Green Holidays

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!

Hello - and welcome to a one man/not many tigers Green Holidays Blog Carnival!

I chose this one post to use today as it really made me think about the whole ‘green’ and ‘eco’ travel ethos. And the fact that WWF are currently running a campaign to help save the tiger (still).

Time and again there is the ‘grey area’ that catches out so many people trying to ‘do the right thing’ on their vacations.

Should you/Shouldn’t you?

Sometimes it just isn’t so straight forward once you take into account all the alternatives as well as comparing experiences and events like for like - especially when you are traveling outside of Western Nations in countries with a whole different culture and belief system.

Take this article as a classic example: A Tiger Petting Zoo « Travels with a Nine Year Old - a blog I regularly read for the great pictures and the amazing discoveries this young lad is lucky enough to experience.

But this article shows both sides of animal tourism - as well as the choices that parents can make with their kids.

Should you deprive a young child of an amazing experience because it isn’t really ethical or should you allow them to do everything that kids find amazing regardless of the impact - but because it will be something that they may never get the chance to do again?

Read this boys parents struggling with those very questions and make up your own mind afterwards.

And, if you love Tigers - use one of these banners, Twitter backgrounds, wallpapers or phone apps to show your support and to share your thoughts with others.

.

Do you know enough about both biodegradable products and biodegradable packaging?

I know it might seem obvious what they are when you just think abut the word ‘biodegradable’ as we all sort of know what this means - but what about behind the products?

When you think about biodegradable washing up liquid or shampoo for example, are you thinking about the product itself, or the packaging - or both?

And what exactly are the benefits of each - if any?

And is a product that breaks down even better than one that stays in it’s original form - chemicals or not?

Well, in this article I have put together a very basic summary of the good and the bad of both - so you can make a more informed choice when you think about your next purchase.

The Products:
Well, holiday toiletries and suncreams, etc should all ideally be biodegradable as otherwise your everyday shower is washing all these ingredients into the waterways and rivers of the village or vacation spot you are visiting.

This way, when you wash off your shower gel when in your hotel or out camping, it passes into the neighbouring ground or lake and gradually ‘breaks down’ with the help of bacteria, sunlight or water into virtually harmless little bits. 

Although it could still cause a bit of a problem in the first few days or weeks - it will eventually be gone - which is better than always being there for years and years no matter how diluted it is.

However would you be interested to know that there is no legal definition of ‘biodegradable’ for products in the US or EU - it’s just a vague assumption.  That assumption being that the product will break down more or less naturally into naturally existing particles in around 6 months or so.  However - it doesn’t have to do this at all to use the phrase on it’s packaging or advertising!

Needless to say - anyone can use this ‘claim’ on the product accompanied by a standard flowery or plant looking picture or image - and you can’t prove either way, you just have to take their word for it.

It is the same with the word ’natural’ on products.  This word has no legal right or wrong on packaging - and anyway, petroleum oil is natural and so is arsenic, so the word natural is a bit of a strange one anyway!

The Packaging:
Then there is the bottle it’s in.  It would be virtually impossible to not use plastic bottles when traveling, so you should really try to use biodegradable plastic bottles, right?

Well, there is an argument for and against strangely enough - and it’s all quite simple: if you buy a container that has been designed to degrade naturally over a period of time - then you can’t use it over and over again can you?

Buying a normal plastic bottle means that you can either recycle it or use it repeatedly for any product - but if that bottle is liable to start breaking down, then you certainly can’t use it over and over, it’s unreliable.

And of course, you can’t really recycle it either as otherwise the recycled products you make out of it will be unstable too and just as liable to break down as well!

So, it’s a tricky one really.

Buying biodegradable plastic bottles is encouraging continued plastic production - but is better than new regular plastic being made.  But if the demand for recycled plastic products drops as a result, then surely that is a bad thing; as all the existing non-biodegradable plastic will be left for ever on earth in dumps and floating in the sea!

And if regular plastic isn’t made anymore, then we won’t be able to reuse our bottles and tubs again and again forever - we will always have to buy new!

The End Result:
I can’t say for certain what is the better in terms of the whole plastic situation, but it certainly makes you think a bit further into the issue than just assuming that a biodegradable product is instantly better.

However, I certainly recommend seeking out products that really are made of safe natural ingredients and those which should not have a harmful effect on wildlife - as it means that they will probably not be harmful to humans either.

I mean using products on your body that contain man-made chemicals which are known to poison fish can’t really be that good for you either, can it?

.

