Green Holidays

Travelling to big cities can be as green as you want it to be.

Take New York for example; a city of shopping and high-rise.  But it is also a place where public transport is very well organised and everything you need is right on your doorstep!

If you plan your green holidays New York style, then you won’t be disappointed with the results.  Whether it shopping you want; a taste of the culture or just a city with a difference – you would be going to the right place.

I recently added a trip to New York as part of a road trip around  North America – and I wanted to make it as eco friendly as possible while still enjoying the city for what it is.  I mean living with a green conscience doesn’t have to mean never leaving your small-holding and only wearing repaired clothes.

Yes, I enjoy wandering around the stores looking at everything new and useful, but I also enjoy people-watching and how different people and places can be even when they are all using the same space and doing the same things.  I get a lot of inspiration from other people for both activities and products I’d like to try as well as for photography and story-telling.

I love the way other people will try things that I perhaps would have overlooked – yet seeing them with it changes my mind, and I want to learn more.  Similarly with foods; I won’t buy a whole meal of something new, but tapas and the like can allow me to explore a new lifestyle, a new experience, a new me even.

Cities are good in general for a lot of things – like an interesting mix of cultures and technology.  Yes, much of it is imported in – but the innovative qualities are still there, and it is nice to see how people and businesses apply it.   And the vibrant mix of people can really make a corner coffee house a really interesting yet relaxing place to spend a few hours.

There is also plenty of ‘green space’ in the city for those of you who need to see green at least once a day.  Central Park is ginormous and you can see as much wildlife as you would in any park in any town or city – and a short journey out of town can lead you to a few wild areas, zoos and botanical gardens.

Cities like New York are a delight to visit as part of any vacation and I would recommend at least one visit in your lifetime – if only to see how pleasant and ‘easy-to-use’ a metropolis can be.

Have fun exploring…..

So, we are moving on to our first batch of very similar looking species!

The remaining 5 tit species common to the UK are here – as we have already looked the more common Great and Blue tits in our previous Bird Hunt article.

And to make it more difficult for you, 4 of these birds all fit the same niche really in terms of their appearance, size, habits and the fact that they all look roughly the same until they sit still!

There are of course slight differences in terms of their specific habits and habitats, but it won’t be easy to master all 5 in a single sitting!

Right, lets get straight on with the 4 that look the same first while your brain is eager to learn!

Coal Tit:
This tiny fella has a face that is very similar to a great tit – and does have a hint of ‘blue/grey’ about him, but the shape and size of him is totally different.

He does however, have 2 white wing bars on his side that none of the other tits on this page have (and blue tits and great tits only have 1 bar on their wings).

So if it’s small with a black and white head with 2 wing bars – it’s a coal tit!

Marsh Tit:
Both the marsh tit and the willow tit (below) were thought to be the same species until quite recently as they look so very similar – which is no help to you!

photo credit: chapmankj75

However, on closer inspection, the marsh tit could be said to have a straight-edged glossy black cap atop his tiny head. They also have a neat square bib under their chin and wings feathers the same colour as their back when perched.

Willow Tit:
In comparison, the willow tit has a more curve-edged black cap and a larger more spreading black bib under his chin. He also has slightly paler band of wing feathers in the centre of his wings – more noticable when perched.

photo credit: Aschaf

Habitat-wise the willow tit is more likely to be seen along river banks – with willow, birch and alder, or in coniferous woodlands -and rarely ever at birdtables in winter. The marsh tit is very likely to be seen feeding at bird tables – most likely close to damp untended deciduous woodlands.

Crested Tit:
When he has his crest lifted – there is no mistaking him, but he is roughly the same size and colour as the 2 tits above so with a normal flat head you might have to look closer! However, these tits are only found in old coniferous woodlands in Scotland so if you aren’t there, you probably haven’t seen one.

photo credit: birdtracker

He doesn’t have the obvious ‘black cap’ of the others but has a distinctive triangular white shape framing it’s head with a beautiful face. However, if you were to look at him from afar or from behind he is the same buff brown colour with brown wings and a black bib! It is asthough someone stuck a different top on a marsh tit!

Long-Tailed Tit:
This one is the easiest of the bunch to identify as it is almost pink in colour when you see it in the bushes – and has an incredibly long tail!

photo credit: centralasian

On closer inspection, they have a white head with a dark eye-band running through to their dark wings and throught to meet the tail. These tiny birds are usually only seen in small flocks that chatter their way from tree to tree along a path or from the front garden to the back garden looking for food.

