Here are some of the ways our visitors help us, and reduce their own footprint too.
Choose active travel or public transport
This is the single biggest change you can make to reduce the environmental impact of your Horniman visit.
Travel to the Horniman on foot, by bike or by public transport to help us reduce car emissions and keep Forest Hill’s air cleaner.
- We’re a 10- to 15-minute walk from the centre of Forest Hill, plus we’re part of the Green Chain Walk route (Section 11) if you fancy more of a hike.
- There are three bike racks – on the Avenue, near our London Road entrance and inside the Horniman Drive gates (the Avenue racks are best for cargo bikes and trailers). Our staff have some great advice for cycling to the Horniman and you can find the quietest (or fastest) routes using CycleStreet’s journey planner.
- We’re very well served by local bus routes, several of which stop directly outside the Museum. You can reach us easily by bus from Brixton, Lewisham, Streatham, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria, Penge, Crystal Palace, Peckham, Catford, New Cross and Croydon.
- Forest Hill train station is part of the London Overground with regular direct trains from North, East and South-east London. Direct trains also run from London Bridge and Victoria.
See our Plan Your Visit page for more travel info.
Bring your reusable bottle and cup
A refillable water bottle and a reusable coffee cup will save you wasting countless single-use bottles and disposable cups, not just at the Horniman but wherever you go.
- Our Café staff are very happy to make your hot drink in your reusable cup.
- Water bottles can be refilled free of charge in the Café, at the refill station on the Avenue (provided by the #OneLess campaign and the Mayor of London) or from our Victorian water fountain on Bandstand Terrace.
- If you don’t have a reusable cup or bottle with you, check out the Horniman-branded range in the Shop (proceeds go towards helping run the Horniman, and it will help save you money in the long run too).
Sort and recycle your waste
Our recycling and waste bins outside the Café and near the Bandstand kiosk make it easy for visitors to sort their waste, helping us recycle as much as possible.
- Please help us by sorting your waste into the right bins and sections – contaminated recycling has to be incinerated is it’s just (a) waste!
- Picnickers can use these recycling bins too, (or to help us even more take your waste back home with you and sort it out there, as this will save us money). See below for some more ‘green picnicking tips’.
Shop local
Supporting local growers, makers and producers means that your food has less of a carbon footprint than food shipped from overseas, as well as the bonus of supporting local businesses.
- Come along to our weekly Horniman Market to buy seasonal fruit and veg, bread, organic meat and more, from local independent producers. There are also regular stalls specialising in zero waste, ethical craft and eco clothing and design, and a new quarterly Second Hand Sunday special market, with a repurposing, reusing and recycling focus, starting on 30 April 2023.
- In the Café, we locally source our meat, beer and cakes, plus our eggs are free-range, our fish is from sustainable sources, our tea and coffee are fairly traded, our cow’s milk is organic and we offer a range of non-dairy alternatives. And why not give a meat-free meal a try? More than half our menu items are now vegetarian or vegan.
Green picnicking ideas
Many visitors have picnics in the Gardens. We’ve put together some ideas to make your picnic more climate-friendly.
- Choose vegetarian or vegan food items for your picnic to reduce its environmental impact.
- Reduce food waste using what you have instead of buying special picnic food, and don’t make or bring too much.
- Bring your own sandwiches in a reusable wrapper or container, to save on plastic waste. Or buy sandwiches from the Café instead of a supermarket – the Café sandwich bags are made from plants not plastic.
- Reduce packaging waste by sharing multipacks of crisps or snacks instead of individual packets, and choose foods that can be brought along without plastic packaging, like whole fruits. And if you have a zero-waste shop nearby, take your own containers along to buy local and save on plastic waste at the same time.
- Bring your drinks in reusable bottles and cups, which you can then refill. And bring reusable plates, cutlery and napkins, if you need them.
- Take your leftover food away with you to eat later, and make sure you sort your recycling and waste into the right bins.