Green Holidays

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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!

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What great weather we have been having – and the kids are raring to get outside for some adventures….

…..and so are the grown-ups!

Here we have some more offerings for your green adventures this month:

Amy @ The Q Family start us of again with a story of some great locations they have found closer to home with: 5 Family Favorite Outdoor Adventures Around Atlanta.

Ed Biado comes up next with some great tips for anyone planning their next trip with his notes on The green traveler

Saving money on your next road trip – or just around town is covered by Tyler, who explains his new concept of using the car! Take a peak at Save $550 a Year by Hypermiling and see what you think yourself!

Next we have the thoughtful Marjorie Morgan who takes time to explain about wildlife skills and how to manage without all the mod cons we get so used to at home. Even in your local woods – you should really know the basics, so read Wilderness and Urban Survival Skills for a taster.

Gregory E. Rouse has written a short article on a particular location, but his blog is certainly one to read more about as it covers all sorts of outdoor adventures including this one about Beehive Lake.

Along a similar note, Henry Carlson takes us into one part of his personal journey in Finding Freedom: Monteverde Waterfall along his way.

Almost last, we have Pete giving us some tips for a great local day out in the warmer weather with Cool Things To Do On Hot Days, and then we have Matt Shaulis giving us some further ‘tent’ tips for all those who love the outdoors! Take a peak at his rather thorough Lightweight Northwest Territory Tents or 4 Season Kelty Tents? article if that is what you fancy!

Take care out there!

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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.

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What is Ecotourism, and what does it mean today?
There are many interpretations of the word ‘ecotourism’ – even the spelling changes to eco-tourism or eco tourism! However, many consumers have a different impression of the word to the companies that are selling it.

For example, many companies seem to think that any holiday outdoors that may involve animals or wild areas is ecotourism.

Whereas consumers are hoping for something a bit more impactful and meaningful. And this includes real ethics, focus on the local communities and ‘treading lightly’ on the earth.

Below are a selection of areas that ecotourism should be focussed on and be able to prove!

Adding Value:
Ecotourism should be an efficient way to add economic value to threatened natural areas, endangered habitats and cultural sites.

As I have mentioned in previous articles – if you want something to be saved – you have to support it. By visiting areas that contain the animals or plants or people that you ‘love’ you are adding to their perceived value by that country and the community.

If you sit at home and talk about how ‘bad it is’ that Orangutans are being made homeless, dolphins in Mekong being poisoned or migrating birds being shot – you aren’t doing anything to save them!

Change your shopping habits to avoid illegally produced or badly managed palm oil and soya; join the WWF to support international projects; or travel to the Mediterranean and help volunteer projects to protect the birds yourself.

Offering Alternatives:
It should be seen as a way to provide simple job opportunities as well as alternative financial benefits for the local people. This way they don’t need to destroy their own natural environment to make a living!

For example offering alternative forms or agriculture – such as bee-keeping, or offering more fuel efficient stoves so families need to cut less wood to cook their food. It could also lead to more successful local businesses that helps make for a more stable lifestyle for all involved

Alternative Tourism:
Ecotourism allows for travel and holidays to take a different turn. It inspires a new kind of tourism that actually helps to improve natural conservation and cultural preservation with a much lower impact on the environment than ‘normal’ tourism.

This of course can make it more enjoyable for all those involved as it is more down-to-earth. The traveller gets to see the natural world as it should be, the tour operators get to make sure that the places we go to see are still there in 5 years time, the local inhabitants get to feel involved in their own future and communities, and of course the wildlife gets to carry on being wild!

Fasted Growing Travel Sector?
Ecotourism really is one of the fastest growing areas of tourism at the moment.

People want these types of holidays now – they want to support these environments, these people and these animals. They want to stop destroying every place they go, and they want to see travel companies doing their bit to change the face of world travel too.

Have you played your part? Got your friends and families to do the same?

Trees are being chopped down just to get you ready to take a vacation!

By this I mean all the bureaucracy and paperwork required to get you going in the first place – and most of it can be avoided completely or significantly reduced if you plan ahead and think about your requirements.

Don’t Forget You Passport:
Obviously this is an important document anyway, but it’s amazing how many people lose them or allow them to get stolen when travelling. What a complete waste of resources and time – let alone a complete risk to your identity.

To replace your passport involves a large form to be completed and posted off. Someone has to process this for you, usually involving more paperwork and lots of security checks that probably use energy on ‘super computers’.

The passport needs to be created and glued, laminated and security marked (rendering it un-recyclable), then it needs to be posted out to you with all sorts of information sheets and nonsense.

Other Personal Documents:
This is the same as above really. If you are careless enough to lose that 30 pages travel insurance booklet – you need to get another one from your insurers – and these cost money and use resources.

Add to this your driving license, vaccination records, medical notes, hotel reservation documents and a whole load of other important pieces of paperwork that will need replacing if you mislay them.  Of course many of these will be ‘free’ to you so we don’t think twice about doing them – even relying on them as a back-up if we are ‘too busy’.  But they cost elsewhere.

I bet you wouldn’t be so careless if these bits of paper were all US dollars! But in effect they are – as the more documents and information packs that companies need to keep giving out – the more they will eventually charge for their replacements. Your money.

Planning The Trip Itself:
Imagine how much paper is involved in you deciding on your vacation in the first place. Some people go into the agents and pick up 3 or 4 thick travel brochures to take home. Do you return them after you have browsed for your resort? No, I bet you don’t.

Most travel companies are there to make money not save the environment. If they need to make more brochures to get your money – then that’s what they will do (but they might add a bit on to the price of their vacations to pay for them).

You can’t leave the agencies to do this for you. Can you imagine if a travel agent for company A said you could only browse their brochures but you couldn’t take them home – whereas company B gave you loads of bright shiny pictures to take away. Who are you more likely to do business with?

Same goes for the tickets – you can get them online now, so you just print of one sheet of paper and you are ready. No little folder with glued or stapled documents to faff around with.

And checking in by machine or in advance is perfect. The less staff that the airlines or ferry companies need to check your paperwork – the less pollution they have created getting to the airport or ferry terminal in the first place. The roads are then clearer around the departure terminal and your taxi can drop you at the door without you sitting in traffic!

We are all so used to things being done a certain way – and so quickly – that we sometimes need to take a second look and see what the downsides of our ‘I want it now’ lives.

Planning is the key to green travel.