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!

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The streets of London are now filled with 500 new community bicycles!

As with many cities in Europe, UK’s capital is now promoting the use of city bikes - a simple hire system for local people, commuters and tourists.

Whether you need to get from A to B without the fuss and congestion of the roads or the sardine-like underground system - or you want a leisurely cycle ride through the Royal Parks - this system could be for you.

The Scheme:
Put simply, there are bikes parked up around London that you can borrow for any length of time (albeit the longer you have them the more it costs).

You can sign up online and ‘pay as you go’ so to speak, or soon you will be able to pay with your credit card at a paypoint on the street and take a bike there and then - with your card being charged at the end of your hire period (24hrs after taking the bike).

It is all very simple once you know the limits of the system and the basic charging periods: basically you pay 1 fee for the bike in the first place (for 24hrs) and a seperate fee for the length of time you use the bike for in that 24 hours.

And the fees vary considerably. If you sign up online for annual membership, you can pay less than 12p a day for a bike - paying on the street for it will cost you £1 a day. For the usage fee it varies from Free if you dock the bike within 30 minutes of use - all the way up to £50 for the full 24 hours (and a lot more if you forget to return it before that time!).

Needless to say - as with most things - the more you plan to use it, the cheaper it becomes. What a great incentive!

The Bikes:
The bicycles will be spread all over the City at docking stations - secure lockable bike racks around the streets. All the bikes are identical, suitable for basic riding for over 14 year olds, and all fit into the docking stations perfectly!

The number of bikes at each site will vary, as will the popularity of others - so it is a work in progress to find out how the bikes are used and when.

There are currently over 12,000 registered users and only 500 cycles - so it will be interesting to see how it goes from here!  In theory people will use them at different times for different lengths of time - but the data collected in these first few weeks will be all important in shaping this great scheme for the future.

There is of course always the chance that you turn up at a docking station and there are no bikes for hire - or you arrive at a docking station to find that there is nowhere to park your bike!  Ideally, their maps will help you find the closest alternative - but you could lose time in the early days!

Obviously, for some people this is a much better and cheaper way to travel - as using the bikes for less than 30 minutes is free - so could save a few £’s each way over the bus or tube, and in the summer it will be all that more of a pleasure!

The Future:
Well, I am hoping that the rise in the use of bikes around the busy London streets will make headway for a more pedestrian and cycle friendly destination.

Why do pedestrians always have to have their path blocked by metal railings and have to walk well out of their way to cross a road while congestion-making drivers crawl past in straight lines? 

Why do people and cyclists have to stand in the rain waiting for traffic lights to change to cross the road while polluting drivers are in the dry?

Shouldn’t pavements and cycle lanes have priority over traffic?  If we want a people-friendly and green city - then surely this is the way to go. 

And the more people supporting cycling in the city - the sooner this could happen!

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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!

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!

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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!

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Hello again, and what a lovely time of year it is to be traveling through familiar environments!

There is nothing better for me sometimes, than to just walk a short while from my home to the beach or the countryside with a good book and my binoculars!  Pure bliss on a sunny day like today!

I’ve been out along the beach, up in the countryside - as well as visiting the family now that we all live a lot closer together these days!  Although, I shouldn’t have gone on the trampoline for so long - my legs are aching today!

Well, let’s see what the rest of you have been up to…….

It is quite clear that some of you are also planning to stay home too by the looks of Ana Paula’s article - with the Top 100 Gardening Blogs - many of which are eco friendly green fingered tips - but not all, so make sure you modify the un-green gardening tips!

Try to lighten up or even ‘green’ over your commute to work using Maria Clara tips: 100 Excellent Lifehacks for Your Long Commute. There are quite a few in there that totally make eco sense…….. and best use of your time. I mean if you have to take a journey, why waste it just staring out of the window - learn something new, do something new - make every second count!

Here’s a nice little article on one thing that even I struggle with - Tips for Eating Healthy While on Vacation by Debbie Dragon - and it had a great Vitamin gadget on the site too!

Here’s a lovely sort tale of what wonders a walk in the countryside can have - especially if you happen to pass through a farm - so thanks to Richard with his A Visit to Fulking Hill! - with some great photo’s in there too.

Next, Mike Vogt gives us something very different to think about with his great article on 10 Great Mission Trip Ideas.  Not many people consider the role that religion and religious thinking can have in developing countries.

the beach

And one for the summer: Tara V presents Green Wedding Guide; Planning an Eco-Friendly Exchange of Vows.  A great way to enjoy the best day of your life - as well as making sure that it doesn’t have a negative impact on anyone else!

It’s still sunny, so get back out there!

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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!

So, lets get straight back to it………

6) Keep It Clean:
You can easily buy multi-purpose eco friendly detergents for washing clothes and dishes - and yourself AND without polluting local waterways.  However, differing materials can have very different requirements.

Certain materials are much easier to keep clean or to remove odors from - so make sure you talk to your outdoor specialists to find the best options for your adventure and needs!  Also, make sure you talk to the locals where you are staying as they know all the conditions and - as we found out in Costa Rica - $1 wellington boots were 10 times better than $100 walking boots!

7) And Yourself:
Depending on the conditions where you are staying - and the temperature of local rivers and lakes - you can invest in a smart solar shower.  You just fill up the bag, hoist up onto a post and allow to warm in the sun.  Then simply let out the water when you are ready!

