How to have a real eco-friendly holiday

Go by plane, train, or coach – not car or boat

Because of all the protests at Airports in the UK recently, many people have got the impression that haring all over the place by cruise liner or green hire car will somehow lower their emission in comparison to flying by plane. While it’s true that airliners don’t do our planet much good, well, neither does any other form of travel particularly, unless you wish to traipse around on a donkey like some ancient prophet. Trains are also fairly emission-low nowadays, what with there being more and more electric ones (and the electricity being generated by greener methods in keeping with the EU’s plan to lower carbon emissions drastically) – so there’s hope!

Only go to local restaurants with locally sourced ingredients – save food miles

You’ve often have to pay a bit more compared to if you just decided to waltz into the local McDonald’s and order a McBoring with Fries, but think of the variety, surprise (hopefully a surprise of the more pleasant variety) that you have coming to you with visiting local, family-run joints that use ingredients sourced from local farms. Not only will you have more fun this way but you’ll also be saving the planet too – most foreign chains use foreign ingredients which have been flown all over the place with planes belching CO2 in the manner of a baby after a meal. Just because you’ve flown yourself to a country doesn’t mean you have to take all your ingredients with you.

Don’t print out your holiday snaps

I don’t know the statistics but I’d hazard a guess that increasingly large numbers of photographs are taken on holiday in the aim of having for a keepsake and sweet little memories to remember but as is often in life, it’s best just to enjoy things as they happen rather than storing up a virtual data bank of every single little moment. But if you are an avid photographer, then save paper by only printing the very best shots out – there’s increasingly less and less need for hard copies as the human race shifts further and further into the digital age. You could also consider investing in a digital photo frame – there are now many low-cost models on the market, and although they’re distinctly gimmicky, you may find it a blessing in convenience.

Turn off and unplug everything before you leave home

Unexciting, yes, but you’d be surprised at how much energy the television and microwave use while on stand-by – there have even been calls in the last few years in the UK to ban the stand-by mode on devices, some take it so seriously. Also remember to turn off any radiators/air-conditioning but ask a friendly neighbour to come round shortly before you get back and power them on again, if it’s in the depths of winter or the pinnacle of summer. Uninteresting but useful.

Enjoy your (green) travels!

Photo of bike wheel and green grass by Vali…

Topic:  How to Tuesday | 5 Comments
Tags:  green travel, transportation

About the author

Paul Crompton is an avid reader and has a passion for cars and technology, primarily. He loves traveling to whichever exotic travel location which is cheap. His dream is to become an advertising executive.