‘Do the little things’ – St David

Living here on the Pembrokeshire coast means living in harmony with the land, the seasons and the rhythm of sea – and by doing so, we have all become so acutely aware of our impact on the environment and our responsibility to look after the incredible landscape, people and nature here.

We are committed to doing our little bit to live more sustainably and as our guests you are also doing your little bit too! By staying with us you are helping with many of our efforts, including funding our tree planting, and are contributing to responsible and sustainable tourism.

We still have so much we hope to achieve and will be adding more to this list over the coming months, but here are just some of the ways we are trying to be eco-conscious hosts:

– Thoughtful waste and recycling – we are proud that Pembrokeshire and Wales have some of the highest recycling targets in the world with Wales hoping to become a zero waste nation by 2050 with no waste ending up in landfill! We would so appreciate it if you can help us by recycling as much as possible in the bins provided – all easy to follow recycling info is in the cottages! We are also part of a circular economy network here and where appropriate like to fix, upcycle and repurpose – with my father, Mr Fix It on site – we always do what we can to repair and reuse before anything is wasted! We also make our own fabulous compost here – kitchen waste, old paper, chicken bedding, seaweed and more goes into making some magic soil for the veggies!

– Energy efficiency – with such gloriously thick old stone walls here, energy efficiency is always something we are looking to improve!  In early 2021, we added even more insulation whilst keeping as much of the wonderful old barn charm as possible. All new windows are double glazed and have been crafted by our incredibly talented carpenter Nigel, less than a mile away. We use a green energy supplier for our electricity and have our own solar panels. All appliances are of the highest energy efficency grade and all light bulbs are energy efficient LEDs. The wood provided for the log burners is well seasoned and locally and ethically sourced from Celtic Camping on the St Davids Peninsula. However, in order to offset our carbon completely, in March 2020 we started our own short rotational willow coppice for sustainable bio-fuel to fuel all the woodburners in the cottages and main farmhouse. These trees will be coppiced on a 5 year rotation. We have planted over 900 trees so far with a plan to plant close to 2000 trees by 2024!

– Reduce single use plastics – we have made a big committment in our own lives to try and lose the plastic! Shopping at our local farm shop in Nolton and growing our own food helps with this too! Here are just some of the ways we are reducing our impact for our guests:

Locally made plastic free soap and shampoo bars made by the lovely Paul from Six Foot and Clean less than a mile away! All natural and vegan friendly ingredients too!

We try and keep all our hand soap, washing up liquid and cleaning products in recycled and / or refillable containers. 

Washable and reusable eco kitchen sponges and microfibre towels are provided in the kitchen which can be used as an alternative to kitchen towel.

Refillable cooking oil and condiments.

Refillable glass milk bottles.

Tupperware and foil (which can be recycled) are provided as alternatives to single use cling film.

Reusable shopping bags are provided to save on plastic bags!

Flasks are provided for you to use for your adventures – saving on those disposable water bottles and coffee cups!

We provide sustainably sourced and recycled toilet roll – no plastic packaging! 

– We think locally – all welcome treats and goodies in our Pantier Shed are as locally sourced as possible or even homemade – foraged and grown by us and our hens! 0 transport miles! We also try and keep the interior of the cottages as much a part of Pembrokeshire as the stone of the walls themselves – so much of the furniture and artwork in the cottages have been crafted and sourced as locally as possible. We have lots of suggestions of local walks, fabulous eateries that share our ethos and wonderful things to ‘sea’ and do in our guidebook – many within a short walk, cycle or drive from Pantier – and encourage you, if possible, to buy local food while staying with us. We are also so passionate about helping our local community. Pembrokeshire, like many places in the UK, sadly has a lack of affordable housing for local people. Hopefully we are on our way to changing that. Anna is on the Board of our local Community Land Trust which is in the process of building sustainable community owned affordable housing in Roch, the wider network of Pembrokeshire trusts are also buildings homes in Solva and Boncath! It’s also important to mention that Pantier is not our second home – this beloved farm is our family home, for three generations, allowing us all to live and work here and support our local community by doing so. We are raising our children to build a life here and be part of this incredibly special community for many years to come.

– We love + protect our beautiful natural environment here! – we are very mindful as to what goes down our sinks and into the air around us.  Wherever possible our cleaning products and soaps are non-toxic and cruelty free. Nature is so important to us. We grow trees, including sycamores and oaks from our own seeds, which we plant in our local woodland and have attended a number of training workshops on trees, coppicing and woodland management. Every year we are also growing more of our own fruit and vegetables, which is incredibly exciting for us. Foraging is also something Anna has learnt (and continues to learn!) lots about over the last few years, please do have a read of our ‘A taste of the wild; recipes from the Pantier cupboard’ recipe book in the cottages for some inspiration! It’s such a great way to reconnect to nature. We also provide owl and bird boxes, insect houses and plant wildflowers here at Pantier. Do keep a look out for the incredible wildlife here – tawny owls, redkites, swallows and more are frequent visitors!

We also actively support a number of green initiatives locally, including local beach cleans (please join in with a 2 minute clean whenever you can! Look out for the boards and info at many of our local beaches – Nolton Haven and Newgale included) and last year we created and help manage a community garden just down the road in Roch – planting fruit trees, bushes and herbs for all the community to share and enjoy! We are also so proud to be shareholders of the incredible Câr-y-Môr project – ‘For the Love of the Sea’. Câr-y-Môr has started the first commercial seaweed and shellfish farm in Wales on a site just off St Davids! This zero input farming is committed to growing seaweed forests for carbon offset and also for harvesting, with the potential to create biodegradable packaging and so much more. There are also plans to create a seafood market in St Davids with the sustainably fished scallops, mussels and fish which thrive within the seaweed farm. As well as offering local employment, they hope to run educational events and work with local schools.