So – you feel confident with these (or just the last one?).

Thinking ahead to what you enjoy on holiday can influence your savings!

Did you think that your savings just sat in a drawer at the bank the whole time – earning you interest by just being there?

No, of course not.  Your money is sent all around the world by your bank or financial company and invested into all sorts of ventures from gold to technology, and from energy to vaccinations.

But what if your bank is funding things that you disapprove of?  Have you even asked them who they lend your money to?

Why Should You Care?
Well, firstly – you surely don’t want to be giving your money to any company that isn’t environmentally friendly do you?  Or a company that abuses people or landscapes? 

Would you give your money to a company that clears forests, pollutes waterways or displaces communities? Or one that abuses people, destroys homes and causes illness and disease?

What if you are spending money each month donating to charities which are using your money to fight certain developments – yet your savings are helping to fund the other side.

One set of funds is destroying a habitat – and you other money is trying to clean up the pieces!

What Could You Be Doing?
Well, you could be responsible for destroying the very places that you want to visit in the future. 

Your funds could be clearing landscapes for farming, energy exploration, transport connections, and any number of other technologies without you really knowing that you are doing it.

photo credit: L Gnome

If you were only looking at the financial returns at the end of your term or for when you retire then you are missing the point of the word: investment!

What is the point of investing in purely your own financial future – when the rest of the world is still being changed beyond your control.

So what you should be doing is making sure that the companies you invest in are doing what you want them to be doing.  Check with your bank where they are sending your money before you give it to them.

You try to only travel with ethical companies and you buy products that are fair trade and sustainable – so why not check where all your money is going in the bank!

You could be paying an oil drilling company to cut holes in the Amazon with your pension – and also giving to a charity to try to relocate all the people and animals that used to live where an oil well is now situated.

And if you want to ever see those orangutans in the wild – make sure your savings account isn’t funding oil palm plantations!

You can do a lot of things with your money – so plan to spend it well!

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!

.
What a great summer we have been having here!  I have been out and about almost every day!

I have taken a few eco courses with some local charities and helped out and attended several green summer carnivals and general fairs with the family.

There are a few more on the horizon as well and maybe some educational volunteering at a local wetlands reserve for me too!

So, what has everyone else been up to?  Well, lets take a look……..

One Family enjoyed some hiking in the woods for the day – so join their story – with great photo’s – for Enjoying Yosemite Valley with Kids – A Trip Report. Amazing!

And if that puts you in the mood for the great outdoors and you are thinking of camping for the first time to save some money, then take a look at Beata Antoszek’s quick post with 6 Tips for Camping on a Tight Budget.

Or, will you be on the road this summer? If so – is your car prepared for the journey? Look in on Jena Ellis’ article for a list of 10 Essentials for a Car Emergency Kit, and then hop over the Eco Holidays for a quick guide to help you Check Your Car For Basic Safety. 

On The Road

This way you can be doubly sure you don’t get held up by some stupid basic problems instead of enjoying your trip!

And what about your clothes? If you need new travel or camping gear – make sure you read Eco Living Advice’s tale of whether natural or man-made materials are more eco-friendly – and as usual it is not as straight-foward as you might think! So open up Eco Clothes and see both sides of the debate!

But if you want to get away from where you are for a while – or for ever – then maybe take a look at The Investor’s information with some help Researching moving abroad.

Whatever you decide – do take plenty of photos!

.

Why travel miles from home to stay in a half empty or overcrowded hotel – when you can mingle?

By staying in a local home, not only can you get to know a bit more about the country you are visiting and what the local people really eat and drink when at home – but you can get the real thing!

Popping out of your hotel for a day trip is all well and good if you are supporting local trade and communities – but what if you could live in that community without being a ‘group tour’.  Just you as an individual, experiencing what it’s like to live in the peaceful Chinese mountains or in a bustling European city.

There are 5 main ways that you can easily achieve this – and most of them will cost you a lot less than a package deal – and you will gain a whole lot more than a tan!

1) Homestays

Basically, you live in someones home for a small cost – basically like an exchange student.  They provide all your food and drink (by arrangement) and you usually get your own room and all the trimmings.

This is great if you are trying to learn a language or work in the community yourself as you will see family life and get to see how things really happen.  And even if you don’t understand everything said around the dinner table – you will know that they will go out of their way to make your stay the best they can.

2) On The Couch!

