In the garden we ….

… have removed 5 mature ‘at risk’ trees, but have planted 25 young native trees, and we are trying to establish mixed native hedging and a small orchard!

… do not use slug pellets, rat/mouse poison or weedkiller

… collect and season fir cones to use as fire starters for the stove (please don’t use fresh cones from the lawn to burn as they contain too much moisture and tar which can harm the chimney)

… provide bird food for guests to fill the feeders, and have created log piles and a pond for wildlife.  We have been trying to establish a meadow for bees (without much success), and are planting bee and butterfly friendly plants.  We provide variety of nuts to encourage red squirrels.


... we will install whisky barrel water butts to eliminate using mains water for the garden.

Self Catering Cottage, near Tomintoul  in the Scottish Highlands 

If you have any other suggestions to make Lagganvoulin greener, please let us know! (PS. Solar panels due next year hopefully!)

We are trying to reduce our impact on the environment in the following ways:

Welcome to ​Lagganvoulin

Our Energy Performance Rating is 66 (a high D)

In the house we ….

… try to use low energy bulbs (some exceptions)

… have switched our electric supply to 100% renewable source (at some additional cost to ourselves so please switch lights off!!)

… have turned down the thermostat on the hot water tank

… have installed NEST which stops the boiler heating an empty house

…only make up the required number of beds to reduce laundry

… never tumble dry bed linen  (it is all line or pulley dried)

… ask you to set aside any unused towels so that they are not washed unnecessarily

…. encourage and make provision for re-cycling

 … have replaced old windows and sky-lights with high quality double glazed units and have insulated the entire roof to reduce fuel usage

… replace old electrical appliances with a minimum of A-rated energy use

… provide recycled or sustainable toilet roll and kitchen roll and use re-cycled stationary


... provide biodegradable bamboo dishwashing cloths, loofah scourers and natural wood/bristle brushes

… have used and provided Ecover laundry and dishwashing products.  Ecover have recently been taken over by Johnston&Johnston, so we have found an alternative. Bio-D are a British company who produce ethical, environmentally friendly and hypoallergenic products.  We now provide their handwash and washing–up liquid and will swop over to their other products as our Ecover stock runs down.  We buy on bulk and top up with pump action dispensers.

….  we have swopped our cleaning products from individual use chemical sprays, to re-fillable, environmentally friendly (plant based) products from another British company called Eco.3.  These allow us to re-use our spray bottles.

… we have started using Muck Munchers in our septic tank to reduce the amount of waste needing to be collected by tanker.  We also use environmentally friendly bleach for the toilet which does not reduce the efficiency of the septic tank, or affect wildlife from the soak-away

… swop to heavy curtains on windows and doors in the winter months