Green Holidays

Why take a holiday to see everything possible at your destination – just relax!

Next time you book a vacation – why not book a ‘Me’ vacation instead? Don’t rush off to a sight-seeing spot, or a destination filled with historical sights, casinos, theme parks, safaris, surfing, etc – choose somewhere calming and quiet.

Think about yourself a little more – and make your few days or weeks off really make a difference to you – not to take back great photos of everything to show to your friends afterwards!

Treat it like a ‘Holistic Holiday’ where you get a proper break from all that planning, shopping and cleaning of your everyday life.

We generally only get 4 weeks holiday a year – so don’t waste it rushing around!

Switch Off:
Literally – switch everything off except the ceiling fan!

Don’t worry about emailing anyone, or checking Facebook to see which distant person you used to know at school has something pointless to say about what they nearly did yesterday!

You don’t need to know these things while you are away – and what is the point of taking a vacation if you take your work with you! No texts, calls, tweets or anything; it’s your (very limited) time off.

And, why have you travelled away from home at great cost if you aren’t going to do anything different to normal and still talk to everyone back home? Stay at home and stop wasting resources!

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

Become A Locovore:
Make sure you delight in the things that are available to you where you are. Eat fruit for breakfast straight off the tree in the garden, eat salad for lunch and eat out at a local restaurant for dinner – outside if you can.

Don’t rush to the nearest fast food chain or supermarket to look for home brands – eat what nature has given you (not a freight liner and a few miles of dirty truck driving!).

And a change in diet can make a difference to your body and mind as well. Rather than another sandwich or roast dinner with endless cups of coffee – why not switch to light salads, plenty or fresh fruit juice and local dishes.

The more new things you try – the more you will relax, and the more you relax – the more worth while your journey and time off will become.

Stop Saying Yes:
Try to set aside most of your days there for doing nothing in particular. Don’t plan to catch a bus to that cathedral, a taxi into town or a train to a tourist spot – just say ‘no’.

You aren’t on holiday to do more than you would at home – so you need to tell people that you just want to sit by the lake/on the terrace/in the cafe all day reading your books or chatting to locals.

No need to worry about hiring a car or checking public transport timetables and day passes etc, it shouldn’t matter for these few days.

If everyone else heads of without you – it can only be a bonus for you!

Naps And Daydreams:
Just because back home you get up early and stay up all day – doesn’t mean you can’t take a nap on vacation!

Sometimes a little doze in the late afternoon can really set you up better for the evening ahead. It’s not lazy to stay in your PJ’s on holiday or sit in bed reading with a cup of tea – it’s called ‘on holiday’!

And why do you even have to do anything anyway? What’s wrong with just sitting somewhere comfortable and staring into space? Do a little daydreaming if you want – think about the future, think about the past, think about that little bird sitting on the fencepost.

It all helps you to refresh your mind a body without having to live up to the expectations of others. I mean how many times have you had a lay in until 10 and someone calls you ‘lazy’; or a friend pops around by surprise at midday and you are still in your dressing gown and then gives you grief?

Just because they have to be up and dressed at the crack of dawn – it doesn’t mean you have to; and thats what is great about your holidays – noone else is there.

It’s just you and your dreams!

This nature reserve is on the tidal waters of the River Arun, north of the historic town of Arundel and coastal town of Littlehampton on the south coast.

One of the most important wetlands in the south of England, this reserve has excellent facilities and is cram-packed with all types of wildlife.

This is also an education centre at certain times, and there is plenty of advice around the site for visitors.

Habitat Features:
The main feature is obviously the daily flooding wetlands off to the east of the river – filled with waterfowl, cattle and deerherd.

There is also some restored heathland, a small pine woodland, some grassland and sloping deciduous woodland as well as a hillfort and many footpaths and bridlepaths.

Famous for it’s visiting wetland birds, 50-strong ‘escaped’ fallow deer herd and ‘dancing adders’ – where the males twist around each other trying to pin each other to the ground.

