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Be eco-friendly – holiday at home

October 25, 2012 By

We all want to do what we can to help the environment, and one way we can do this while still enjoying our holidays is to take a holiday at home. That doesn’t necessarily mean actually staying in your own home, but you can holiday in your own country once in a while. Living in the UK, the temptation is often to go abroad and head for better weather, but generally, that means air travel – hardly the most environmentally choice available.

Holidays at home still involve some energy use of course, but driving to a holiday park or campsite isn’t so bad. And in the UK, there are so many places to choose from to stay, often with great communal facilities like swimming pools and playgrounds for the kids.

Looe Bay holiday park in South East Cornwall, for example, has a choice of different accommodation on offer. There are pitches for tents and touring caravans, as well as static caravans or mobile homes that you can rent for the duration of your stay. Some of these are really luxurious, and give you that home away from home feeling.

When you’re on holiday, try and do some activities that don’t impact on the environment too much. Walking the coastal path or spending time on the beach are two great examples, as long as you take your rubbish home with you and recycle it properly.

Staying on holiday parks like the one in Looe Bay, you’re often close at hand to many tourist attractions so if you can take your bikes with you to get around to local places rather than using the car. It’s often possible to hire bikes locally if you don’t want to transport your own from home.

When on holiday, just as at home, think about the effects of your actions on the environment, and with a little consideration, you can be as green on holiday as you are at home.

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Some of the best eco holiday destinations.

March 21, 2011 By

It really does come down to your own preferences in terms of what sort of holiday or climate you might want but there are some very popular choices when it comes to eco travel holidays. One of the world’s most conserved places is Costa Rica; around twenty seven per cent of Costa Rica is believed to be untouched. These special areas are conserved by local organizations. In Columbia diving in a coral reef is an opportunity as is hiking up snow capped mountains. Sweden is very popular for husky rides and dog sledding. If you love to be surrounded by water Finland could be a good eco holiday choice, there are literally thousands of pristine lakes in Finland creating some spectacular views. For the adrenalin junkies there is always New Zealand, here you can experience extreme adventures along with volcanic activities and marvelous beaches. Some areas of France are also members of the eco holiday club with lots of opportunities to go ‘glamping’, this is luxury camping and is very trendy at the moment. Latvia will provide chances to go horse riding, hiking and canoeing. Norway offers plenty to enjoy, boasting mighty cliffs and waterfalls that will take your breath away. Remember these places have natural beauty at the heart of them and the reason it still exists is because of conservation companies. They need our support to preserve what we have and make sure many generations from now the features of these places are still there.

 These are just some of the more popular destinations for eco travelers to take a look at, there are many more you just have to find them. Eco travel is a relatively new idea and like anything new we need to educate ourselves about it to understand it properly and use it efficiently. Eco travel is for everyone, now you just need to embrace it.

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Where to start….

March 18, 2011 By

If you Google the term eco travel you will get thousands of results, most offering you the best and most ethical holiday of your life. Of course they do, it is what we searched for after all. How do start sorting the real eco holidays from the ‘greenwashed’ ones? That is a difficult task as seen as there are literally thousands I would not know where to start. Speak to friends, who may have been on such a trip, recommendations are often a good place to start. Forums are also useful as you are not getting a company’s facade; it is real people saying it like it is. ‘The Green Providers Directory’ is a very useful web site that is a nonprofit source of all things green and this includes holidays. Looking into a directory like this, that is a not for profit organization will usually be a good place to start as they have nothing to gain from you booking a certain holiday.

 Until the definitions and codes of practice are determined for eco travel it will always be problematic finding a true ethical holiday. An ethical holiday may find you sleeping in a yurt on the Isle of Wight or reading a book in a mud hut in Sri Lanka but a green washing company could provide you with this too. There are often opportunities to holiday in places that have experienced natural disasters, these places may still be getting back on their feet and tourism will help injected some much needed help into the economy that has taken a battering. Take the Boxing Day tsunami that devastated many coastlines a few years ago now, the countries struggled to maintain their tourist industry, places like these need all the support they can get. They are stunningly beautiful places that have taken a huge blow; to holiday in these countries would no doubt be a good ethical choice.

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Education and Eco Travel.

