Green Holidays

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Did you know you could invest in a castle, a meadow or a farm?

It may not be common knowledge, but locations both home and abroad are actually run like companies.

One example is with a recent case of ‘disgruntled’ Bournemouth in the UK. The UK Weather Agency decided that the delightful seaside town on the English Channel was going to have terrible weather over the Bank Holiday weekend - however it didn’t!

Now, Bournemouth Council are trying to sue the weather agency for losing them £1 million in ‘tourist bucks’! Tourism bosses said that over 25,000 visitors stayed away for fear of rain!

I know you might not think it, but if you don’t visit or support stores and companies from the regions you love - then who is to say that they will remain? I don’t mean that the towns or countryside will become people-free - I mean that locations will change to more profitable options.

Open fields filled with wildlife may be churned up for crops or sold for housing. Cute cobbled streets filled with cafes and gift shops won’t stay open if they don’t make money - fast food outlets may well replace them!

Supporting Shopping!
You need to actually visit these locations and spend your money locally. Stay in locally-run hotels and bed-and-breakfasts, eating in local cafes and buying locally made souvenirs.

If you travel to your favourite hide-away but stay in a hotel chain, eat McDonalds and buy souvenirs ‘made in China’ - how can you expect the local population to make a living and keep their businesses up and running?

Support Your Heritage!
If there is a castle that you like the look of or a large stately home - make sure you pay to go inside.

Just looking at it from the outside is all fair and good and it may be amazing! But unless you actually spend money at the site - you are not helping it to stay alive!

Yeah, you might mention it to a friend and they go there for a look too, but unless there is money going into that area - it might not be worth keeping the castle open for tourists. It’s a business, it has to employ staff, clean and maintain the building, trim and plant the gardens and advertise it’s good bits.

How can it do that if you just peek at it across a wall or over a hedge? Without customers like any good store of restaurant - it will have to close.

Joining a Heritage charity or society can help to fund renovations of such buildings allowing them to remain for future generations to enjoy and you can be a part of that.

Supporting Habitats:
But how can you support a field or river? They are free to visit and they are just there.

Well, by becoming a member of a nature or wildlife related charity or business that has projects in that area will make sure that they have the funds where necessary to purchase or develop open spaces for the benefit of the existing wildlife. It may also allow funds to re-introduce native species that have been lost.

By telling your hosts that the reason you came here was for the river/beach/woods/wildlife/etc will make sure that they know what is making them successful. If they know they get most of their guests to see the rare so-and-so - they will all make sure that it stays right where it is! And your money can really become a powerful tool.

Supporting local organic farms can also keep nature in your neighborhood by leaving fields fallow or leave woodlands and hedgerows standing rather than having to sow crops instead.

Paying more for your food also makes a difference. If you are always buying the cheapest products - especially animal products - the farmers are having to make money from elsewhere - and that could include destroying that patch of riverside meadow or expanding smaller fields into super fields to make ends meet.

The Circle Of Life.
Just like a business - a farmer, landowner, town, or country all need to get support or financial rewards for their actions to keep doing them.

If growing apples makes double the amount that growing cucumbers does - then they grow apples. If selling burgers makes more money than locally made ice cream - then burgers it is! If more people want huge hotels rather than cosy holiday cottages then guess what?

Your everyday choices can make or break a holiday destination, can affect the shape of the high street and can destroy or encourage wildlife and open spaces.

So next time you think of your favourite place - make sure you make the most of your time there - supporting the destination and making sure it’s stays just how you like it!