By William Coleman
A fantastic new scheme is under way at a Cornwall park. They are helping save and preserve the environment by introducing freecycling to their site.
At the end of every holiday there is always a ton of things that I simply cannot be bothered to take home with me, lazy I know. Something that I am sure a lot of people do towards the latter days of the holiday season. This has been picked up on by Newquay’s Hendra Holiday Park and they are really doing something about it.
The site is inviting guest to do more than just chuck their unwanted holiday accessories. They want anything unwanted that can be used again to be left at designated areas around their site. This way they can be reused by other guests instead of taking up at dump sites and landfills across the country.
The freecycling scheme was introduced in the 2017 summer season and there has been a great following for the idea. The things that have been left behind are all you need for a great day at the beach. Buckets and spades, beach balls, rubber rings and many other items have been left for the enjoyment any and everyone at the park.
This season saw over 3,500 guest come to the site and take part in ensuring that anything that can be reused was left for other guests. By using posters around the park to remind visitors what they can do, how they can take part and where the drop sites are.
By making sure that guest take part they are doing their part and taking responsibility for reducing the waste and pollution that a touring holiday can create. Most of, if not all of our readers do their part to leave as small of a carbon footprint as possible by being responsible tourers. And this site is taking positive steps to reduce theirs and increasing the sites charity appeal.
It is hard not to love the idea which is a win win for everyone involved. I think we can all remember the heartbreak that came with a broken bucket or snapped spade at the beach as a child. But now with this scheme you can pop to one of the drop sites and either replace it or find something better for kids.
Hendra’s general manager Matt Way has said: “Our aim was to try and reduce the number of reusable items which people bought for their holidays, but then threw away because they had no use for them back home,” he said.
“Now they can leave their unwanted but undamaged goods at one of our freecycle stations, and new guests can come along and help themselves at no cost.
“Often these families will then return the items after their stay has finished, meaning that a single item can be freecycled many times in one season.
“The take-up has been fantastic, and has also given us the opportunity to engage more closely with our visitors on Hendra’s philosophy of sustainable management,” added Matt.
This innovative scheme has not gone unnoticed and is getting a lot of attention from other accommodation providers in the region. I can see this being used a lot more by many other sites and parks across the UK in 2018.
Hendra’s investment into environment-friendly initiatives has gained it many green awards, including the Sustainable Tourism Business gold at the Visit Cornwall Tourism Awards for 2017.
Also this year, the business was named as Holiday Park of the Year for Cornwall and for South West England – and was honoured with top gold awards from VisitEngland and the AA.
More information about the park, and details about its successful efforts to protect the natural world, are published on Hendra’s website at www.hendra-holidays.com
