Eco Holidays

posted by Catherine on Jul 3

How much paper is wasted while you are off on your vacation?

When you think of your trip away - I bet you don’t really think about it’s impact on the paper industry?

What I mean by this is that it isn’t just the tickets and the passport that are the only important tree-based items you need to worry about. For example do you think about your insurance documents or bank statements?

I thought not.

What Have My Statements Got To Do With Anything?
Well, while you are off on holiday, I don’t think you are going to be opening your post. Am I right? So why have you bank statements sent to your home? And why print out loads of mini statements from cash points around the world if you can check your bank account details online - from almost anywhere?

If you were traveling for a long time - like 4 weeks or more, why not make sure that everything was set up with your bank to check everything online. You can transfer money between your own accounts or you can pay off bills or credit cards from other accounts - all without a single piece of paper changing hands or getting folded up in your diary or rucksack.

And if you think online banking isn’t ’safe’ - how secure so you think bits of paper are floating about your bag that you leave on top of buses or in your empty room while you are out exploring?

And, if you start using a ‘top-up credit card’ - where all the money is on it already - you don’t need statements printed out on headed paper - as you only have a certain amount on it in the first place. And, if it gets lost, you know that there is a maximum to your loss rather than the dread of some thief buying a Lear Jet with it!

What Else Can I Reduce?
Your Junk Mail can be stopped! If you are away on vacation - or whether you just want less junk mail anyhow - can stop all unsolicited mail! Think of the trees you could be saving - and the ink and energy and transport, etc.

You rarely need junk mail when you are at home anyway - but a build-up of junk mail out of your mail-box while you are away could also encourage thieves to investigate further! So get it cancelled! Apparently, the average American gets almost 560 pieces of junk mail delivered to them every year! This totals to about 100 million trees being used every 12 months just to produce the 4.5 million tons of pizza and diet pill flyers that clutter our mailboxes!

To help out here with normal mail - you can get your mail company to re-direct your mail to an alternative address for a short period of time or they may be able to store it for you until you return. That way, nothing sensitive will be sitting out there while you are away. For longer trips you can redirect your mail for up to 2 years to an alternative address at home or abroad.

You can also put a hold on most magazine subscriptions while you are away - therefore not returning home to a whole pile of out-of-date news - but having all those ‘missed’ newsletters or magazines added on to the the end of your current subscription. Also setting up any renewals by direct debit or in advance can save on all those company reminders letters being sent out for nothing.

Anything Else Here?
There are probably a whole host of other things relating to boring paperwork that you can plan better for while you are away - like not losing important documents that will need to be replaced or buying guidebooks you forget to take with you!

Things not even related to your actual trip can also help to make your vacation even more eco frindly - reducing your impact on the environment even further.

posted by Catherine on Jan 17

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Many travel writers now agree on what should be your benchmarks for selecting an ‘eco’ holiday and I have selected some of the easier to achieve targets and briefly discuss them below.

Eco-Holidays are not just about the environment anymore, they involve the whole community: all ages, all communities and all encompassing.

Gone are the days when you were praised for not washing your towels every day or seen as eccentric for volunteering abroad, these trips are becoming more and more popular - and people want to make sure that they are doing their best to support the places that they visit.

After all - we only visit the places we think are worth visiting - so why destroy them?

Listed below are 4 key areas that your eco holidays should score well on, and below there is advice relating to each one that you can easily achieve without too much effort on your part.

A) It should be fair.
This means that you are not just going somewhere for your own gains regardless of anything else, and your choice of accommodation of transport aren’t damaging either. You and your hosts are aware of their impact on that environment and you have taken this into account.

B) It should be community-centred.
By thinking about your impact on the communities in your destination, you are considering how your actions could affect their lives and or their future. Make sure that your hosts are thinking along the same lines.

C) It should be sustainable.
Ideally, your hotel/host/tour company should not be depleting or degrading their environment to the extent that future generations cannot enjoy it as you did yourself, or by destroying it completely.

D) Decisions should be ecologically sensible.
Your resort/hotel/host/tourguides decisions should offer the most logical choice for the destinations ecology. For example, offering a shower instead of a bath or offering travel by horse instead of 4-wheel drive!

Here are some simple steps to help you achieve these goals when travelling.

A) Take your vacation in your own country.
If you stay at home you are reducing your impact on the entire planet by not adding carbon emmissions to the already toxic skies or seas. You are also not likely to affect any communities other than the 1st world destination you live in, and that is better able to deal with your ecological demands and the waste that you generate.

B) Try to find different, less popular destinations.
By offering other destinations your tourist dollar, you are helping smaller communities to prosper. Many local people cannot get a store or hostel in the busiest locations as the rents are too high or they are dominated by foreign companies (like Cancun). By staying in these towns you can make a real difference to local communities and people’s lives.

C) Avoid travelling in sensitive areas without a guide.
If you wander into a nature reserve alone, for a start you may not see hardly any wildlife at all, but more worryingly, you will not necessarily know the correct paths and walkways. You may think it’s ‘ok’ to take that short cut through the trees, or to wade across that shallow pool - but you could be damaging the very environment you came to see. What if you make a ‘noticable path’ where you shouldn’t have and more people mistakenly follow it? Within months damage may be noticable and habitats destroyed.

D) Check that the food you eat is locally produced.
If you feast on US brand named food the whole time you are travelling - what are you offering to local farmers? By buying locally grown produce and locally made products you are feeding that money straight back in to the destinations economy. And who needs Hersheys chocolate bars anyway when there is so much tropical food to chose from?

Obviously these are only a few of the tips that you can take to make sure that you find yourself the most suitable eco holidays. And, there are many other things to consider when choosing your vacation, but this just covers a few basics for you.

posted by Catherine on Dec 4

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Hello and welcome to this new, fantastic blog about eco holidays and adventures. It will fill your hearts with joy at the wonders of eco living and traveling.

Not only can you now take your eco holidays in style, but you can also take them on whichever continent you wish and at a reasonable price. And we are here to help.

This blog hopes to cover all the greatest eco destinations, the most exciting eco adventures, tips on finding the best eco holidays for you, and advice on planning and extending your adventures wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

Choices include underwater adventures, cultural community-living, wildlife-friendly safaris, reclusive rain-forest lodges, snow-covered mountain retreats or even just a great weekend away in your nearest National Park.

So, from here on in, there is nothing but great holiday ideas, tips for responsible tourism, helpful contacts and facts, facts, and more facts!

Enjoy.

TravelCat