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We have a variety of green gifts that are a great way to show your friends and family that you are thinking about them while helping look after the landscape, wildlife and environment too!
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Buy local
Giving your customers a taste of real Cumbria will provide them with a memorable experience. Offering local goods and services is a great way to satisfy your visitors.
Food & Drink
By choosing local foods you are not only giving the customer a unique experience, you are also supporting the local economy, providing local employment and reducing your carbon footprint.
Traditional food crafts can provide important jobs for the local community making the area prosperous. Furthermore these traditions need preserving and by continuing to promote these, you can help keep these in practice and treasure our local heritage.
Food miles are a key issue within the service industry. Buying locally helps reduce the distance your food has to travel, which in turn reduces carbon emissions from transportation.
Where possible, your business should buy food direct from local suppliers or farmers. The quality of their produce is often better and you can be sure that you are giving them a fair price for their goods. If this is not a possibility for your business then Fair Trade products are the next best option. You can rest assured that farmers are being paid and treated fairly.
Promoting Local Specialties
If you provide self catering accommodation, give your guests information about where they can buy local produce. Recommend farmers markets or small, locally owned grocery stores. Your guests will get a much more unique experience visiting a local business and the quality of the produce is often much better.
Crafts
Traditional crafts can make a perfect holiday memento. Consider displaying the work of local craftsmanship and sell them at your establishment. You could also advertise craft and arts events or exhibitions to encourage visitors to engage with local artisans. This can help maintain traditions and keep craftsmen in business.
Retailing local goods to your visitors can be a valuable addition to your own income and a value added service that visitors really appreciate.
Sustainable Procurement
- Think about growing your own vegetables
- Join a local food and drink association
- Buy local drinks, meat, fish, fruit and vegetables
- Buy direct from farmer or producer, use farmers markets for local produce
- Buy and sell local craft products
- Buy Fair Trade products
- Buy in bulk for less packaging (you can do this by collaborating with another business when purchasing goods)
- Use recycled paper (toilets and office)
