Green Holidays

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The UK’s National Trust are offering 2 full days of free fun close to you!

This massive charity are hoping that they can offer everyone a great day out in one of their properties - and help everyone experience some goo old natural fun!

There are 100’s of properties available for you to explore, and they are all quite different.  Some take up whole valleys, others have a secret garden, yet more have aviaries, lakes, streams, caves and orchards! 

There is absolutely no shortage of habitats, architecture, famous faces and great history - so take a browse on their website and see what would suit your family day out.

Closest To You:
Obviously the most ‘green’ adventure would be to visit the properties closest to your home. 

Whether it a a huge world famous property or a tiny chapel, you can always make a great day out.  Many smaller properties still have nice gardens and landscapes and wildlife too.

And the smaller properties could take only an hour or two to investigate, so you could possibly fit 2 properties into the same day out.

The larger properties, of course, can entertain you for the whole day.  I have visited properties myself that I didn’t get all the way around as I was having so much fun on the way around!

Lawned areas are perfect for a picnic - so don’t forget to take some tasty morsels and a refreshing drink!

Getting Your Moneys Worth:
Of course, if you want to really take advantage of the National Trust’s generous offer, then you may well want to find the most expensive property and save even more money for the family.

Obviously, that’s what quite a lot of other people are probably thinking too, so you may well find yourself surrounded by 100’s of other people and children.

In terms of a green adventure - this might not be so rewarding.  A walk through the woods in these places won’t really be as fun as a quieter location as there will just be too many other people having a great day out and probably screaming, shouting and laughing!

Wildlife in the woods and around the lakes might be a bit harder to find too as they will just go elsewhere for some peace and quiet themselves!  However, the trees, plants and rivers aren’t going anywhere - so there is still some fun to be had!

A Specific Favourite:
There are plenty of properties that have a particular theme, from a photography museum, tame deer, huge portrait collections or even the home of a famous historical figure.

And many people have ‘been meaning to get to….’ somewhere for as long as they can remember.

Others have seen a property used as a film set for a recent movie or documentary and want to walk through the film sets and see all the related literature on site.

Possibly, your children are studying a particular topic at school or college and it would just be great to get them some ‘hand’s on’ experience of: how they lived, what they wore and ancient crafts of whatever period is on the curriculum!

Anyway, whatever reason you use to take advantage of this great weekend - go to the National Trust website, choose your favourite property and get your voucher printed out!

Great tips on how to minimise your traveling ‘footprint’ in fragile or little visited locations.

We all love traveling to isolated, pristine environments where we can experience nature as it was meant to be.  We don’t want giant hotels standing on the beaches, or wide, busy roads leading into the wilderness - but if you want to go somewhere special - you need to take precautions.

I’m not talking about those for your own safety and health while traveling - I’m referring to the impact you will have on those environments.  And how you could ruin them before anyone else has had a chance to enjoy them - sometimes without even meaning to!

Here are some simple tips to make sure you really do ‘take only photos and leave only footprints’!

Keep Erosion To A Minimum:
When hiking through delicate ecosystems, try to keep to the paths to avoid damaging plants unnecessarily.  If people all start to walk side by side just because there is room to do so, the path eats away into the location - and can only get wider each time. 

Also, if enough plant material is trampled when you take a short cut, others who visit later may think it is an actual path, and start to enlarge the route - damaging more land.

Pitch Your Tent Eco-Wisely:
Choose a site for your tent that doesn’t cover native plants or flowers.  Always try to find a sandy or un-vegetated area to settle your ground sheet - otherwise you could be squashing or killing delicate ecosystems or slow-growing wild flowers.

In addition, don’t settle somewhere that is too close to water as you could prevent shy animals from approaching their water source.  Or get your belongings washed away after heavy rain!

Deposit Your ‘Waste’ With Care:
If you are outdoors long enough to need to ‘go’ then make sure you are sensible with your choice - and make sure you are off the main path! (however, this isn’t an excuse to violate ’rule 1′). 

In hot climates, make sure it is buried several inches underground - and to the lower edge of the path.  In rocky regions cover it with leaf litter or rocks, and make sure you don’t leave your toilet paper in the wind!  Either burn it or better still take it away with you - as with feminine hygiene products and dispose of in a bin!

