Green Holidays
13 June 2008
It didn't surprise me very much that the weather over the last bank holiday turned out wet. It got me thinking about this year's summer holiday season and, with unpredictable weather like we have, it's no wonder more people are hurrying to the airport with a budget flight ticket in hand.
Holidays make up about 10-15% of our individual carbon footprints in the UK every year and this can be considerably more if we take long-haul flights to our destination. Resisting the urge not to book holidays requiring an aeroplane journey ought to be automatic nowadays. It should be the first step we take in being kinder to our planet, as we all know that flying is very damaging to the environment.
However, if you do decide not to fly, don’t sit back and think that you’ve done your bit to reduce carbon emissions. We Brits will take around 80 million domestic holidays by car this year alone, and that’s a lot of carbon dioxide. If you are planning to keep your summer holiday British then there are plenty of little things you can do to help make it even greener. However most of this advice is relevant wherever you may be travelling this year.
Reducing your holiday carbon footprint can begin long before you start packing your sun lotion. Lots more of us are booking our holidays over the internet these days as it can save time and money but it also reduces the amount of paper used for holiday brochures, which by the way, require on average 14 mature trees to print only 10,000 copies. Using the internet may also be an ideal way to scout out the more environmentally travel operators. Unlike organic and fair trade food, no official 'kite mark' for tourism exists so watch out for the green wash!
What you decide to to pack for your holiday is essential for practical reasons as well as for the sake of the environment. The weight of our luggage can count for an extra person so it is sensible to travel light and save money on fuel consumption. For self catering holidays, buying as much food at your destination will cut down on the weight of your luggage. Okay so it might be more expensive overall but it will give you the chance to sample some local British cuisine.
It is important to thoroughly check that your empty home will not be consuming energy unnecessarily by ensuring that all plugs are turned off at the wall and central heating and hot water are turned off. Leaving on the odd light or a radio for security purposes is sensible but should be avoided if possible.
All of these steps are simple tasks which can be acted on before we even get to our destinations and therefore don't have to infringe on the care-free enjoyment of our summer holidays this year.
For more information about greener summer holidays visit www.greentraveller.co.uk