Make sure that you are sensitive to the area though and try to use the smallest amount of toiletries necessary and/or use bio-degradable shower gels and shampoos!  And don’t forget that what you are washing off can also cause damage - so limit the perfumes and hair products too!

Dinner Time:
Depending on the length of your stay away, you may need to cook food.  Obviously the more ready-to-eat food you can carry in the better so you don’t use any excess resources in the open, but when you do need heat - then a portable stove is the best.

You can use it anywhere without the worry of setting fire to brush or nearby vegetation - and you don’t need to collect up natural resources to burn.  Even dead wood and fallen branches are part of the eco-system and many animals depend on them, so take your own fuel!

9) Waterproof Power:
Make sure that you take water-proof matches with you so that when you need light or a flame you are almost 100% guaranteed of it!

Normal matches or even your lighter can stop working if it gets wet or broken - and of course the gas in your lighter won’t last for ever.  Whereas these matches are coated in wax that you scratch off to light.  So as long as you don’t lose them……

10) Extra Lighting:
If you need extra light around the camp overnight or while you are eating or relaxing, then why not take solar-powered lamps with you.

Lightweight versions or these are available in many stores and you would just leave them in the sun while there was daylight, and switch them on after dusk.  No need to worry about wasting candles, watching a fire or pumping your dynamo torch through the evening!

Just sit back and relax!

Obviously, once you get in the habit of these things - you might find that you can save energy back home by doing exactly the same thing - although you’ll have a lovely comfy bed to end up in!

How would you cope without cold drinks and your cell phone in the jungle?

There are times when we will be travelling to places where there isn’t any electricity and depending on how long you will be without this ubiquitous power, there are things you can do to keep things a little bit ‘normal’.

So whether you are camping for 1 night or roughing it for 2 weeks, here are some great tips to help make everything seem better!

1) Cold Drinks:
Now after trekking through mountains or even spending the night out in the open - nothing is more pleasing than a cold, fresh drink - but where will you find on in the jungle or in a remote village?

There could be one in your own bag - a thermos flask.  Normally thought of as something to keep coffee warm - these delightful caddies can also keep things ice cold!

We recently brought a small thermos that keeps things ice cold for up to 24 hours - thats long enough for a fresh morning drink wherever you wake up - and it really works.  Nothing tastes better than cold water when you are parched!

2) Facial Hair
Take a wet shave razor rather than an electric one where ever you travel.  Not only will you save electricity wherever you go - but when the power isn’t quite up to scratch you need not fear.

Alternatively, give up with the whole shaving thing and grow a beard!  Not only will you save the effort of carrying around all the associated toiletries and things - you could better spend that time seeing the sights rather than hunched over in front of tiny mirror and bowl of cold water!

3) Dabble With Dynamo’s
There are loads of products now that are dynamo driven rather than battery powered - making your journey lighter and more eco friendly.

Just a few pumps of the handle and my little dynamo torch will always shine - no worrying about it running out of power when there are noises in the bushes!

And a few winds of my neat little dynamo radio and I can listen to the local news and weather or just some relaxing local music when I am all alone!

4) Let The Sun Shine:
It isn’t only the power of your hands that can generate free power - the sun can too.  Even if the weather isn’t hot the sun can still work for you.

Chargers are available in all sorts of sizes and for all manner of electrical goods.  So whether you are taking your cell or your laptop - as long as you have the right attachments - you can charge them up while you laze about by a beach or you can even do it while walking with backpack mounted panels!

5) And For What’s Left:
There may well still be a few things that cannot be adapted for lower power inputs or don’t have compatible adaptors - so they still need batteries.  But that is just fine.

There are plenty of solar powered battery chargers out there, so buy the best strength rechargable batteries and get going!  (NB: Not all batteries are the same I recently found out and some are so feeble that you barely get any use out of them before they need charging again - so ask a retailer before buying).

Join me for more green holiday tips in Part 2 in a few days……

Can wearing a bikini top be the rudest thing ever?

If you are visiting a local island in the Maldives - then yes, very much so!  It is almost like spitting in the locals faces if you want to relate it to our ideals.  I mean the thought of women baring their shoulders in the Maldivian culture is very offensive and can make local women very uncomfortable.

It also creates a boundary between the people who actually live there and the tourists who want to visit these islands.

And it isn’t just these Indian Ocean islands that have something that seems to normal to us to be so offensive to local communities.

Why Act Like The Local People?
Well, if you relate it to something in western culture it always makes a lot more sense - for example most people in the US would be offended if tourists began to walk into peoples front yards and having lunch, or pushing to the front of shopping queues in the UK.

However, some Americans are happy to wander around a church taking pictures and eating ice creams, or British parents allowing their children to climb all over city monuments or scream and run around in local stores or museums.

I am only using these 2 as examples, but there are plenty of other things that travellers don’t think twice about - yet are so rude in the eyes of others.

I mean some people are even this rude when visiting places in their own country!  However, when trying to experience another culture, you need to at least research the basics and try to blend in with the community you plan to visit.

Even the basics can bridge the gap between you and the people you are hoping to communicate with during your stay.

Culture differences are always important, but even more so when language is already a barrier, and different religions or beliefs can only make things worse and the difference even greater.

It doesn’t take a minute to learn a few polite phrases and some of the most important ‘don’ts’ of the location you plan to visit - so please take the time to do so and make your visit better for the people you are visiting as well as yourself and your family!