There is a growing industry at the minute for a slimmed down version of the Homestays – and that is where you arrange to sleep on someones couch for a night or more.  That’s it. 

The idea is that you join the ‘community’ first, so peopole can come and stay on your couch if you let them.  You can be as flexible as you want, so your can give them the couch and breakfast only, or you can take them on tours of the city and show them a good time!  So pick your ‘couch’ with care!

3) Farmstays:

Similar again to a homestay, but rather than just learning the language and some polite manners – you get to learn a skill or two as well.

Whether you are working on a cattle ranch in Australia, a vineyard in Argentina or a citrus farm in France, you get to work the land, hone your skills and possibly meet people from all around the world!

4) Foreign Language Stays:

Not many of these around, but you can book yourself into a hotel in most areas of Europe that is affiliated with a language school – and just talk to everyone all day.

To get people from Spain or Italy to actually meet and converse with English speakers is what these schools are hoping, so they literally put you up in a hotel for free as long as you sit in the sun and chat to their students!

5) House Swap:

Although you won’t get to meet the people who live in the house, you will be right in their community and fending for yourself with what they have left you there!

This option is one of the most ‘green’ if you like as both the houses would have been empty for the 2 weeks you and the homeowners were away, but you each filled them - so that is 2 less hotel rooms needed to be built in the whole scheme of things!

Or, you could just stay home……..

.

Instead of waiting until you have booked your green holidays – get planning now!

Think of all the time you have available now to learn something new or start saving for! Even if you don’t know when you will book your next trip – it’s never to late to start thinking about the things that will come in handy when you do.

For example, if you love South America or South-East Asia – then you know you will get there eventually even if you have a few local short breaks in between. And you know that you will want to spend longer there than normal vacations as you love the place. And you know that anything to do with the language, culture or wildlife of those places will interest you.

So, what are you waiting for?
You will never get time back, so why waste it watching that repeat on TV again when you could be reading about a nations history? Why wash the dishes staring out of the window when you could be working through an audio language course while your hands are wet?

And it’s not just the little things you could be achieving. Say for example you enrolled yourself on a distance learning TEFL course and spent a few hours a month completing that rather than searching for an elephant on Farmville!

Or took flying lessons, diving lessons, a photography course or rock climbing adventures. If you practice all these things in advance you can get so much more out of your green adventures – and you will regret it as I have seen people who are in the beautiful Maldives filled with endless coral and passing dolphins and turtles – but they are in the pool taking starter diving lessons rather than out there experiencing the real magic beneath the waves!

Just a few horse back lessons before you leave can build up your confidence for that sunset canter along the sandy beaches on the Caribbean, or a long trek up into the rainforests and mountains of the Andes.

Write Your Plan:
Get yourself a sheet of paper, and create a sort of spider diagram to highlight the places, people, wildlife, or experiences that you love or want to see or experience.  Keep adding to the flow as you think of things.

For example, writing ‘Canada’ could lead to ‘Rockies’ which could lead to ‘skiing’ or ‘horseback riding’; or it could lead to ‘Wilderness’ which could make you think ‘camping skills’ and ‘kayaking’.  Either way, if you read up on these things or gained the new skills needed before you arrived – your trip would become 100 times better.

I wouldn’t want to try setting up a tent for the first time in the middle of nowhere – and I certainly wouldn’t want to try to eat plants or mushrooms in the ‘wild’ having only just brought the book!

Once this diagram is complete, turn it into a 1 or 2 year plan – effectively finding out how long these things take to learn and planning backwards.

So, learning to dive might take around a week if you do it intense, whereas learning Chinese from scratch could take at least 6 months for general conversation – or more.  Fit these in around your existing plans and your work load to find out the best plan for you.

The First Steps:
The easiest first step is a trip to the library.  You don’t need to spend any money or risk any investment – just go grab some books about the things on your list and start reading.

It’s possible that you thought you could learn hieroglyphics yourself – but after reading the first book, you know you need help – or a lot longer!

Same goes for certain countries – what if you thought you liked a certain region and then found a better one – or you found out something about a region that you didn’t know about before and want to learn more!

Everyone has a spare 15 minutes a day to start reading stuff – so take the first step as soon as possible, and get learning!

.

Hello again, and I hope you haven’t been caught up in all this airline trouble at the moment!

No doubt if you had booked a quiet trip by train across Europe, it could have been affected by thousands of other holidaymakers who couldn’t get on a plane! 

