The Blenheim Palace, the UK’s World Heritage Site, has hit gold – quite literally. The palace improved its Green Tourism and Business Scheme ranking from silver to gold by plugging leaks in its pipeline. The estate tied up with Thames Water to identify and plug the leaks in its ancient pipeline layout in order to reduce water consumption. In addition to this, an automatic water monitor has been set up on the premises and a plan to install water-saving equipment at different location within the palace and the estate cottages is developing.
Besides, the estate has taken to green tourism initiatives in full throttle. The old lighting has been replaced with low-energy bulbs to cut on energy consumption; and a sizeable 81 percent of the total waste generated by the estate is now recycled. Large tanks with a capacity of 10,000 liters have been installed to accumulate water from greenhouses, which is then diverted for watering plants.
The palace has also gone public with its decision to set up a micro-hydro project with £180,000 capacity. As a part of this initiative, a 10-metre Archimedes screw will be set up on the Glyme River with a view to generate 60,000 KW of usable power annually. The Duke of Marlborough has been quoted as saying that these initiatives stand testament to the estate’s commitment towards reducing carbon footprint through green initiatives.
The estate indulges in a whole host of other eco-friendly initiatives besides the ones that have won it much accolade and given a boost to its standing as a World Heritage site. Some of the key green initiatives include recycling on over 10 metric tons of cardboard and glass annually; a dedicated annual budget of £18,000 for visitors’ litter disposal; replacement of old paint, feed bags, office paper, water cooler bottles and batteries with more eco-friendly alternatives; seeking delivery of goods in containers that can be reused; putting thermostats, fountains and heating systems on thermostat for energy conservation.
Since Blenheim Palace became part of the Green Tourism Business Scheme in 2009, it has shown significant progress in management of the Estate’s green initiative and social behavior. The estate now makes use of natural resources prudently.
Greenhouse gases have had a detrimental effect on climatic conditions of our planet. Global warming is a reality and the UK has been affected by it as well. The average temperatures recorded annually over the last few years in the UK have seen a rise. Temperatures recorded between 1999 and 2009 have been the highest in the last 350 years.
The rising temperatures and subsequent ecological changes have had an adverse effect on the property on Blenheim estate. Blenheim palace realizes the threat environmental changes brings and has implemented methods to control emission of greenhouse gases within the estate.