Don’t just enjoy that rare wildlife moment all to yourself - tell the world!

Did you know that there are wildlife charities and businesses out there that would love to know what you see on your day to day trips out of town - and even what you see closer to home!

You don’t need to wait for a specific ‘wildlife survey’ to come up - you can just tell them what you see when you see it. Even if it isn’t that unusual.  I mean a fox in your garden, squirrels in the city centre or the odd bird of prey by the roadside: they are all important to someone!

The Problem:
I recently saw the scatter distribution maps of rabbit populations and thought; why are there so many areas without rabbits in them - I thought they were everywhere?

Well, they are everywhere, it’s just that some people think that rabbits are so common that they needn’t include them in the survey! As a result it looked like there were huge areas of the UK without any bunnies!

And of course, we all assumed that hedgehogs were in every-one’s back garden until they actually did a survey and found that they weren’t! They had gradually becoming less and less common - but we hadn’t noticed!

So why not start becoming a contributor to your local - and ultimately the national - database for our wildlife. And it could also help you to brush up on you species id!

Or you can just specialise a bit if you find that easier, like reporting all the species that you see in your garden only. Or reporting only the species you already know, or making a point of trying to find the unusual sightings!

It’s Easy To Do…
And quite addictive. I have found myself reporting everything I see apart from only the very very obvious - like herring gulls on the sea front and swans on the Thames! Everyone can see them every day - so I can leave those for someone else to report or wait for a general bird survey.

Only if I DON’T see them will I report anything!

There is always a space for other comments too, so you could say what the animal was doing at the time, how long it was doing it, and other times you have seen it there. Or even whether you were sitting still or making a noise. It could all be useful to the people at the other end.

So rather than you deciding what is important - leave it to the experts! And anyway - they take your email address on the form, so will no doubt politely ask you to stop sending certain sightings in if you get a bit too enthusiastic!

Nearly all these reporting systems will ask you what your location is based on the Ordnance Survey grid system as well - so find out yours at home for starters, and use Multi-map to find all the others (it has a OS version and gives you the exact location!).

Tiny Little Mouse

And if you can manage to get a photo of the said creature - that could well be a bonus, especially if it a rare sighting, and different colouration or a migratory species.  And then at least the experts can get their beady eyes on the specimen - it could be more unusual than you think……

So, it’s over to you to start emailing in your sightings!

Rather than focus on using your car less - you should be thinking about using it to do more!

And by more I mean cramming more into your day than ever before. I mean if you are going into town in the car - make sure that you plan ahead to do everything while you are there!

Sometimes public transport just will not cater to your needs - or you have to add another hour or 2 on to your journey time!  So sometimes it is better to take the car if you can make good use of it!

I mean - it’s far better to drive into town 1 time than pootle in and out 3 times a week!  So let’s start thinking about planning our lives a bit better to better suit our planet!

The Plan:
Well, I live about 14 miles away from my family and about the same from one of the places where I volunteer - totally out of walking distance.  So, I always plan to visit my family on the way home from volunteering.  And while I’m out I plan to grab the shopping and maybe a trip past a friends house too.

It would also work for other things, like if you had booked a trip to the dentist or optician - why not look at meeting friends in town too, or arranging to grab lunch with a colleague who is working that day?  Or even bring a neighbour into town too and then meet up to go home together.

It can even work for passing things on to save a journey - like I don’t often get to my brothers, but he often visits my mum - so I just pass things to her and she passes them to him when he’s next over.  No extra journey needed!

The Benefits:
This obviously will save you petrol and wear and tear on the car - which has a direct impact on the amount of energy your use and the emissions you create.  And possibly reduce the replacement car parts you need if you are using it less!

It also encourages you to make more use of your time and to fit more fun into your day rather than wasting the same 30 minutes driving the same route over and over again!  There is a horrible route to town for me, so the fewer times I have to do that - the more time I get at home or volunteering!

And car sharing could mean that you get to make new friends - and help out your neighbours.  Elderly people still want to get out and about - but it’s the journey that can be the problem, and of course carrying everything back home!  You don’t need to escort them everywhere - just leave them to it and arrange a ‘home time’!

The Results:
So, there we have it - a good reason to use your car!  So rather than 3 or 4 separate journeys a week - you could cram everything into just the 1.  Better for you, better for your wallet and better for the planet!

It is using exactly the same green travel technique as travel abroad - if you are going to take the big trans-Atlantic flight - then cram in everything else you can while you are there!

If you are heading over to Europe, then make it a long trip and visit city after city rather than March: Paris, May: Berlin and July: Madrid.  Look to use the train and see them all at once! 