The Reserve:
Quite a lot of the restored heathland and grasslands are accessible without passing through the main reception building – although at only £3 to pay anyway – it would be rude not to pay such a small amount to maintain and improve this reserve – after having had a great day out here yourself!

Heading through the main reception building takes you up a typical footpath bordered by old hedgerows and rabbit-friendly grassland.  This leads you a junction where you can head 4 ways really.  3 are within the reserve and form a dissected circle so you can get back to where you started with ease. 

The fourth way to the right takes you to a small hamlet with a delightful church and churchyard – filled with Orange Tip butterflies and meadow flowers crammed on every inch!  Ultimately this leads to the main road – so head back the way you came to get back onto the reserve itself.

Look on every leaf in the reserve as there are mini beasts all over the place – and we got some great close up shots of all sorts of invertebrates here.  And on the other end of the scale – don’t forget your binoculars as the woodland birds are all over too – and worth a look!

And you will need the distance to hunt for the huge herd of really chilled out deer that roam these wetlands – footprints show that they walk along the very footpaths you are standing on now, but you will more often see then in the distance, relaxing on the well gnawed grasses alongside the cattle and rabbits!

There are 3 hides here with totally different angles and depending on whether you are high or low tide you can see a whole range of wetland birds including migrants and rarities!  I saw mainly common species myself – I did get some great views of a very young grey heron and many of one of my favourites: shelducks.

I didn’t get to see the ‘dancing’ adders either although there were plenty of photos and stories about them in the reception area – along with other great information to get more out of your day – as if you would run out of things to interest you here!

There is even a kiddies play and learn area and education rooms as well.

Reserve Details:
Here is a general summary of the site for the visitor as in Spring 2010.

Cost:     The reserve is £3 (adults) to visit.
Hours:   The reserve is open all hours – but Reception as office hours.
Carpark:There is a carpark for about 100+ cars.
Shop:     There is a wetland-based retail shop on site.
Eating:  There is restaurant on site with indoor and outdoor seating.
Toilets: Toilets are open until 5pm each day.
Dogs:     Dogs should be kept on leads on the by-ways through the reserve.
Kids:      Families are welcome and there is plenty for young children to do.
Other     There is no playpark, however cycling/horseriding is permitted on bridleways.

Could Supporting Local Bee Farmers Help Reduce Demands On The Environment?

We need to think big these days – and certainly look to be sympathetic to the developing world – who are living in conditions similar to those that we were only a few 100 years ago.

They are mainly subsistence farmers or herders who live on what they can grow and the little that they can sell.  They have to rely on resources that are local to them and are as good as free – just as those in the US and Europe did not so long ago.

Now, unfortunately – we are painfully aware that living like this is not going to be possible for the millions of people now currently living in the developing world.

The climate is changing to make herding and farming virtually impossible in some areas; the population has risen to ridiculous and unsustainable numbers making a few trees for the family firewood become a whole woodland for the expanding village; and the demands of the (comparatively) richer individuals are stripping whole countries bare of resources, taking land and water from local people and dumping waste in their backyards.

So – What Can We Do?
Well, as we know what is currently ‘damaging’ to our planet – we can use our buying power to make the right choices.

Just as back home – what you buy determines what manufacturers make – the same applies to internationally traded goods.  Although the honest truth sometimes slips by us:

If you keep buying illegally logged hardwoods (ie. by not opting for FSC approved alternatives) you are actively supporting the destruction of the rainforests and the extermination of orangutans, jaguars, and the endless number of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and plants that depend on them.

If you keep buying any old fish or seafood that you like the look of (rather than opting for MSC approved sustainable alternatives) you are actively supporting the extinction of many endangered species that are being over-fished.  You are also actively supporting the wasteful and destructive nature of bottom-trawling and long-line fishing that are killing off more than just the fish you get to eat; this includes all sorts of birds, mammals, other fish and sea creatures.

I could go on with this list – but sometimes we don’t think or the end result of our ‘easy’ food choices.

Alternative Living:
So back to the bees: They reproduce extremely fast, do all the hard work themselves and don’t need a huge amount of space to grow. What a great alternative to cattle and dessicated crops! But they need someone to buy the honey.

