By William Coleman
As touring holiday makers we are responsible for the effects our leisure time has on the environment, as are the companies that provide us the locations that we love to visit. This Cumbrian holiday park is encouraging guests to take a greener approach to doing the dishes to help reduce impact on water wastage.
It is estimated that 95% of the dishes washed on site are done by men, good going gents, but it would seem they are going to get a bit of a hall pass at the Lake District holiday park Skelwith Fold.
So what has happened here then? Well this dish cleaning reprieve has been put in place by the Ambleside business who are providing its touring guests access, for free, to their automatic dishwasher which takes just five minutes to clean and dry a full load.
This new dishwasher has been designed for the caravan and motorhome user. The all new super fast machine has now become a familiar site across a lot of sites and parks across mainland Europe.
According to the Dutch manufacturers of the “Easy Be” dishwasher Skelwith Fold are the UK’s first park to have the new eco friendly machine.
It means that the party’s official washer-upper can now jettison the J-cloth in favour of a cup of coffee while technology takes over the toil.
But according to Skelwith Fold director Henry Wild, the benefits of the machine are measured not just in terms of pulling the plug on sinks-full of dirty dishes:
“The dishwasher provides a substantial saving in the volume of water used and the energy consumed when compared with doing the job by hand,” he said.
“This is very important to us as a business because we are constantly striving to minimise our impact on the environment in a raft of different ways.
“We estimate that our touring guests carry out at least 40,000 washing-up sessions every year, so the potential for cutting our electricity and water consumption is enormous.
“In addition, machine washing is shown to be more hygienic – and there’s another bonus in being able to use those five minutes for socialising instead of splashing about in suds!” added Henry.
Anyone who has a dishwasher at home knows that although it may be easier it is by no means quicker or more cost effective. Once you add the water, soap and electricity costs it can be quite a costly way to do the dishes. This new Dutch tech allows your cups, plates, bowls and cutlery to go through a thorough cleaning and dry cycle in a much quicker time than your domestic appliance.
Its dishwashers are even connected to the internet, and able to self-diagnose any issues, find the solution on-line, and alert the park about any attention they need.
Users of Skelwith Fold’s premium pitches are given free tokens for the machine, and others pay just £1.00 to swap the sink for a swifter and less soggy experience.
Skelwith Fold’s commitment to the natural world has for over fifteen successive years earned it the prestigious David Bellamy Conservation Award at its top gold level.
The park was also crowned two years ago as Lakeland’s top holiday park in the Cumbria Tourism Awards when it took the overall top spot in the competition.
In addition to 150 pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes, Skelwith Fold provides luxury glamping pods, safari tents, and holiday homes to own.
There is more information about Skelwith Fold on its website at www.skelwith.coml
