the wipe will seem a little superfluous when visiting our luxury bathhouse and two-decked spa, hot tubs and treatment rooms. Built to last and fired by sustainably-sourced wood burning stoves. It’s easy to see why glamping really is green.

Reports last year suggested that tourism contributes around 8% of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions, a figure they expect to grow by 130% by 2035. If we can offer a wild setting, perfect location and a boutique luxury camping experience mixed with delicious ayurvedic dishes, summery cocktails and more entertainment than Butlins can shake a stick at, then why go abroad?

And if food or boutique festivals are your thing then you are in for a treat. There are now more than 200 gin festivals in the UK, whilst food-related events have quadrupled from 2014 to 2018. With over a quarter of UK adults attending a music festival in the last year alone, the hottest tickets in town are those right on your doorstep.