Green Holidays

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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……..

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Welcome to the first Blog Carnival of the new year - and welcome to 2010!

As expected, everyone has been very busy with the whole festive period - or have been trapped indoors for weeks with all this snow - so there are only a few articles for me to share with you today.

Lets start with some essential reading - especially after I started watching the BBC series ‘Survivors’ the other day where you really need some basic outdoor skills - and of course it helps to be able to take care of yourself outside of the city!  So lets join Dorrie for some reasons to think of Camping: A Valuable Reminder On Survival.

And surviving as a vegan while travelling can also be a bit tricky - so have a peek at 20stravel’s guide to Top 5 Tips for Eating Vegan On the Road for some inspiration.

Regular writer Guffly gives us not only: Best Eco-Friendly Getaways | Gufflyfor the new year, but also an insight into their eco friendly travel Green Products. Take a look yourself if you are planning a trip soon.

And how about this final article from Tyler Tervooren who spends a lot of time explaining the concept of the StayCation - and it really had me intrigued so take a look yourself at The Art of the Staycation and see if he convinces you……

Enjoy!

I’m afraid there is an green holidays shortage occuring!

I only have 2 that are true to the title of this Blog Carnival and are actually talking about something original!

So, lets start with Guffly’s article on how to Have an Ecofriendly Holiday on a Budget | Guffly. This fantastic eco-article-a-day website is worth going back to time and time again…… Can’t get enough of it myself!

And then Autumn Beck covers an interesting topic: Want the best wet bag for your cloth diapers?

So, that’s it. Sorry!!

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If it doesn’t recycle or have solar panels - is your holiday cottage still a green choice?

I think it depends on your priorites and the area in which it is situated. For example, if it is a city, I think that the emphasis should be on the inner workings of the building. Is it reducing it’s energy use, are it’s appliances A rated, are it’s suppliers doing their part too?

Whereas if it is in the countryside, then I think the priorities can shift a bit to the outside world. Why focus all your attention on the inside of the building when it is the location that is more important. What good is a totally carbon neutral, self-sufficient eco lodge that has flattened all the woodland to build the hotel in the first place and to make a car park?

New builds are very difficult to assess as well, as why build from scratch when you could improve what’s already there without changing the whole location?

I Like Old Fashioned.
It is very difficult for me as a known ‘little-spender’ to see these trendy eco lodges in forests or woodlands that have everything an eco holiday needs but cost an absolute arm and a leg!

I’m all for paying to support my ideals, but paying some of these what I consider excessively high prices, is something that I cannot bring myself to do.

I would rather have the simple holiday with no frills than pay for the luxury of all the bells and whistles that are included in some of these places. Basically I would rather go without appliances for a few days than pay to use super, eco friendly, carbon neutral, low energy fairtrade alternatives!

I recently stayed on a working farm in a renovated 150-year-old barn surrounded by wildlife. And to me, this place was totally natural and a perfect environmentally sensitive location.

The farm owner had gone completely out of his way to preserve the landscape (his hedges are about 1000 years old), protect wildlife (he has banned hunting and doesn’t use pesticides), encourage wildlife (owl boxes and restoring grasslands) and helping animals (he’s released badgers and hedgehogs, rehomed battery-farmed chickens and taken on 2 rescue dogs and 4 feral cats!).

The Location.
This farm is in a protected historic landscape and it’s a shame that their criteria aren’t as strict as his!

I often think of the perfect eco lodge in my eyes, and it’s a bit like here.

I don’t need all the trendy furniture and attractions of what appear to be the only eco lodges out there - they are more like boutiques or top-of-the-range holiday resorts.

Yes, they look totally perfect and some of the locations are amazing - but I couldn’t think of anything better than a small self-sufficient unit in amongst the landscape and the wildlife. Ideally a protected warm indoor area that had some basic amenities and was right in the thick of it.

Basically, I want a camping experience without all the other campers, and I want a place I can stand up in which has running warm and cold water. Anything more is a bonus!

This place certainly had more, (well, it was a holiday cottage) but it was away from all the other ‘campers’ and it was right in the countryside. I could - and did - go out for a walk everyday - and sometimes within less than 5 minutes from my door, there were groups of fallow deer in sight, and the sound of a tawny owl carried on the wind.

On Balance.
Well, I know he won’t win any ‘eco hotel’ awards for his cottages themselves - but that didn’t seem to be his initial intention. I think he just wanted to enjoy the land and the landscape - and he has done just that.

There are many ‘eco’ things he could do in terms of the cottages themselves, as could we all in our own homes, but I really think that he has achieved some really wonderful things in terms of restoring the land to a more natural form. The wildlife are thriving and there is surely more to come.

I’m glad we found it, and we hope that he continues to make a difference!

