Green Tourism Business Scheme

Sustainability is at the heart of all that Historic Scotland does.  Within Properties in Care we conserve and maintain monuments a across Scotland to ensure they will be enjoyed by future generations.

As part of our commitment to sustainability and green issues most of our staffed sites are assessed under the Green Tourism Business Scheme, the leading sustainable tourism certification scheme in the UK.  This scheme assesses members against a rigorous set of criteria awarding Gold, Silver and bronze awards as appropriate.  At the end of 2008, 65 of our properties were assessed under this scheme and were awarded 46 gold awards, 18 silver awards and a single bronze.

The assessment focuses on a range of areas including waste management, energy usage, procurement and biodiversity.  We undertake sustainable practice where possible across all activities in our estate.  We also encourage visitors to our properties to use public transport where possible.  Details of routes to our properties can be found on TravelineScotland.

Policies and Statements

All our properties within the scheme are individually assessed, however there are a number of policies and statements which are true for all our sites.  These are:

• Historic Scotland Environmental Policy and
  
  
• our Sustainable Purchasing Policy

Our Catering Policy ensures our caterers work in a manner which minimises the impact on the environment, including, but not limited to:

• The efficient use of energy;
• The use of biodegradable cleaning materials;
• The recycling of waste, including cans, bottles and plastic cups; and
• The purchase of recycled items, when available.

Scottish Government: Integrating Sustainable Development into Procurement of Food and Catering Services [pdf, 295kb]