Q&A: greener holidays

Looking for a greener way to globe trot? We can help with answers to questions about holidaying in Europe and further afield.

European holidays

Are ferry journeys greener than short-haul flights?

According to carbon consultancy www.co2balance.com, a short-haul ferry trip to, say, France or Spain is a far greener way to get there than flying. One return flight from Heathrow to Bilbao clocks up about 280kg of carbon dioxide emissions, compared with just 90kg for a return ferry trip from Portsmouth to Bilbao.

How can I find a green campsite in France?

Camping is by its very nature one of the greenest holidays you can have, but boost your green credentials even more by looking for camp sites that use solar thermal power to heat the showers and have good recycling facilities.

In France, a number of camp sites, such as Camping Le Nautic on the Lac de Guérledan in Brittany, have been awarded The Green Key system for their action in environmental stewardship. The Green Key is an eco-label for tourism facilities that aims to promote sustainable tourism.

Canvas Chic is an upmarket yurt camp in a nature reserve overlooking the Ardèche Gorge in France where the kids can spend the days canoeing, swimming and messing around in the river.

Is there a guide to good, clean beaches in Europe?

The Blue Flag programme checks beaches (and marinas) for water quality, environmental management, safety and other issues to do with the cleanliness of the marine environment. It’s run by an independent non-profit organisation known as Foundation for Environmental Education. In England and Northern Ireland there are currently 88 Blue Flag beaches, while in France there are 225 and in Spain there are 442.

For more information on efforts to clean up the UK’s beaches, see Surfers Against Sewage, an environmental campaign group with a mission to rid the UK coastline of sewage.

Greener long-haul holidays

What are the greener wildlife/safari holiday options?

The most ecofriendly safari holidays are based at lodges that contribute to the conservation of the animals and land. They also give a fair deal to the staff through fair wages and good working conditions.

The travel company Tribes Travel publishes an 'eco review' of over 100 lodges based on their environmental performance and social responsibility. Some of the best performing lodges are Sable Mountain Lodge in Selous Game Reserve, southern Tanzania, and Jaci's Safari Lodge in the malaria-free region of Madikwe in South Africa.

I'd love to do the classic driving across America holiday. Are there any greener car hire companies in the US?

It’s still early days, but low-emission cars are becoming increasingly available to hire in North America.
Enterprise Rent-a-Car, the largest car rental company in the US, hires out over 334,000 vehicles that have a highway fuel efficiency rating of at least 28 miles per gallon, as well as over 3,000 gas/electric hybrid vehicles that are powered by a combination of gas and battery-generated electricity. It also offers a carbon offset programme.

Hertz also offers a Green Collection of low-emission cars. In the US, it has over 35,000 low-emission cars at 50 major airport locations. For every Green Collection rental, Hertz gives $1 to the National Park Foundation.

How green is scuba diving?

Diving’s green credentials depend on how your dive trip is managed and how responsible you are as a diver. Poor scuba diving practices can damage coral reefs that are incredibly fragile ecosystems.

The international dive education organisation – PADI – runs a course on protecting the marine environment and a Peak Performance Buoyancy course.

If you’re going on a package trip, choose an ethical dive operator who should have a policy of anchoring only to permanent buoys (attached by concrete to the sea floor) rather than dropping anchors on or near reefs.

An example of a good operator is blue o two, which runs scuba-diving holidays in the Red Sea, Thailand, the US Virgin Islands and Malta.

Are there any ecofriendly tours/holidays in northern India?

There's an excellent walking tour called Village Ways near Kumaon in the State of Uttarakhand, a day's drive north-east of Delhi. You walk from village to village, led by local guides through pine forests and mountain valleys. En route, you can also help out with the locals' daily chores, such as tending the buffalo, harvesting fruit and preparing traditional dishes. The initiative aims to provide employment for the mountain villagers to help stem depopulation in the region.

For more intrepid green travellers, Discovery Initiatives runs responsible holidays in northern India, including Rajasthan, and is a member of the ethical initiative Travel Operators for Tigers.