So plan ahead and see the Dr, Dentist, Optician, family and friends all on the same day - and then relax, knowing that you have the rest of the week to yourself!

.

We all think that all ‘green’ and ‘eco’ travel definitions are around about the same: but no!

A friend of mine recently got a book called ‘The Ethical Career Guide’ out of the local library only to be surprised by what was in there.  There was no mention of conservation or the environment, and global warming was not even touched on.

Why?  Well ‘ethical’ always refers to working with people to create equality as well as supporting communities and cultures - it doesn’t really have anything to do with the natural world.  So an ethical holiday isn’t necessarily a green holiday or even eco friendly!

So I have put together a simple definitions article for the main words we use to define our holidays and travel so you can be sure to focus on the best one for your requirements and prefered areas of interest.

Ethical Travel:
“Travel to any location that includes offering respect and courtesy to local people, as well as thinking about the long term effects of your actions for the communities that you visit.”

So for example, ethical travel would include supporting the community you visit financially by using local services and buying local goods - and at a reasonable price.  It would also look to not exploit natural resources - or local people, and includes not offering gifts or money to ‘begging’ children but to the places that will benefit the children most, like schools and local groups.

Responsible Travel:
“Travel to any destination in the world - including cruises, luxury villas, skiing and volunteering - can be ‘responsible’ if they can prove that they care about the people they come into contact with and their culture as well as their surrounding environments and it’s wildlife.”

For example, if you travel to a ‘responsible’ African safari lodge, you would expect it to be run by or employing local people and spending some or most of it’s profits and time on helping protect the surrounding wildlife for the future. 

It doesn’t matter if you have to fly across the world to get there and only stay for 3 days (although longer stays can help communities more) - it is what you are supporting while you are there that counts.  And if it is a big step away from mass tourism - it is ‘responsible’.

Eco Friendly Travel:
“Travel to destinations with the intention of reducing your overall impact on the environment, including the avoidance of many of the usual destinations, modes of transport and travel products.”

For example, we know that flying creates higher than average emissions and cruises create more than their fair share of waste - so the eco friendly traveller would try to travel using other means, or would use these modes of transport more wisely by staying in the destinations longer or choosing a more eco friendly company to use.

Eco friendly travel would also include not using products that can damage or put undue stress on the environment they are visiting, so would try to use biodegradable toiletries, wash clothes less, eat local foods rather than expect locals to import things 1000’s of miles in, take all rubbish home with them if no recycling exists and not buy products made from endangered resources - or animals!

This type of travel would also look at certain destinations that are being overcrowded or exploited with the end result of the area/destination/beach/local community being degraded, overused and ultimately destroyed.  Mass tourism destinations would be among the places to avoid, although something could be said for keeping all the ’sun-seekers’ in one place!

Green Travel:
“A type of travel that includes both using modes of transport which reduce or limit the environmental impact of getting from A to B as well as limiting environmental damage while preserving natural resources and reducing pollution and excessive waste.”

Although quite similar to the Eco Friendly Travel definition above, Green Travel really focuses on self control while travelling - enough sometimes to not even travel in the first place!  Eco Friendly looks at still taking a trip but looking for less damaging alternatives - whereas green travellers might look at taking a different trip entirely.

Walking through fields or woodlands off the main footpath wouldn’t really bother any other type of traveller - but a green traveller would think of the potential for localised damage - for example trampling on rare plants or invading areas used by courting mammals and birds.

The Result:
Well, as you can see there is a fair amount of overlap with these definitions, but some are more social and others more environmental.

Yes - the 2 are sort of linked up anyway as if the community are supported they will take better care of their environment, however many travelers want to see the direct link to their personal beliefs and their actions.

For example an eco friendly traveler would take pride in buying all the most chemical-free, animal-friendly, waste reducing and natural products they can to take with them to visit a local community - whereas a social traveler would take more pride in helping a community to support themselves for the next 20 years whether their shampoo was biodegradable or not!

And a responsible traveler wouldn’t mind flying in to a remote mountain lodge on the other side of the world to support a 5* business built up, owned and run by local people - whereas a green traveler would possibly choose to go camping 1* in a nearby woodland with their local scout group teaching them simple field-craft techniques for free!

So, it is your choice really as to which of these you choose to be like when planning your next vacation, because sometimes they will take you to totally different places!

.

If you are thinking of replacing or upgrading your windows - make sure you do it before you go away!