And so, if a family has chosen to ‘farm’ these insects rather than farm something illegal or damaging to the environment – then shouldn’t we support that?

All across the globe we are trying to help communities to become more self-sufficient and sustainable by introducing bee-keeping, fairtrade specialist products and co-ops so that they don’t have to plunder their local area just to survive. 

We are also helping to make sure that they have access to biomass heating, solar cookers, water purifiers and education and skills so that they don’t have to depend on limited rainwater, local forests, bushmeat and food handouts.

So, make sure that you support these efforts back home with your shopping choices.  If they are making something that you don’t buy – then they won’t be sustainable alternatives, will they?

If they are saving the rainforest and it’s endangered wildlife buy manufacturing fairtrade honey, organic coffee or FSC approved furniture – then you had better make sure that you buy it over the ‘not so eco friendly’ alternatives.

If not – then they will have to go back to living off the land – even if that means killing another tiger, clearing some lush forests or over-grazing their land with cattle.

Your choice!

How Practical Is It For Me To Live Without A Car?

I recently went a month without a car to find out what the real problems were with public transport, whether not having a car is a valid option for people like me, and whether green travel really is a practical option.

My circumstances are the following:
Part time job in the countryside working around 3 days a week.
Volunteering for several local charities and eco organisations.
Member of many national organisations (NT/WWT/EH/CAT/RSPB,etc)

Public Transport:
I love public transport in towns and will always use it when appropriate – but using it to get out of town is a challenge!

There is normally a bus running to every little village in the UK – but sometimes they go about the houses to get there – as I found out!  The bus to my work from close to my house travels around 50 miles to get me from A to B and takes 2 hours!

If I catch the train first (25 minutes), I get a choice of 2 buses: 1 takes me straight there every 35 minutes (after 10.30) but only in the holidays or at weekends, and the other is a 10 minutes walk from the train station, 25 minute drive and then a 30 minute walk from the bus stop and only goes once an hour.

So door to door public transport (if all goes perfectly to time) is: Option A = just over 2 hours; B = just over an hour; and C = 1.5 hours.

A car from home would go at any time and take less than 30 minutes door to door!

My Car:
Ironically, it is the people who go out of town who are the most likely to travel alone in their car as not many other people ‘go their way’ so car sharing isn’t really an option.

Working in (or visiting) out of town places usually involves lots of extra stuff too – like wet-weather gear, equipment, lunch and drinks (as not many shops about) and plenty of other bits too – and we don’t really want to carry them on our backs all the time!

Therefore, people like me tend to drive a lot by ourselves – sometimes for miles and miles as we really don’t have a choice!

Trains are stuck on rails, and country buses don’t really cater for outdoor loving people with their restricted timetables and reliance on ‘office’ hours.

I know there might not be many people travelling on these buses, but if they don’t start until 10am and finish by 4pm – then countryside volunteers and walkers aren’t ever going to be able to use them!

A Practical Option?
In summary – No.  I don’t think that public transport for me this month is really a very ‘alternative’ option.

Not only did it cost me around £150 in 4 weeks to work a total of 60 hours – but it also took me an additional 30 hours in travel time!

And in those 4 weeks – I couldn’t do anything else I really love doing either unless I convinced a friend or family member to come with me! 

Without my own wheels, I had to forfeit visiting any local attractions, I had to walk an extra hour each way to get to the countryside from my home, I needed to walk to the superstore everyday to buy just a small amount of shopping each time and avoid buying anything too big or too heavy as I couldn’t get it all home on my own, and I couldn’t just nip over to a friends house or visit any family – they all had to come to me!

And I had to cancel any volunteering I had planned that I couldn’t get a lift to – and by the end of the month, I was really fed up with scrounging lifts of people to everything.

It’s alright me trying to survive without a car – but it only works if I have to rely on other peoples cars. And then I’m not really avoiding the use of private cars am I – I’m just using other peoples cars to spew out the carbon for me!

Maybe living and working in a town with no outdoor ambitions would suit a car-free life – but not my life!