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Make your holiday more ‘ethical’, says The Ecologist’s Jeremy Smith
How far do you really have to go?
Think hard about how far you’re planning on going, and how you’re going to get there. Air travel is the most polluting form of transport there is. One flight from the UK to Australia creates as much carbon dioxide as heating and powering the average home for six years, and you may add a few tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere, so why not holiday closer to home?
Transport choices
What’s the rush? Is it really preferable to shut yourself away in a taxi and be ferried from hotel to heritage site and back? Think what you’re missing. Is that low-cost flight to the South of France really a better idea than the TGV? Public transport is a great way to experience the reality of locals’ lives, get an idea of their daily routine, and learn about new things to see and do. Go to www.seat61.com for advice on how to get anywhere possible in the world from the UK by train alone. And, once there, why not hire a bike to get around?
Stay local, spend local
Those who run big, corporate chain hotels don’t live on or near the beaches or villages their hotels are located by, but the people who run independent boutique hotels almost certainly do. They usually care a lot about the community they are part of, because they live in it; if they were to pollute the local environment, leave their rubbish around, neglect their workforce — they’d hear about it. Smaller hoteliers and restaurateurs tend to take responsibility. Also, if you spend your cash with them, that money, in turn, gets spent in the local community.
Combat waste
If you find there’s excess packaging around products you buy for your holiday or if, along the journey, you pick up over-packaged items, dispose of the wrapping at home, where it can be recycled. If a hotel provides miniature toiletries, either leave them intact or, if you do use them, take them home to refill with your own products next time you go away. Also, if your hotel doesn’t already suggest you do so, tell them you don’t need your towels and bedlinen changed every day — you’ll be cutting down enormously on power and water used.
Keep out of the water
Well, not quite, but consider the damage that our love of the beach can wreak on marine life. For example, a minke whale washed up in Normandy recently had 800kg of plastic bags and other packaging in its stomach.. Because marine animals are least adapted to humans, they tend to be most affected by contact with our germs, our bacteria and the chemicals we use and consume. This is why it is important not to swim in the sea covered in suncream; you are introducing toxins into the environment. If there’s a shower available, take a rinse before you hit the surf. Better still, use biodegradable suncreams (we like the Green People brand, available at Fresh & Wild stores: www.freshandwild.com).
Do the research
There is a wealth of independent web-based resources covering issues of interest to the ethically aware traveller. Google your specific concern, be it how to find an organic vegetarian restaurant in Paris (not easy) or how to spot if a product is made from an endangered animal or plant (see next tip), and you’ll be only one or two clicks away from the relevant website or forum. In the end, though, word of mouth is still the best and least biased way of learning, both before you set off and once you arrive.
Sensible souvenirs
Avoid coral, items made from endangered plants or animal parts such as fur or teeth, and anything crafted from hardwoods, however appealing. There’s an old eco adage: ‘leave only footprints, take only photos’. On the subject of photos, disposable cameras are an obvious no-no, so go digital and only print the ones you actually like.
Put your money where your mouth is
One of the most common gripes that tourists have on returning to a far-flung place they once loved is that it’s not as good as it was. Why not do something about it? While on holiday, find out what needs doing and who, if anyone, is doing it. Find a locally based charity or conservation group, and ask what they need. When you get back home, set up a direct debit to provide funds, and help protect the place you’ve had the privilege of enjoying. Then if you do return, the locals will probably be even more glad to see you, and the place may be better for your trips there.
Stay at home!
You work 48 weeks a year to survive in the place where you live, perhaps struggling across your city in rush hour, paying bills to keep a roof over your head, then, the moment you have some free time, you leave behind everything you’ve worked so hard for. Why not stop for a second and ask ‘Why do I stay here?’ Learn to love the place you live. Take a holiday in your home town: book yourself into a local boutique hotel and plan a packed itinerary of activities and events. Tell your friends and work you’re going far, far away and won’t be available, then sit back in your boudoir bedroom, open a bottle of wine (locally, organically produced, of course), and learn to explore your own locality through the eyes of a traveller.
By Jeremy Smith, managing editor, The Ecologist (www.theecologist.org)
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