If you are in the south of England and are looking for a holiday cottage - why not try here. Use this link to take a look at the place.

Here we go again with a few more great ideas from hotels to save energy without compromising on expected standards….

Let Me In!
Your keys are another energy-saving idea.

Many places I have stayed have the same key that lets you into the main building as well as into your room. Now I know it doesn’t sound like much of a saving to you - one key, but there were about 40 rooms where I stayed and another 500 or so other hotels in the chain.

So now at least 20,000 keys have been ’saved’ just for this hotel chain. That is a lot of metal and manufacturing we can do without!

And, one step better possibly are the credit-card shaped entry cards. Not only can they be made of recycled and eco friendly materials - they can also be programmed to fit any door. Therefore the loss of a card or the replacement of a fitting need not be so wasteful as replacement locks and keys.

They can also allow you access to other private or exclusive areas. For example, if your hotel acquires additional buildings or offers the use of some other private facilities like a gym or indoor pool.

And, would you rather have 3 separate keys jangling around or just the one credit-card size ‘key’ to carry around?

Tiny Bath:
If you are lucky enough to get a room with a bath, then it is very likely that it is a funny ’shallow’ bath (where the sides are the normal height, but the bottom is half the normal depth) or a ‘half-bath’ where you can’t fit in normally, and even I at just over 5ft can’t get more than 50% of my body underwater at the same time!

Well, at least they are offering you the option - even if they are severely restricting the amount of bath water each guest can use.

However, they normally also have a really powerful shower that no doubt uses just as much water as a decent bath - except it fills the room with steam and usually has water escaping around the edges of their ill-fitting material shower curtains all over the floor!

And ignoring the bath, why do some rooms seem to have not thought about other eco-saving ideas in the bathroom, like not having the toilet paper dispenser on the wall behind you - this just encourages you to use more paper as it is so far away. Or not having anywhere to hang up your towels - therefore you are forced to hang them over chairs or wherever, bringing dampness into the main rooms.

Even silly things like having the light pull too close to the wall and/or with a giant piece of wood or plastic on the end. This only encourages damage to the wall surface behind it and so increasing the number of times the room has to be re-decorated.

The number of times I have missed the pull and it’s smacked into the paintwork, or I’ve scraped the wall with my fingernail and chipped off some paint…..

Anyway - if you have seen any more green inventions on your travels - or could think of a new one - let us know right here!

Have you ever wondered why your hotel or guest-house does the oddest things?

I was recently staying overnight in a well known UK hotel chain and noticed that they had a tiny kettle. My partner thought it was a space-saving ploy - but when you think of it - it makes perfect ‘green’ sense. You only ever need to boil the kettle for 2 cups of coffee max in a 2 person room, so why offer the chance to boil far too much water every time.

It’s nice when somewhere offers you the chance to be green without having to think about it or be too put out. And I cover a few of them here - and a few ideas for the future…….

As Standard:
Nearly all hotel rooms now come with the obligatory notice about towels - saying if you don’t want them washed needlessly then leave them on the rails or wherever. But, some places go that little bit further - and in places you may not have noticed or that aren’t so preached about - like the kettle.

Some things are forced on you though - and are not always appreciated. One classic example is the key to your room being the trigger for the power to work in your room. This way you cannot accidentally leave any lights on while you are out adventuring. However - it also means that you won’t be returning to an air-conditioned room even if you are only heading out for a few minutes.

It also means that if one of your party is heading out, they can’t take the key otherwise you are plunged into darkness and/or tremedous heat! Meaning that you have you be awake or not in the shower when they want to return so you can let them back in.

One way to counter the hot room is to make full use of the thick curtains that most hotels have over the giant windows. Keeping them closed all the time will prevent the sun from shining into your room and heating it up like a furnace! However, some would say ‘what is the point of going somewhere hot if you shut out the sun!’. But it saves on air-con and therefore energy. If you want to be hot - go outside!

Lights Everywhere!
Many hotel rooms also seem to have light switches all over the place. One main light, one either side of the bed, a few over the desk and sometimes another in the small ‘hallway’ area. Why?

Well, it would make sense to give you the opportunity to get the best light for wherever you decide to sit - whether you are on your laptop at the table, resting on the bed or just pottering around - but it also gives you the chance to only have one on at a time rather than lighting up the whole room just to sit in the corner!

So far so good. Find out a few more neat tricks they have up their sleeves in Part 2

Stay in the amazing Torres del Paine EcoCamp and experience the rush!

With this amazing experience you can camp in relative comfort in Patagonia. The rooms/tents/domes are a neat half-way between comfy hotel rooms and a standard tent and are based on the traditional tribal Kawesqar huts resembling an igloo - and perfect for deflecting the high winds that sweep this area.

You can stand up in them and they are right on natures doorstep - but you don’t have to eat on your knees (although you can if you want too) and you won’t ruin the location with a giant obtrusive building with added energy requirements……

And these structures can (and are) moved regularly to allow the grass and plants to recover and regrow without showing signs of continued human destruction!

The Camp:
There are different types of dome available depending on your needs, group size and you budget!

Suite Domes- Have double or twin beds, chairs and units - and are heated with a low-emission wood stove. The electricity for each unit is generated with both a micro-hydro turbine and solar panels. All units also have a private bathroom, composting toilet and food waste facility.

Standard Domes- Also have 2 twin or a double bed, and have clear holes in the roof of the structure so you can see the stars! These are slightly smaller in size as they have no private bathroom facilities. Toilets and showers are available in separate units which are of a high standard.

Group Domes - There are also 2 giant domes for all visitors: 1 for cooking and eating, and the other (at nearly 20ft in diameter) for relaxing and socialising.

The Resources:
Basically, they make sure that they are as little known as possible! They don’t advertise on site as their site does move slightly with time and the tents are completely removed in winter.

They use natural resources and renewable energy as much as possible, and try to create as little waste as possible, by ordering in bulk and less often to reduce transport waste and excess packaging.

They separate all waste - and even feed their organic waste to a neighboring pig-farm! They also have only composting toilets on site. They are also working with the CarbonFund to be carbon neutral.

Food is prepared in bulk by the staff and eating is a group affair to make sure that all the resources and energy are reduced, rather than spread out through the evening.

The Experience:
You can wake up here with a perfect view of the magnificent Torres Del Paine National Park outside of your room. The domes look absolutely amazing at night - and are very impressive inside.

There are a number of trips on offer around the great Patagonian wilderness, and can be aimed at either the mountaineering, the sight-seeing, the natural formation, wildlife, or just peaceful trekking here and there.

Guides can arrange for trips further afield - but if you are based here - it seems a shame to take day trips to other places and miss out on this wonderland!

And If You Needed More:
This adventure firm won the National Geographic ‘Best Adventure Travel Company’ award for the 2nd consecutive year, and is listed in Alistair Sawday’s Green Places to Stay, Rough Guides Clean Breaks, The International EcoTourism Society (TIES) and was even mentioned by USA Today.

However, it is a shame that these locations are so expensive that they restrict the eco trip to just those who have so much money that they could pay for us all to go on vacation in a normal campsite for a month or 2!

At around $1400 for only 3 nights in the eco-camp (1 night elsewhere) and 3 days trekking per person, not including flights to the country or transfers to the site, it certainly isn’t cheap! At least all meals are included!

But, wow - what an experience! Go to EcoCamp Patagonia to see more…….

How can a country do so well in some things and so bad in others?

We all know from our own experiences that we are better at some aspects of green living, but not so hot on others. 

For example, recycling, reusing and reducing everything, having your own allotment and not having kids may well earn you massive green brownie points - but then you can easily talk yourself into that sunshine break in the Caribbean!

So, how do countries make those choices?

I was recently reading about Malta in the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe and I was very pleased with their green credentials.

They have several de-salination parks and have done so for decades.  They have a natural shortage of water being so hot and so small that they also don’t really have gardens either - so that they don’t have to waste resources watering them.

The Maltese people build on every square inch of ground so that no land is wasted - and they build small and dark properties in tiny thin streets to maximise the shade and shadow around their properties.  This means that they don’t have to cool themselves with energy-sapping air conditioning.

Their tiny windows stop the sun from heating their houses back up the following morning (unlike all the tourist flats that have great big sliding windows to let in as much sun and heat as possible - well, the air con will cool it down afterwards!).

Their public transport - old buses - runs a regular cheap service so car use can be reduced, and they recycle almost everything.

And, as the evening arrives, everyone files out onto the streets and promenades and parks to mix with friends which keeps community spirit high (no one is going to grafitti, drop litter or cause damage to the areas their family and friends visit every day!).  It also, as a result, reduces energy consumption indoors as nobody is watching TV and leaving their lights on!

Sounds great for an eco destination?

Until you put everything else together, like how to get there.  Most people will fly there as it is still about an hour or so from it’s nearest neighbour Sicily.  Even overland commuters need to get to the very toe of Italy, before boating to Sicily, then crossing most of the island to get the ferry to Malta.  Other boat crossings are available - but if you are thinking of a cruise ship - you may as well fly for all the eco credentials they have!

They are also building all the time, building upwards and outwards.  Recent developments all along the main Strand in Sleima - right to the very end.  All hi-rise apartments for more and more tourists. 

The whole region is just one great big dust cloud.  All the parked cars are covered with a layer of dust - as well as some of the stray cats!  Just in 1 photo of the skyline there were about 10 different cranes at work!

The regular buses are all old though, and the fumes that come ballooning out of the exhausts are not always a pretty site!

And lets not even go into detail about the wildlife offences that this country is often remembered for.

I could go on, but I only wanted to touch on the fact that many countries are touting how well they are doing in green tourism and development - and many of the things they achieve are to be rewarded and applauded - but it cannot be at the loss of other standard requirements - like peace and quiet!

So, whenever you are sizing up one destination against the other, don’t just look at what you know is good - maybe make a comparison list of the things that are bad as well, and think about those.

For example would you be more annoyed if someone shot dead 500 endangered birds than if they crammed 500 more holiday apartments on the coast?  Would you rather a country reduced their water consumption or decreased the number of buses they use?

Interesting discussions.

Make sure you choose and clean and an eco friendly beach for your summer vacation!

I know that there are some great beaches around - but do they comply to strict standards of safety, information and services.

When you are travelling with the family - you want to be sure that the beaches that you want to spend your time at and the waters you want to swim in are safe for everyone involved.

Now, there are some beautiful beaches around the world that are stunning, isolated, crammed with wildlife or jagged cliffs - but they are not for families and usually not that safe for children.  The waters around them may also not be safe for swimming either.

What the Blue Flag programme offer is the knowledge of cleanliness and safety.

Who Are They?
In 1985, the first French municipalities were awarded the ‘Blue Flag’ after complying with certain criteria relating to sewage treatment and therefore bathing water quality.

2 years later, it was the European Year of the Environment and so many changes were made across the continent - including the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) putting forward their extension plans for the Blue Flag Scheme.

It was accepted, and plans were drawn up for an international scheme for beaches and marinas to prove their cleanliness.  It also looked at sustainable coastal development and future planning policies.

In that year 244 beaches and 208 marinas from 10 countries were awarded Blue Flag status.

Where Are We Now?
Since 1987, more beaches and marinas in more countries have sought to be registered and identified as a better beach, and now over 3300 beaches and marinas in 39 countries are certified.

From the Bahamas to Morocco and from Russia to New Zealand, people are seeking out these clean, safe and sewage free places to relax!

The criteria for beaches are pretty simple and include Environmental Education and up-to-date information about water quality, code of conduct and the Blue Flag scheme; Coastal Management with regards to dog fouling, litter bins and how it is run; Safety & Services including life guards, first aid stations, maps and toilets.

There is slightly different criteria for marinas - and there is also a scheme for boat owners too.  They need to agree to modify their behaviour to benefit the coast, the sea and the wildlife on both.

Criteria include no disposal of waste or sewage overboard, using eco friendly products both inside and outside of their boats, fishing techniques must be controlled to not affect the fish or sea beds and boats are not to encroach on bird breeding grounds or other sensitive landscapes.

Your Contribution:
Don’t forget that beaches are businesses - so make sure you only support those who have bothered to make them clean and safe. 

If less people visit beaches and seaside towns that haven’t tried to attain Blue Flag standards - those places will start to see revenue and visitors fall - hopefully kick-starting them into action to raise their standards in the future.  Your future.

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Hello, and thanks for joining us again here at Green Holidays And Adventures Blog Carnival.

We have some very different articles for your this month, including on the road tips for cutting down your impact, to a school competition and on to a delightful eco resort in the south-west of England!

Handy tips:
So, beginning with Myscha Theriault covers some of the ways your choice of toiletries and accessories on the road can really lessen your impact and save you time and money to - so enjoy Going Green on the Road for these tips.

Then a rather analytical Brian Maxwell covers some great points for all you people out there who don’t know where to get started with the whole ‘eco friendly’ lifestyle.  Take a moment to read his pensive article on The Green Movement’s impact on Environmental Problems and go from there.

Local Trips:
Joshua offers up a selection of ideas on how to keep to kids entertained and close to nature at the same time - and all close to home!  Read his Tips for Learning during Summertime to get started.

And if you already have some great ideas for getting those kids out and about and enjoying themselves, then take a look at 00FF00’s article - which is a competition. Basically, you enter your ideas on how to Get Kids Outdoors and you could win a part of the £500 of prizes and an eco friendly computer for your chosen UK school.

Other Hols:
Cherie Ve Ard offers up a perfect example of how people can live on less and offer reason why a lot of people don’t!  Check out Excuses #5: Environmental Impact for a peek at how they do it.

Erika however, just offers a great idea on really getting into the heart of the earth on a low impact green holiday beneath the ground!  Here’s Going Caving in Mexico.

And finally Tamara gives us a short interview with the owners of an eco resort in the UK’s West Country - a very picturesque region where I often take vacations myself.  So read Eco-speak with Trevenna’s Jonathan Rowe to learn more about it.

Thanks again for your time and thanks to all those who offered their articles.