Don’t Pollute Rivers:
Goes as an ‘obvious’ really - but not many people take biodegradable eco-friendly soaps and shampoos with them when camping!  Let alone washing up or cleaning products!

Also, try not to use them in the watercourse itself.  Ideally use a bucket or similar, then throw the waste water into the ground away from the stream or lake, so the ground can absorb most of the chemicals instead.

Depending on where you are and in what country - make sure that you don’t upset local communities by splashing around in water that they use for drinking or are trying to fish in - otherwise you could cause possible friction in the future for other tourists in the area.

Cooking Over Flames:
When thinking of starting a campfire - make sure you are legally allowed to do so - never assume that you can start one anywhere as they are by no means harmless!  And never leave a burning fire unattended.

Ideally, you would use an area that is already burned, or an area that is not covered in plant materials either dead or alive - dry or dead plants can act as fuel across the ground.  And make sure nothing is overhanging so make sure it doesn’t heat up and burn.

Only use fallen branches and wood for fuel - rather than dead branches still on trees - they act as an important natural habitat for birds, insects and mammals.  Also, don’t make it larger than you need as wood is a valuable resource in many communities.

Happy Camping!

Planning Your Green Holidays in Yucatan, Mexico

Mexico is always a great destination for sunshine and beautiful scenery.  A perfect destination for all seasons. 

If you are planning to head to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico for your vacation and want your accommodation to be more responsible for it’s actions, then hopefully these eco resorts may appeal.

Where To Start:
However, if you are going to enjoy your green holidays, then you need to look beyond the standard brochure.  Many companies will cater for your every need in Cancun and around the Caribbean coast - but what if you want it to care about the needs of the environment and local people too? 

Forget the shiny brochures from the travel agent who cram everyone into the man-made hi-rise resort of Cancun.  Forget the cheap package vacations that include everything except the local people, and start looking elsewhere……

I have been looking around for you and have found 4 vacation spots all in the Yucatan peninsula, and all offering a ‘green’ alternative to the standard resort, and have detailed their eco credentials. 

However, the search isn’t always easy - as many resorts have information of ‘ecology’ meaning that there are animals and plants there, rather than ‘eco’ in our sense of the word, meaning that it actually cares for that environment and those creatures and plants.

The Hotels:
All are in different locations to offer you a taste of something different, but are all within easy reach of international airports and Mexico’s ancient Mayan Sites.

When making yur decision on the best green resort, remember to check their eco-credentials based on what they have to work with.  If they are catering for green alternatives in towns and cities then they are limited as to what they can achieve and it will take a more reduce:reuse:recycle approach.

When searching for isolated eco-lodges surrounded by beaches or forest, they are playing to a whole new set of rules.  Look out for alternative energy sources, low development footprint and how the accommodation fits in to the environment.

Eco Paraiso
This new-build eco-hotel is in Yucatan State, close to Celestun on the Gulf of Mexico coast.

It was designed around the nature on this coast and was set back from the beach itself to maintain the delicate dunes that protect the coast and is also home to rare plants and nesting turtles.

The actual buildings on the land only take up just over 1% of the total land owned by the resort, leaving nature pretty much as it was.  Any areas that needed replanting or protecting were filled with only native plants and trees.

They buy locally and in bulk to save food waste and catch and treat both rainwater and grey water from the rooms and kitchens to water the gardens.  They even desalinate their salt-water well and treat to make potable for guests rather than import bottled water.

Other attributes include solar-heated pool, low voltage bulbs and no individually packaged toiletries and goods.  They also offer extensive literature for guests to find out about their ethos and the local environment and community.  They even offer short course on eco living and sustainability!

Genesis Retreat
This vacation spot is located inland, just north of the town of Valladolid - close to Chichen Itza.

Based around a local village in the ruins of Ek Balem, this hotel is closely knitted together with the local people.  Most of the activities are guided by the locals and they welcome you into their villages and homes.

The hotel uses all local food and services and the local tours and wildlife trips are all close by.  Any further away is catered for with a healthy supply of mountain bikes.