March 15, 2011 By

If you are serious about booking a real eco travel holiday then expect to spend a lot of time researching the area you plan to visit. It is important to learn exactly where you will be able to go and how you will go about moving around the area. Remember keeping things very low impact is a fundamental of eco travel. To leave an area exactly how you left it for future travelers for years to come is the objective. Do not expect to book your holiday and then go shopping for new swim wear, expect to book then buy yourself some reading materials so you know exactly where you are going what to expect. Researching the local customs is a must too; respecting the local ways is expected of any holiday maker but even more on an eco travel break. On any quality eco travel holiday you should expect a well educated guide and their instructions should be adhered to at all times. They will instruct you in a way that is going to cause the minimal amount of impact to the local environment. There may well be places where you are not permitted to walk at all so listening to your guide at all times is of the upmost importance.

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Are there any problems with ecotravel?

March 11, 2011 By

In a word ‘yes’ there are problems with eco travel and this mainly involves the fact that there really is not any definition of ecotravel. Some groups would argue,’ what is the point of an eco holiday if you are going to fly there?’ This is a good argument but surely a holiday that financially benefits the local community where you will stay is better than your average break organized by a company operating in a mass tourism operation (Even if you do fly there)? I would think so but really both sides of the debate have very valid points. There are plenty of tour operators who label some of their holidays as being ‘green’ but it is difficult to see where and how it is in fact ‘green’. With no definition though who is to tell this tour operator the holiday they advertise under the category ‘eco travel’ is not that at all. To put a stop to some tour operators mis-leading customers there are organizations that are now coming together to put a valid definition together. This itself would be a difficult task because there are so many opinions on what constitutes an eco travel holiday. Soon enough there should be clearer definitions and a code of practice in place that will determine exactly which types of holidays deserve the right to be labeled an eco travel holiday.

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Beware of ‘Greenwashing’!

March 8, 2011 By

It is common place today to receive a leaflet through your letter box from a company telling you of the latest eco friendly make over that big brand or maybe local store has just completed. So now they are all morally correct and ethically balance, or are they? Perhaps they are or maybe they have been green washing. Green washing is the practice of going over a whole business and making everything seem environmentally friendly and super kind to the environment. Notice I said ‘making it seem’ and not making it, a company can play the eco friendly game without actually doing a thing to up their ‘green’ factor at all. So green washing is basically making your company seem ‘green’ when in fact it is not.

Not only is green washing dishonest it ruins people’s faith in this type of practice and the companies that are making the effort will be approached with caution and maybe even accused of green washing. The things to learn from green washing are that you have to do your own research into the company’s claims. Green washing is particularly popular at the moment within tourism because the eco travel industry is growing fast. When this happens every company wants a piece of the action. To do this they will green wash their company and what they have to offer. For certain individuals running tour operations it will just be good business sense to provide what the customer wants, in this scenario it means green washing to get the desired attention.

There are plenty of companies who are practicing ethically and it is important to remember this. To find them will take a little bit of research but it will be worth it. The green washing that is going on is made all the more possible by the lack of definition and there being no code of practice as such within eco travel. This should all change and the green washers will have their true colors exposed.

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Who is encouraging ethical holidays and eco travel?

March 4, 2011 By

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) is one of the oldest organizations that actively encourage people to travel to natural areas in the most responsible way they can, the area should be one that focuses on conservation and the wellness of the local people. People should approach TIES when seeking information on sustainable travel and helping communities living on conservation sites to preserve it for generations to come. We are all aware of the rainforests and other sites of natural beauty that are destroyed so that multinational organizations can use the land to build new plants or perhaps develop a new resort. This is exactly the kind of practice TIES is working hard to stop and with the support of holiday makers large companies will have to sit up and listen.

 Although TIES will have lots of answers if you approach them for advice, they are still learning all the time themselves. Research is a big part of their organization and they are constantly strengthening their knowledge on ecotourism. TIES also strongly believe that passing their knowledge onto the next generation is essential. Education is a fundamental part of what TIES do. They want to know TIES will carry to educate many generations to come.

