Being a Greener Visitor
At David Livingstone Birthplace (DLB), much like Dr. Livingstone, we are committed to protecting our cultural heritage and supporting the natural world through sustainable practices. We have begun making sustainable improvements to our site, such as reducing carbon emission in the museum, lowering food waste in the cafe and supporting local suppliers in our gift shop. Our sustainable changes have been guided by Green Tourism as we work towards our Green Tourism certificate. When visiting us, we invite you to be a part of our green story by supporting our sustainability goals and helping us work towards a greener future! Below, we have listed a few easy ways to be a greener visitor, and you can learn more about the green changes we have made by reading about our green story.
Travel
Before arriving at David Livingstone’s Birthplace, you can improve your green impact by travelling sustainably, consider travelling by foot, bike, train, or bus.
If you live locally, why not walk or cycle? We have bike racks on site to make cycling easier and accessible, and we have plenty of winding nature trails to explore on foot. After visiting us, head across the David Livingstone Memorial bridge to the Clyde walkway, a 40-mile-long riverside footpath that begins at the falls of the Clyde near New Lanark into Glasgow.
If you're visiting us from further away, consider using public transportation. We are a short 5-minute walk down Station Road from Blantyre train station, or a straight 10-minute walk from Glasgow Road down Station Road to reach David Livingstone Birthplace by the river Clyde.
If you do travel to us by train, bus, or bike, we offer 2 for 1 museum tickets through the Good Journey scheme to encourage car free days out!
See Walking and Cycling section of the www.visitLanarkshire.com web site for more information.
‘Bring your own’ Initiative
When visiting our cafe, we encourage you to bring along their own reusable coffee cup and takeaway/lunch boxes. If you plan on taking away your food and drink whilst you are exploring our grounds, why not bring along your own reusable items? To thank you for helping us reduce our single-use items, we even offer a discount on hot drinks served in visitors reusable cups.
Forgot your reusable items? Don’t worry- we’ve made sustainable swaps to eco-friendly, biodegradable takeaway boxes and coffee cups, so you can still enjoy food and drinks from Livingstone’s Café on the go. David Livingstone Birthplace is also a refill station, our friendly Cafe staff are happy to refill your reusable water bottles, as we contribute to the Refill initiative, a network of places helping you to reduce, reuse and refill.
Respect the Grounds
While exploring our extensive parkland, we kindly ask that you respect nature and our grounds. Please refrain from littering; we have plenty of bins across the site, and we encourage you to use our recycling bins responsibly to help with waste management.
While we encourage exploration and adventure on our site, we also ask that you respect our grounds. The Livingstone and the Lion statue and Worlds Fountain may seem like fun places to play, but they are important cultural heritage sites and wildlife habitats. If you’re looking for an exciting place to play, our pirate ship park is ready for adventuring and exploring, just like David Livingstone himself.
Support Green Business
When visiting us and other visitor attractions, we encourage visitors to support businesses that priorities reducing their environmental impact. Currently, we are working towards achieving our green tourism certificate and would encourage visitors to look for others awarded gold, silver, or bronze, Green Tourism awards by Green Tourism.