With new technologies and strict guidelines governing manufacture - you couldn’t be more green and more secure at the same time!  Great if you are away for a month or 2.

Triple glazing units can reduce the amount of heat lost from your home (or reduce the amount of cold air escaping if you have the air con on!) and the secure ‘bolt’ system of new glazing units can deter burgulars. 

New UV coatings can also protect the goods in your home and reduce noise pollution if you live in the city or close to a railway, etc.

However - look closely at the ‘eco friendly’ labelling on some company websites - it can mean one of 2 things:

Eco Friendly 1 - 100%:
It is energy efficient and can save energy in the home as well as being made of eco friendly products from sustainable sources.

Eco Friendly 2 - 50%:
It is energy efficient and can save energy in the home ONLY.  It can be made out of any materials at all - for example limited resource aluminum or certain high-petroleum plastics.

And of course, you want to make sure that the company you choose has a decent reputation, and is preferably affiliated with, or a member of, a certification or National scheme - This would include the Master Builders Association or the Guild Quality Surveys and include Penguin Windows in the US, or FENSA and the ‘BSI Kitemark’ in the UK with firms like Everest Windows.

Other Factors To Consider:
There are other things to look out for when choosing a supplier and your preferred products as well, as there are so many combinations you can choose from - some will age quickly, be less secure and possibly not that eco friendly after all! And the length of the warranty can be as little as 3 years up to a lifetime guarantee!

It’s certainly worth paying a few $100 more from the off, than have to pay the several $1000 in 3 years time when it breaks of ‘yellows’ in the sun!

• Make sure it is Pilkington K glass or equivalent
• Make sure it is ‘low e’ glass (high thermal insulation)
• Make sure the frame is made from sustainable resources where possible
• Make sure the windows and doors come with at least a 10 year guarantee (materials & workmanship). 
• Make sure it has a fully welded framework to make it more secure
• Make sure it has metal reinforcement in the frame chambers to make forced entry more difficult
• Make sure all ‘glazing beads’ are on the inside to prevent people removing the panes from the outside
• Make sure it has a locking Saracen shoot bolt (mortise) through the whole frame
• Make sure it has a Secure By Design logo for extra security on top if you want!

Go on your 6-month grand tour without having to worry about the security of your home - and come home knowing that you will be more energy-efficient from that point on!

.

Now you can wear stylish, mainstream Fair Trade sneakers - no more frumpy brown eco friendly shoes!

How about buying your next pair of comfortable trendy shoes from a Fair Trade source - that way you will know that your choice of footwear isn’t depriving workers elsewhere in the world of basic wages - or their health.

We know that Fair Trade comes with a whole host of other benefits to the many workers who make up the production or farming chain in the Fair Trade system, so why aren’t we making more of an effort to make such a choice when buying clothes and shoes?

The Reason:
Most consumers don’t have a closet full of Fair Trade clothing and footwear, as there isn’t really that much of it about within easy grasp.

Yes, I know - and so does everyone - that if you want something in particular, you have to go and look for it.  But, what if you only have a short lunch break in town, or have young children to carry around with you everywhere?  The choice isn’t always so straight forward then.

And, just like food, if you are looking for a new pair of shoes - you want choice (and the right price).  So if you only find 2 pair of fair trade shoes in the shoe store - and you don’t like the style of them or they don’t suit your needs, then that’s your choice made for you.  You can’t buy them - you have to buy non-Fair Trade alternatives.

There just isn’t a large enough selection of Fair Trade goods in normal retail stores to make the ‘right’ choice.

You normally have to go out of your way to get them or buy styles that aren’t to your exact requirements - and sometimes then pay a premium for the privilege too!

New Shoes:
So, I have just found a picture of some very ethical sneakers advertising a green living show in London this weekend, and found the products online.

Amazingly, the shoes are not only made of Fair Trade cotton and all the cotton is also certified Organic; their rubber soles are FSC certified, and their manufacture in Pakistan also has Fair Trade certification!  And on top of all that they are guaranteed vegan and 100% plastic-free!

Plus - they are virtually the same price as the famous brand they resemble - around £35 or $54.

At last an ethical product that doesn’t involve any compromise!  Rather than having to choose whether to wear boring brown sandals made out of chemical-free non-animal leather or to have some fun blue or pink sneakers that you actually liked - but that also contained all sort’s of nasty chemicals - you now get the best of both worlds!

A great pair of brightly colored (or brown) shoes that are not polluting the environment, harming farmers or under-paying hard-working communities!

Take a look for yourself right here: Ethletic Sneakers

All around you are trees that are doomed to die before their first adult leaf - but you can help them!

