Ben Luna Logo

OUR PLANET
Giving Back & Taking Care

“What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on”

Henry David Thoreau

We care passionately about our beautiful environment - encouraging our abundant native wildlife and birds to thrive through all seasons.

The clarity of light, the abundance of fresh air, the richness of the lush greens and purples here in the Highlands is not something we take for granted. 

The Lodge Ben Luna is 100% wood – Cedar Clad from environmentally, ethically and sustainably produced timber and is heated by a Ground Source system.

The Lodge has a band A Environmental Impact (CO2) Rating with a 95% Carbonless Emission status and LED lighting throughout.

We are extremely lucky to have so much talent in the Highlands and many of the bespoke structures and furnishings inside and outside the lodge have been made by our highly skilled craftsmen – we’d like to thank them all.

Food 
Menus are planned around seasonal and sustainable locally sourced ingredients and menus with more sustainable food options e.g. Vegetarian and Vegan are promoted.

Supporting Scottish producers is important to us and our catering team actively work with local Highland and Scottish suppliers reducing food miles and assuring quality and freshness. 

We work only with suppliers with similar values and commitment to supporting the green movement and we minimise and aim to recycle a minimum of 80% of all food waste.
 
Cleaning
Our fantastic cleaning company Topside, have recently won the Best Eco Conscious Cleaning Company from SME – Scottish Enterprise.

‘’ We provide quality Eco friendly and non-toxic cleaning services to our clients. Our customers and environment are of great importance to us so using green cleaning techniques is paramount to achieving a sustainable lifestyle free of toxins. Only environmentally responsible products are used.’’

The choice of eco cleaning products is a very important decision for our health and for the environment. Eco / green cleaning products are characterised by the composition of biodegradable elements avoiding toxic waste in our home and on the environment.

Plastic…don’t think so!
These little plastic bottles have to STOP – we provide our guests with a range of beautiful eco-friendly toiletries that are free from palm oil; animal testing, SLS and parabens.

Your bin-liners are bio-degradable and we provide recycling bins and would encourage our guests to use these efficiently.

We purchase recycled and recyclable materials at every opportunity.
 
Trees
In addition to the long established variety of trees around Ben Luna, in 2017 we planted 300 Holly trees to create a striking dense hedge and an all-year-round habitat for our wildlife. We have plans to plant a further 300 trees over 2021/22.
 
Wildlife
There’s no doubt that the natural environment has the ability to inspire people of all ages and our aim is to do just that. We encourage all our guests to get out and enjoy the wonders of the Highlands.
 
In addition to our own ‘Experiences and Activities’ we’ve compiled a list detailing the many fantastic walks that will take you on your own adventures!

Birds
I knew we had lots of birds around Ben Luna and the grounds but had no idea just how many species there were…. A recent guest and bird enthusiast kindly shared his notebook where he had recorded all he’d seen while with us….there’s 51!

  • Pheasant
  • Herring gull
  • Chaffinch
  • Carrion crow
  • Song thrush
  • Robin
  • Red-legged partridge
  • Rook
  • Jackdaw
  • Starling
  • Ring-necked dove
  • Tufted duck
  • Sandwich tern
  • Hooded crow
  • Buzzard
  • Woodpigeon
  • Great tit
  • Siskin
  • Greenfinch
  • Coal tit
  • Pied wagtail
  • House sparrow
  • Common gull
  • Greylag goose
  • Teal
  • Long-tailed duck
  • Goldcrest
  • Blackbird
  • Yellowhammer
  • Dunnock
  • Blue tit
  • Curlew
  • Wren
  • Grey wagtail
  • Oystercatcher
  • Skylark
  • Melanistic pheasant
  • Goosander
  • Eider
  • Bullfinch
  • Jay
  • Red kite
  • Meadow pipit
  • Reed bunting
  • Golden pheasant
  • Black-headed gull
  • Long-tailed tit
  • Goldfinch
  • Feral pigeon
  • Melanistic pheasant
  • Mallard
  • Grey heron

Please let me know if you spot some more while with us … we’d love to keep adding to the list!


Giving Back
We support many local charities acknowledging their commitment and passion for good work and getting something done.
 
Educating children about their planet, what they’re inheriting and how they’ll need to live their lives to minimise further damage and help to repair, has got to be the way forward. Supporting this essential work is very important to us.

Our other personal commitments are to help the Scottish SPCA and Social Bite.
Scottish SPCA – The Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are a charity who work around the clock rescuing abused, neglected and injured animals throughout Scotland. They visit schools educating children and re-home thousands of animals who would otherwise perish. www.scottishspca.org

Social Bite – Their mission is to end peoples struggle with homelessness. Josh Littlejohn and Alice Thompson from Edinburgh have an extraordinary story and have brought awareness to the enormity of this problem, globally. Since founding Social Bite in 2012, they’ve achieved more than any Government has done for this cause and continually drive towards new targets. www.social-bite.co.uk 

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION