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…..

Would you rather plan several small parties – or one big one?

We all know how difficult it is to get loads of your friends or family in one place at the same time. Planning that office party, family trip or surprise ‘passed your driving test’ party is never easy – and to be honest – not very green either!

We seem to find ourselves trying to ‘big up’ virtually everything these days – and mini celebrations are cropping up all over the place.

It’s nice to be invited to BBQ’s and afternoon teas all the time, but isn’t it rather a waste of resources to just keep celebrating quite normal things?

I don’t want to be a party pooper, but these celebrations are becoming big business, and can cost quite a lot of money to set up – not to mention the things that we buy for these parties are normally not so green either.

Shiny banners, balloons and disposible party accoutrements are not top of the list for their green credentials – nor is a pile of processed food, crisps and cakes!

Think Big:
So, why not stop planning for the tiny things and think of something immpressive, like renting a huge property in the woods, in the countryside or even in a lighthouse?

There are a huge number of absolutely stunning and amazing properties that you can rent out for the weekend or fortnight that will be a lot better than the corner of the office canteen or a few seats in a local pub.

photo credit: Kenski1970

Now don’t let the £2000 a week price tag put you off either, as these places usually have around 10 rooms or more, so that is going to be less than £200 each for a week board and lodgings in a place so unique that you wouldn’t be able to stay in it by yourself.

Not to mention it probably has tennis courts, sun rooms, terraces, a beautiful garden, secret rooms, spiral staircases, cellars and roof terraces. Now, you won’t get them down the social club!

It All Adds Up:
By planning something big like this for your family or friends means that you probably won’t need to book another holiday that year – have this one at home.

You can all car share, buy and eat in bulk and generally spend more time talking and playing with each other that you don’t drain on other resources elsewhere.

Perfect for that green holiday you have been thinking of – and a perfect way to have a green adventure!

And it saves time, money and tinfoil for all those cakes and cards!

Cod & Chips; Tuna & Sweetcorn and Salmon and Cucumber sandwiches – Just STOP!

Of course, as humans in a developed nation – we can eat whatever we choose; but should we be a little more picky?

As consumers, we can demand whatever we want from retailers and manufacturers without donning placards, signing a 10,000 people petition or starting any riots.

How? you may ask – How else can you get people to listen to your opinions?

It’s called: Your Choice.

By choosing to buy a certain product, we are also choosing to leave something else behind – and it is what is left behind that forces retailers and manufacturers make big changes.

If 40,000 people all chose not to eat cod this week – there would be plenty of it left on the shelves of shops or in the fridges or restaurants. And this means that they probably won’t order any more of it for a while.

It also means that they are selling out of all the other fish products that you are buying, and so need to buy more of those to suit your needs.

Basically, your shopping choices can help to make big changes – and save threatened species.

Cod, Tuna and Salmon:
Of course you can still chose to eat any of these threatened species if they are available for sale when you eat out on holiday, but it is interesting to know a bit about what makes them so attractive to fishermen.

Firstly, they are big and live in shaols or behave in a way which makes them easy to catch; and due to their size and tasty flesh, they make more money per fish than the same weight of sardines (tuna can weigh up to 200kg and are mostly muscle – but the same weight of sardines would be riddled with bones and guts – even if they are still just as tasty).

The only downside here is that the reason they get so big is because they live for so long – and living a long time generally means that they reach sexual maturity later in life. Ultimately, if we catch more adults than can be replaced by reproduction then we have a serious problem.

A second downside to these ‘higher’ fish, is that they are predatory fish and so have to eat lots of other smaller fishes to get so big themselves. And as happened with Tuna recently, they can accumulate very high levels of toxin (a little bit from each of the smaller fish they ate over the years) and can actually became dangerous to humans if ingested.

The Answer?
We need to do the opposite to what we do now.

By aiming to eat all those little tiny fish we could not only help the larger fish numbers to recover, but we could also eat more sustainably and more healthily!

Smaller fish like herring, kippers and sardines reproduce very fast – so catching the adults doesn’t affect the number of young still in the water; and as they are not predatory fish, they will not accumulate high levels of toxins and heavy metals through their feeding habits.

And, as they are not normally caught by the big trawlers (who want to save all the space on their ships for the larger species), these fish can be caught by more sustainable and small scale fishermen making the most of the oceans along our coasts without affecting fish stocks.

So, next time you pull over in a small village for a travelling lunch – try something different!

No flights, local services and eating out don’t always add up to Green Holidays!

Say you decided to stay in your own country, drive to town with something worth seeing in it and eat ‘local food’ for a few days – sounds like a reasonable plan for a green adventure, doesn’t it?

But what if the actual story was: you drove yourself and your partner 300 miles to a town with a giant themepark close by and ate take-outs?

Not quite so green after all.

But it is what many people do when they stay home for their vacation – whether they meant to be green or just wanted to ‘save’ money.

But the savings are not just in physical money spent – there is an invisible cost too.

The Problem:
The ideal ‘green holiday’ is something that not many people want to actually do with the few precious days off a year – especially if their job is quite hectic.

They don’t want to carry all their clothes on a train to get there in the first place; then after arriving in the nearest town – they don’t want to have to get public transport to their guest house when there are ‘hotel chains’ right outside.

Preparing food would also be a chore – as even if their eco-friendly guest house gave them use of the kitchen, they would have to then go and buy all their food from a local store – check it was all locally grown or organic (no usually the case in smaller or more rural towns) and then carried it back on foot or by bus.

Alternatively, they would have to go out all the time and try to find a suitable eatery for their meals – and I’m sure after a few days in the town – they would have exhausted the eco choices and then have to keep going back and using all the same places.

The Answer:
Well, it is difficult to plan a totally green holiday even close to home – but you can eliminate the worst offenders along the way – like the flight.

That one part of a holiday could account for a huge amount of carbon emissions – so even if you drove your half empty car 1000 miles across the country, you still would have emitted less.

photo credit: woodleywonderworks

You still want pleasures though – otherwise why take a holiday in the first place – so go 50/50. If you love the city – then settle for that not-so eco friendly chain hotel on the high street, 2 seconds from the train station – as you won’t be needing the car in town, so can make eco savings elsewhere.

If you love the countryside, then you can drive to the isolated eco friendly guesthouse with a car full of food as you probably won’t need the car when you arrive as you will be walking everywhere anyway.

The same can be done for other areas of your holiday, think of what you actually want out of your holiday in the first place – what is most important. Then think about green savings around that.

If you want luxury; you might be able to cut back on the distance travelled. If you need a specific location; then look to change your transport or maybe increase the time you are there.

Holidays are meant to be fun – and it doesn’t hurt if they are a shade of green too!

You know how to pack a rucksack properly – but what about save a life?

We all learn to pack our racksacks top heavy, learn which wildfood we can eat, how to get our tents back in their tiny bags, how to purify water and how to run away from a bear.

But what about help another human being?

When was the last time you took a first aid lesson? At school, in your teens or because your workplace told you to go?

Why do we wait – when our friends or family could get injured at any time!

Things that we learn on these courses could save other peoples lives – as well as our own, so why don’t we sign up in droves?
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What are you going to do?
Things change all the time in medicine and first aid – so some things your parents told you or that you learnt over 5 years ago might not still be current – like laying a person who fainted on their back with their legs raised. Wrong.

How about pinching the top of the nose and tipping the head back to stop a nose bleed! Wrong. Putting soothing creams or lotions on a burn – WRONG!

You don’t even check for a pulse anymore – there are better, more effective ways to save a life.

Obviously we all hope that we never have to deal with an emergency – but if you like to travel a lot – especially out in the countryside, emergency first aid could be your only chance of survival.

Call The Emergency Services!
It is all well and good to assume that the emergency services will come and save the day – but if the casualty isn’t breathing or is bleeding heavily – then 10 minutes is too long to wait. And you will probably be out in the countryside or up a mountain!

photo credit: Adam Tinworth

So, you could save someone by starting first aid straight away.

Immediate Action:
I can’t teach you first aid in this article – but I know that making sure that someone is breathing is more important that calling 999 in the first instance. The time it takes you to make the call is more time that they aren’t breathing.

By first checking the airways are clear and listening for breathing you could have done all that was needed to save a life. People who are unconscious and on their backs can suffocate on their own tongue – so by you moving their head to free the tongue – you can help them breathe again. Then, by putting them in the recovery position – and knowing that they can still breathe – you could have just saved their life.

However, if you make the call first; all the while you are trying to describe where you are for the emergency services to find you – they will be getting worse.

First Aid is about dealing with the most critical thing first – like not breathing. There is no point stopping them bleeding if they aren’t breathing, and no point moving them into a more comfortable place if they aren’t breathing either.

And an Emergency First Aid course can help you understand why things are important and when they are not. The course will help you gain confidence in your actions even if they seem rather odd and ‘different’ to what other people are saying.

You would have taken the most up-to-date course (to protect your friends and family) so it will be the best you can do for a stranger too!

And thank you for caring.

Buying a dog can be one of the best experiences for a family or individual – but take care!

It’s not just about buying from a reputable breeder, or making sure that it is vaccinated and wormed – it’s about what that dog can do for you – or what it can never do.

For example – if your dog is prone to skin problems and needs cream applied, you can’t take it for water-filled days out. If it get out of breath quickly with its short ‘bulldog’ face – you can’t go cycling with it or for long walks with it – or take it anywhere that it might get too hot!

And if it is prone to digestive upsets, takes certain medicines every 6 hours, has sore joints, patches of fur missing or can’t stop scratching – how much fun is he going be when you take him on holiday with you?

Your Dog Breed:
Some dog breeds are just the wrong shape to be outdoor active pets – for example any dog with a very short nose, dogs which are longer than they are tall, dogs with really droopy skin and dogs that have no fur!

photo credit: Jen and a Camera

Most dogs like this will have some sort of problems when you take them out over their lifetime. Now I am not saying that dogs with normal faces and skin won’t suffer from problems – I’m saying that these types probably will.

So if you want to run, swim, cycle, climb and basically spend hours out in the sunshine (and rain) with your dog – then think about getting a hardy average-shaped breed – like a pointer/retriever/terrier type. And avoid Great Danes, Bassett Hounds and Pugs!

Extra Un-Green:
In addition to choosing a dog that suits your lifestyle – you will also be choosing a dog that demands less from the environment.

For example, endless trips to the vets, tablets, treatments, therapies and operations can’t reduce your eco footprint can they? Even if you are insured (which I recommend) that only covers the money for treatment, it doesn’t buy carbon credits for all the fuel and chemicals you will be using!

Dogs which need extra grooming and clipping add to their footprints too – as well as dogs that have to be on special diets.

But, if you want a pet dog that can enjoy the outdoors as much as your – then consider all these things, and plan for the dogs lifespan (10-20 years).

They might not have any problems when they are young, but they will soon catch up with them as they mature.

If you lost your dog on holiday – what could you do to get it back?

When you are in a new area – you may not know about the local vets, rescue centres or capture policy for ‘found’ pets.

And you really should!

Needless to say, if there was a simple and fast service available that did all the searching for you; shouldn’t you know about it?

Obviously not all countries offer such services – but if there was one available where you were heading – shouldn’t you really be signing up? Otherwise how would you find your lost dog?

Pet Finding Procedure:
Generally, if someone loses a pet like a dog, they would start by calling a few local vets and rescue centres locally, leaving details with everyone about their dog.

They may also contact other local services like pet stores to take their details – possible enlisting people to start travelling around looking for the animal.

And all this costs money and uses other people resources. The owner may just be making phone calls, but it is the charities that are using up time and money keeping records of all these details.

photo credit: ToniProtto

On average my local pet rescue centre gets 3 or 4 calls every day with people looking for their lost dogs and other pets. And each call takes at least 10 minutes of (volunteered) time, as well as ink and paper to record the details.

And if you multiply that up by all the other people that are called up about the same pet – and all the lost pets in a month – this can get quite costly.

But What If You Are Lost Too?
This is the standard route for someone living at home – but what if you were travelling and you were in a new town or city. Would you know which companies to call to help you? Would you even know where you were to say where your dog was last seen?

And – what is the standard procedure for finding dog owners? Some countries use microchips, some use tattoes and others give you 7 days to find your own dog in a Lost Dog Shelter – otherwise it is simply rehomed!

That is why it is worth knowing what happens to pets in the areas you are visiting – or finding someone who does!

The Experts:
There are several companies available now who know all the local vets to any given address in an instant.

Once your dog has been reported to them, they will alert all relevant centres and vets as to the description and contact details of you and your dog. You don’t need to worry about a thing.

Having built up a relationship with all these vets and centres, their faxes and texts are treated as urgent rather than as routine. So if your dog has been handed in to anyone on their contact list – you will have a result in no time!

No wasted calls, no endless reciting of your details and dogs description – just one call and then you can focus on looking for your dog rather than on the phone!

So I think it is best practice to make sure you find out about these companies before you head off on your green holidays – rather than wasting resources after the event!

This is where the phrase ‘Leave it to the Experts’ rings true!

Green Travel keeps working even when you have stopped!

Now we all know that parking in town can be a complete nightmare at the best of times – and I suppose that is why we favour purpose-built car parks as a result.  They usually have clearly marked out car-size spaces for everyone to park in and arrows telling you which way to drive so you don’t bump into other drivers!

That way – we all know that they have worked out the greatest number of spaces that that particular car park can hold and everyone can fit in with no wasted space – or accidents!

However, not so for the country car park or the long parking bays with only the end zones marked out.

How is it best to park in these spaces when you first arrive?

Eco Friendly Parking:
Now you might not think that where you park could have eco friendly – or not so eco friendly – consequences, but it does.

Take for example the person parking infront of an entrance or right infront of a sign that says ‘Do Not Park Here’  You can tell immediately that this car could cause other people some trouble – wasting their time, their money and possibly causing an argument.

But can you see how they are also reducing the revenue of local services, decreasing visitor numbers for local attractions and businesses as well as possibly affecting the number of people that visit that location over the next 50 years!

Obviously these are scaled up problems – but if you arrived in a town or remote beauty spot only to find that you can’t park anywhere or others have been irresponsible – you might never return.

If you had to drive 40 minutes to visit an old church and you could never find a space there – would you keep going back year after year?

Or you just wanted to grab a quick snack and there was never a space outside the shop when you drove by – wouldn’t you just find somewhere else?

But what happens to those places when you decide to go elsewhere?  Who buys their products, uses their services or donates to their cause?

Think About It:
So, what can you do to make sure that you don’t affect your local services when you pop into town or drive into the countryside to walk the dog?

Firstly – think about how you can maximise the number of spaces in the place you are visiting.  Put simply – always park up to the edges or the spaces and close to any other vehicles on site.

photo credit: Blyzz

If there is a car in the middle of nowhere and you park away from it in the middle of nowhere too – how can you be sure that an exact number of cars can fit into the gap you have left? Surely you have been looking for a space before and thought ‘if only that car was a foot to the left it would create enought space for a whole car’.

Obviously nothing you can do about it while you wait – but very often when that person does move – someone else parks right in the same place themselves – just the 1 car instead of 2.

And those thoughtless people who park half a car away from the end of a bay!  I mean there was no reason not to park up the edge of the bay – leaving all the rest of the bay free for other vehicles – but they chose to just park wherever they wanted making sure that other people couldn’t park close to the shops/doctors/hotel/castle/seafront/etc.

Your Choice:
Now I know there are lots of different size cars on the road, and it seems a bit weird to park next to another car when the rest of the car park is empty – but it won’t always be empty.

People need to visit places to keep them there – and so surely, the more people that can park close to where they want to go, the more money they will spend there.

And it’s not all about using public transport either – I mean if I am on my way home from somewhere in my car and need to grab some bread or milk – I don’t want to have to walk miles to get them – I want to be able to pull up and park real close to the store and pop in and out in a second.  So, if I can’t get close in the car – I will go to another shop where I know I can.

Not everyone can walk a long way either and buses don’t go absolutely everywhere – so people do need to use their cars to get to places – and so rather than just pulling up somewhere are parking without a care for anyone else – think eco.

If you want that store to be there for your convenience – then you need to help it get as many customers as it can to turn a profit.  If you want to keep using that car park near the National Trust woodland – then make sure as many people as possible can park there are pay their money to keep it open!

If you park for too long in a space, take up more than 1 space or block other road users – you are harming the very services and locations that you are using yourself.

You might have driven there in as ‘green’ a way as you could – so don’t spoil it when you get there!

You might be paying to park on gravel or grass – but you are saving the view!

Have you ever stopped and thought about where the money from that Pay & Display machine actually goes? 

Well, have you considered that it is those few coins you push in the meter that are bringing you to that car park in the first place!

Without the ease of that carpark – would you really be visiting that place at all?  If there was no parking in that cute village – would you even go there?  I mean, if parking was banned around Longleat, Stonehenge, The Eden Project, the Lake District, Legoland and Hadrian’s Wall – would you go and visit them?

If your favourite restaurant, gastropub or countryside tavern had no parking – would they be your favourite anymore?

The Penny Drops!
The land that car parks are on always costs somebody money.  Whether it is the cost of maintenance, the cost of renting it off a landlord, or even the cost of not selling it – there is money involved with leaving land ‘spare’ just for cars.

Many businesses and companies think that it is worth the cost in terms of the customers it attracts – and they will usually offer ‘free’ parking to customers.  They will however factor in the cost of that parking into your bill somehow – but you don’t mind paying it in exchange for great food and great service!

photo credit: James Byrum

Others without food or the chance to actually come face to face with their customers sometimes charge for the parking itself.  The great service is however a bit more difficult for some to see.

Countryside Parking:
When you turn up to a car park in the countryside to walk your dogs, spend time outside with your family, visit that castle, earthworks or river, or just admire the view – you are stepping into that service without even noticing.

Someone has had to create that car park – and then maintain it.  Someone else probably makes sure that there is an up-to-date information sign for you to read, a leaflet or 2 about wildlife and landmarks, some seating and possibly some signage to make your stop here more pleasant.

Yet another person might be in charge of installing and maintaining toilets on the site, creating a bus link to the site and even finding/hiring an ice cream van or hot food stall on site in the summer. 

Another team of staff or volunteers may well be engaged in fixing fencing, marking parking bays and bicycle racks, fixing potholes amongst other things.  They may also arrange for bins on site – both rubbish and dog poop – and even for picking up dropped litter in and around the car park and disposing of it elsewhere.

Now can you see the service?
So if you turn up at a place you want to visit and you easily find a well marked parking space which isn’t filled with empty food wrappers and dog poo – the view is just as you expected with information and clean toilets close by – and there isn’t a burnt-out car in sight – why are you complaining about paying £2 to park there?

You wanted to visit this site didn’t you?  And you expect it to be as beautiful as it was last time?  So why are you not happy to pay somebody for keeping it that way?

Sometimes, people assume that all councils just charge for car parks to ‘make more money out of us’ – but if you look closely at parking signs – most of them go directly into funding the site you pay at – like all National Trust car parks (however if you are an NT member your parking is free anyway).

So before you grumble about spending a few coins to be somewhere you want to be (I mean it is just like paying an entrance fee to visit a museum or castle, etc except it is outdoors) – think about these 2 things:

1) The fact that you actually wanted to come here to this exact carpark of your own accord because it offers something special or something different, and;

2) The fact that there are plenty of free carparks and laybys across the country and plenty of other bits of quite similar-looking fields you could go for a walk across instead!

Your choice!

Taking a few wrong turns could really clock up the environmental cost of your green holiday!

Sometimes, you can really enjoy a diversion – and many people plan their vacations based purely on where the wind takes them – but not planning your route when you are aiming for a specific place can really clock up your eco footprint!

Not only will you use more fuel, you may get stressed, have to re-fuel, eat out or even book an extra night in a hotel you happened across out of desperation!

Extra Fuel:
This one is obvious really – if you have to drive further to get to your destination – then you will use more fuel.

However, diverting down country lanes, through villages and up and down steep hills can seriously add to this with the reduced speed, gear changes, stopping and starting and increased risk of hazards.  Yes, sometimes these are the fun parts of a journey – but if you haven’t planned them in advance, they could add money to your budget.

The Vehicle:
By getting diverted off a smooth motorway surface onto a B road surface could affect your everything!

Not only could it put extra pressure on the tyres with the uneven surface, you could drop into a pot hole, spray up gravel or mud onto your underside and even scrape through branches and twigs as you pass another vehicle.  None of which will do your vehicle any good!

All the other little things soon add up too, including the extra cleaning it now needs, windscreen wiper use, brake pads, wing mirrors, general wear and tear, rick of puncture, etc.  You could even lose some value off your car if it is brand new!

I know they all seem petty – but all these things add up over time to give your vehicle a shorter lifespan and you the need for extra resources to clean and repair.

Food & Drink:
By getting lost or taking a long diversion could increase the chances of the passengers becoming hungry or thirsty along the way.  Now, you may well have planned for packed lunches or a favourite pub along the way – but diversions just ruin it all.

After a 30 minute panic to get back on route – you may well find that toilet breaks and eating take on a life of their own and you end up paying out for takeaway food along with its associated packaging and carbon footprint just to feel ok about using their toilets.

photo credit: Risager

Not only will this cost you more in money and time – but could waste the plans you made beforehand – I mean those cheese sandwiches you made before you left aren’t going to last all day in a hot car.  And the thermos only keeps coffee warm for so long!

So eating out has not only cost you more in the first place – it has also caused you to waste your own money and resources along the way – and you aren’t even any closer to your destination!

And There Is Yet More:
Obviously there are loads of other things that can end up costing your more in terms of resources if you get lost along the way. 

For example, an unexpected night in a hotel for you all after a few wasted hours.  Just like the food – the hotel you had originally booked won’t give you all your money back after cancelling at such short notice (and could remain empty all night now) and you will have to pay the full price of the only other place you could find for that night. 

Plus, you may have to rush your journey the following day to catch up on where you should be – maybe missing out planned landmarks or viewpoints to do so.

This leads to the worst enemy of a long journey – STRESS!

The more things that go wrong, and the more things you have to cancel, the more stress you will be under to enjoy the holiday in the first place!

So, plan ahead – plan for problems and plan to have a great time!