Basically, last autumn, loads of seeds fell from trees as part of the natural cycle of things - and many of them will grow for ever and become great adult trees.  Some in churchyards, some in woodlands, along a river or around the edges of a field.

But those that have fallen in your lawn and have spent all winter growing roots and hiding under the snow, could well be doomed when you get out your lawn mower for the first time this spring!

Baby Trees:
All around you outside you should be able to find these baby trees really easily, as they nearly all grow identical first leaves (see picture).  These first leaves look absolutely nothing like the mature tree leaves, so you won’t know what they are unless the seed casing is still attached.

This way - it is even more exciting to save them as you will have to wait a while to find out what trees you have actually saved!

Some trees have obvious seed cases, like the one’s I found that were still in their sweet chestnut casing, and others I have found were still in their little ‘winged’ cases, but generally, you can only guess at.

Birds carry a lot of seeds inside their guts after berry eating in the winter, and can drop them well away from the adult tree or bush. And yet other seeds can sit in the ground waiting to germinate for up to 2 or even 3 years - so before they start to grow they could have been dug up and moved to a completely new garden without you knowing about it!

Why Save Them?
Well, we all know that planting trees is great for the planet, so instead of buying trees from a garden center or specialist - why not just help the ones in your own garden to grow naturally.

Not only is this free (yippee!), but it is great fun AND it will help wildlife to be attracted to your garden or local woods.

So, you need to make sure that you move these little trees out of the path of the lawn mower and take them to somewhere where they can grow safely.  Don’t forget that trees take years to grow to any noticeable size, so they aren’t going to over run your garden - unless you wait about 30 years!

And, they aren’t all going to survive anyway as deer might eat them or whatever, so don’t worry about about planting them close together if it’s easier for you and depending on where you can move them to. 

They won’t need looking after at all once moved - and all of mine from last spring survived sitting under thick snow for 2 months solid over the winter and are all doing fine this spring!

So, get out there and get digging!

Write an exciting live travel diary of your green holidays to share with your friends!

We all know about writing blogs these days - as they are just like an online diary.  However, as they are updated live across the world in an instant, they are a great way for all your friends and family to be kept up-to-date with your adventures, without you having to email them all individually.

There are so many around these days that there is bound to be one that you love out there, but the problem is sometimes finding one amongst thousands that you like!

And, you need to find one that is easy to use - namely a ‘Wordpress’ (Wp) theme.  This type of blog is very easy to use and update - and you can add loads of extras these days - called ‘plug-ins’. 

There are plug-ins, for example, that allow you to easily add your photo’s from Flickr to your travel blog, called flickrRSS; and there are even ‘plug-ins’ that can be used to translate your blog into other languages if you meet people on your journey from other countries who want to follow you on your trip!

Finding Your Theme:
You can search online for a ‘Wordpress theme’ but you will get about 8 billion sites coming up to wade through, this drops to just over 46 million if you want a ‘free Wordpress theme’!  However, many of these will be just a handful of themes, and at the other extreme, there could be 1000’s to choose from.

But how do you check them all and find your favourite wp blog themes?

Thankfully, there are websites out there that let you choose based on the colours that you like, the appearance that you like or even the particular genre you like - like ‘pets’ or ‘beaches’.  This type of listing and wide choice is perfectly suited to those of you that are thinking or writing a vacation blog and need to find a nice theme for it. 

And if you want it quick, you can cut down your search time with a site that gives you a miniature graphic of the theme.  This way you can see if a particular theme is worth looking at in closer detail before you click into it and have to wait for another page to load up!

Choosing Your Theme:
So, find yourself a WP Themes site that allows you to view anything up to 7000 Wp themes for the best choice (I know this sounds like far too many - but don’t forget you only want to look at a handful of theme types, so the more they have in total the more likely you are to find a nice selection to choose from in the style you like!).

Then think about what you want your online diary to represent.  Are you looking for it to represent the sunshine (yellow and beaches), the adventure (green and tropical scenes) or maybe the people you meet (culture and buildings).  Or you are into nature (frogs, green, lizards), or maybe travel itself (trains, boats, bicycles or just a winding road!).

Also consider what information you want to show on it.  Do you want just 1 column showing your everyday updates?  Or your updates as well as a second permanent column with your location and other ‘exact details’.  Or a section that rotates your latest pictures?

There are even some that come ‘AdSense ready’, so are able to immediately start earning you money from the  ads on your site to fund your green adventure!

Why wouldn’t you do it?