They say that their gardens were designed to attract local butterflies and birdlife and have a small area that houses rescued native birds that cannot be released.  Their outdoor pool is chemical free and bio-filtered to reduce it’s impact on the visiting wildlife.

The management will automatically send you detailed information regarding their eco-credentials and community programmes on booking with them, as well and any other details you request on top.

Hotel El Rey Del Caribe
Located in the very heart of downtown Cancun (the original town) and so has different pressures on it’s green approach.

It welcomes you with Mexican flair and authentic design and you will probably see it’s sheets drying naturally on the roof!  Their main focuses are reducing and recycling and they are proud of the composting toilets in many of their rooms and the rainwater and grey-water recycling and reuse.

They say that they are constantly learning more ways to improve what they have, and work with local environmental NGO’s to support local projects as well as further their own developments - including their solar water heater.

They are also only a Bed & Breakfast, therefore encouraging visitors to go and explore the heart of Cancun and use local services and enjoy traditional foods.

Papaya Playa
This final hotel is really to the extremes of a green holiday and won’t be for everyone!

Close to the beautiful coastal ruins of Tulum, this complex has few rooms.  All were built with local materials using traditional methods and resources.

The rooms are very basic and sleep as many as possible in double beds to reduce individual waste.  Many go even further with shared bathrooms for some of the cabins to prevent wasted plumbing and ease of water capture and heating!  It goes without saying that they are showers only…

Expect almost nothing electrical in the rooms as there is only power generated between dusk and 11:30pm and so you need to rely on the traditional windowless design of the cabins and the natural ‘gaps’ in the slatted walls to keep your room cool throughout the day.

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To highlight water pollution, a brave millionaire is about to set sail in a 60ft boat made of plastic bottles stuck together!

The ecologist adventurer, Mr de Rothschild, is setting off to highlight the problem of the ever growing ’sea of plastic’ in the Pacific Ocean. This ’sea’ is currently in an anomoly of the world’s wave patterns. This means that all floating rubbish from the worlds oceans eventually ends up stuck together in this one place, somewhere between the US mainland and Hawaii.

This mass of rubbish floating just under the waters surface weighs an estimated 3.5 tonnes and is about the size of Peru, or around 3 times the size of Japan!

Plastic Facts:
The UN estimates that there are around 46,000 pieces of plastic floating on every square mile of the oceans - devastating the wildlife it supports. Seabirds are also affected and albatros ‘catch’ disposable lighters and bottle tops thinking they are fish and feed them to their chicks. However, because they are not digestible, the chicks bellies fill with all this rubbish leaving no room for food - ultimately and painfully they starve to death, hungry in their nests.

And because it isn’t biodegradable, plastic is with us for ever - that means that every centimeter of plastic that has ever been made since if was first invented - is still in the world today. And todays figures suggest that around 100m tonnes of plastic is currently being produced each year!!!

And don’t think that all this plastic is from fishermen or cruise ships (although they do contribute) because your carefully disposed of plastic in your garbage could end up being send overseas for processing, those tiny sample bottles you used at the hotel in Mexico may be dumped not recycled, and even that small piece of packaging that blew out of your hand at a picnic or town event could also make it to the ocean.

How much of your plastic is floating in the worlds oceans and what are you going to do about it?

The Adventure:
This adventurer plans to sail (how eco friendly is that!) from San Fransisco on April the 28th this year - the exact day that his namesake - the Kontiki - set off on 62 years ago.

Heading down to Hawaii from there, he will try to navigate through the swirling mass of trash while charting their progress. They hope that this is a way to highlight the problems of this visible and dangerous pollution to both humans, wildlife and of course the effects it has on the world as a whole.

Your Contribution:
You can help do your bit locally by organising beach collections - where people walk along coastlines collecting litter and plastic then disposing of it correctly (contact your collections agency to make sure that you approve of their disposal or recycling techniques - if you don’t then complain about it).

Collections make sure that less waste gets into the ocean in the first place and wildlife and environments on land can also benefit. Why just do the beach - walk through woodlands, valleys and mountains doing the same!

This way you not only make your local environment that much nicer for yourselves and the wildlife - you can also have a far greater effect on the worlds environment.