Your quiet out-of-the-way hotel could have been besieged by families waiting for a ferry or coach to turn up!  It could make for some really interesting articles but wasn’t much fun I’d imagine!

Anyway, lets get on with those already in the system – starting with a great post about travelling around the States using car-shares rather than the hassle of hiring one yourself or dragging your car across the country!  Follow the tips offered by Byteful Travel in How to Get Paid to Travel 1,000 miles: Craigslist and see if you can go on a great plane-free car-sharing friend-making adventure!

If you are traveling north to Canada instead then why not take a peek at the photos in Mark H’s article: Wicked But Stunning (Jasper National Park, Canada) where you can see images of pure tranquility! And imagine if you a life there for next too nothing – wouldn’t that make it all the more magical?

Eco Living Advice wants to share with you some destinations on the other side of the Atlantic with 7 Eco Friendly Tourist Destinations in the UK, showing that you don’t need to travel across oceans to see some great sites – you have plenty right where you are now!

And if you want to take along some pretty unique clothing and accessories when you travel – maybe for yourself (laptop bag) or for others (hair bands and wallets) – then take a look at some of the links which Gabriella White has in the post 100 Amazing Upcycling Ideas Anyone Can Do and maybe give one a try! It makes using all your rubbish so easy – and you get something totally unique virtually for free!

However, if you want a taste of a country without actually going there, take a look at the huge choice given by Rowena Hebert for travel literature that summons up the taste and feel of exotic or distant destinations that could interest and inspire you: 100 Novels That Let You Travel The World Without Leaving Home. I have added a few to my reading list that I hadn’t heard of before……

……but if you want to see rather than read, then take a look at Daniel Jones’ list of Top 100 Travel Photography Blogs and see some amazing shots – and like me you might wonder why you aren’t doing your own travel journal like this!

And finally, Jerry Rogers offers up a huge list of links for the student and includes a small section on green travel links 100 Essential Blog Posts for Students Going Green, and you might even find something else inspiringly green that you weren’t really looking for as well!

So, get reading and change today for the better…….

.

It’s snowing again! Will it ever stop?

Well, welcome back to Green Holidays and to another blog carnival for a great collection of articles.

So, lets start with every travelers tip of what and what not to eat with a useful guide to eating abroad with Should You Order The Hollandaise Sauce?.

And if you are thinking of having a great spring clean in the next few weeks and don’t want to just throw out your stuff, read these tips for passing on your unwanted goods and having a great day out too! So have a peek at Car Boot Sale Tips!.

Here’s a quick article on the importance of the Argentinian Tango: Save The Tango!

And another on green products that you might need in the cold!!!! So, take a look at How The Olympics is Going Green! | Guffly

And if you are thinking of taking the family dog on your green adventures but they suffer from travel sickness, have a look at these tips to make your journey better and your family complete with Do You Have A Travel Sick Dog?

So, enjoy your trips – and enjoy planning them!!!!!

If you think that ‘green’ issues are just personal choice – then try dropping litter in NYC!

The police force there have an Environmental Conservation department who don’t take kindly to pollution, litter or protected species amongst other things.  And won’t be shy in telling you so either.

Apparently there are 20 officers currently dubbed ‘green police‘ working in the city itself and they will respond to anything that breaches current eco friendly incidents like polluting vehicles. 

One such reported incident got the driver of the truck a $700 fine – raising to $1300 if the truck wasn’t upgraded to meet current emissions regulations in 30 days!  The officers have portable monitors they just hold on the exhausts – so there is no second chance once pulled over!

Now that is what I like to see – positive action that really hurts the offenders!  No one is going to stop speeding for fear of a small fine – but throw $700 at someone - and I bet they won’t make the same mistake twice!  Hopefully green offenders will start to get the message too – and buck their ideas up.

And For The Animals:
The police also look out for wildlife law breakers too.  The wider arm of the green police work throughout the whole state of New York, taking care of hunting and fishing licences and regulation – and this extends right into the city.

Fish markets and butchers can all be investigated by the officers looking to spot endangered species amongst the tonnes of produce reaching the restaurants and vendors on the street.  They also know about the acceptable sizes for catches too.  Many species can only be kept for food if they are mature adults and above a certain size.

Shellfish too are monitered with juvenile sizes and protected species not boding well for the trader!  Registration and records of sources for these things are also checked for – and woe betide anyone that can’t prove where they got their products from!

There should be more of these people about – so make sure if you are a resident; you support them to keep them on the streets – and if you are an offender; you need to green up your act – fast!