 Ultimately it is the people who travel that can make the difference and TIES understand this. This is why they offer a wealth of knowledge and support to those looking to travel and more importantly to travel in the ethical way. TIES ask you to remember responsible travel equals travel with a purpose. It will take a little research but it is time worth investing, to be able to make informed choices about which are the responsible airlines, destinations and accommodation providers. Always remember a true ethical holiday will put money back into the destination, this is the key thing to look for.

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Ethical Holidays.

February 28, 2011 By

An ethical holiday could be a holiday that involves keeping your travel pollution down to an absolute minimum. It could involve a holiday where the main focus will be helping out with conservation. One thing that is constant throughout ethical holidays is the fact that monies paid for the holiday will go directly to the community you are visiting. It is important when booking an ethical holiday to find out exactly how much money will go to the host. It would be awful to find out at a later date only a small percentage when into the local area when you initially thought it was more.

 An ethical holiday will encourage you to respect and preserve the culture/place you are visiting. When you think of some of the resorts you may have visited throughout the years they (to a degree) are like home from home. Of course we all like things to be convenient but what a treat to be able to embrace another culture, if only for a short while. I think most would agree that there is more room for people looking at their next holiday from an ethical viewpoint rather than a ‘how great is my hotel??’ viewpoint.

Before anybody goes on an ethical holiday there is a certain degree of research that needs doing. Find out what the local specialties are (foods, textiles…) and try to support them while you are there. Find out the best way to reduce your travel pollution en route to your destination and while you are there. How you behave while on your holiday is immensely important too. Be respectful around locals (dress, begging, bargaining…) and remember the attitude you bring to the destination will ultimately add to the atmosphere.

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A big factor surrounding responsible travel….biofuel.

February 23, 2011 By

Biofuels may be the reason a holiday would be more ethical, the travel aspect would be more responsible but what is biofuel? Biofuel would either be biodiesel and bioethanol and they are mostly used to run vehicles. There are others but these are the main two types. Biodiesel is mainly made from oils and sometimes fats. The oils used are vegetable based, while the fats that can be used are sourced from animals. If recycled greases are available these can also be used. Biodiesel is the most common biofuel used in Europe. Bioethanol is made mainly made from starch and sugar crops. Bioethanol can be used on its own as a fuel or can be used as an additive to other fuel to minimize carbon emissions.

 At the moment biofuels account for around two per cent of the worlds transport fuels. The amount of money that has been dedicated to developing the production of biofuels over the past five years or so has reached billions. It is a cause worth spending on and the governments realize the impact it could have on saving the environment, now they must convince the world wide population of the importance too.

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Eco Travel and our carbon footprint.

February 21, 2011 By

Of all of the decisions we make to reduce our carbon footprints as individuals how we travel could potentially be one of the most significant. Air travel is especially harmful to our environment making up roughly ten per cent of our carbon footprint worldwide. If travelling to Europe why not travel via the Eurail Global or InterRail, this would produce less than a quarter of emissions compared to the same journey by plane. For travelling to some destinations flying by plane will be unavoidable so when you do have to fly make the more responsible decisions. For example, during a flight it is the taking off and landing that create the most carbon dioxide emissions so do try to take a direct flight. If you have to change it will mean your carbon footprint increasing quite a bit.

 Although travelling on a water vessel does create far less carbon dioxide emissions than flying it does still need assessing and areas for improvement identified. There are many ideas in the pipeline with most travel companies under pressure to become more ‘green’. There is a Scandinavian company developing a new concept that goes by the name of ‘Orcelle’, this would be a mode of water transport that only omits water vapor and steam. Some industry experts have heavily criticized the design, saying it will never work. Companies who run and/or own large shipping companies are being made aware of the savings that can be made (in carbon) just by ‘slow steaming’. This method is simply moving at a slower speed and in turn using the fuel that is burnt in a more efficient way, there are special techniques that have to be followed but it is believed to be fairly effective. There are other technical adjustments that can be made to lower the rate at which a vessel will burn fuel; these are being adopted by shipping companies.

 For on the road vehicles, there have been big changes. If you are using a private motor vehicle, bus or coach there is the opportunity (depending on the vehicle) to use ‘green fuel’ such as bio-diesel. Vehicles that run on electricity instead of fuel are also an option. When travelling with companies look for companies that are actively involved in being ‘green’. A good example of this would be the ‘Big Green Coach’ company.

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