Eco-Conscious UK Holidays

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Eco-Conscious UK Holidays

Getting eco-travel down is difficult: on the one hand you want to go to exotic places and see the things you’re aiming to protect, but on the other, you definitely don’t want to impact the environment with the harmful emissions that entails.

One solution is to take a one-on, one-off style approach to your holidays, by spending one year at home on UK shores, and then going off the next year. This way you can relax guilt free knowing your would-be carbon footprint is technically halved.

In the UK, caravan and campsites are the best option for being as eco-conscious as possible. They’re not, however, the highest regarded holidays in terms of how ‘cool’ or ‘chic’ they are, especially amongst younger crowds. But check out a few of these campsites and designs, and you might just change your mind. Who knows, you could be tempted to stay put on home soil more often than you think!

Eco-friendly camping:

One particularly innovative campsite is Trellyn Woodland Camping in Pembrokeshire, south west Wales. They’ve constructed new ‘geo-pods’ out of unwanted timber, and created most of the furnishings and fittings from recycles objects and plastics. They even go as far to use compost based toilets and get the majority of their energy from solar-powered or renewable energy sources. Even indulgences are eco-conscious here; there’s a wood fired pizza oven and wood fired sauna on the grounds!

At the other end of the country in idyllic Norfolk is the Deepdale farm campsite. They’re attracting hoardes of species of bird and local furry friends by disturbing the grounds as little as possible, and only for a few months each year. They also work with a local bus service to ensure that once guests arrive, they don’t need use of their fuel-burning cars. On top of these good deeds, they plant a whopping 1000 trees per year!

Eco Caravanning: 

Caravanning beats airplane travel hands down when it comes to carbon footprints. These new caravan designs, however, take things to another level. Although they may just be in-design stage at the moment, the caravan-loving UK is hoping they will take off and become a regular feature in campsites and roads around the country:

Eco-Retro Campervan. (See the Cosford Caravan article for images and more details)

The wooden panelled design by Alexandre Verdier  has converted the usual VW campervan into a eco-super vehicle. The roof is adorned with solar panels, and the engine even runs on recycled vegetable oil!

The ‘COLIM’ eco caravan

COLIM stands for ‘colours of life in motion’, and this vehicle is a detachable caravan-cum-family car. The idea is that whenever possible you can separate the two components, thus making your overall weight lighter and releasing less emissions. Both parts of the vehicle have been designed so they’re super compact, and very eco-friendly.

Other tactics for keeping your fingers green:

Little things go a long way when it comes to helping the environment, so keep to these tips if you want to have a guilt-free getaway!

  • Use wind up lanterns when possible
  • Using second hand camping gear essentially counts as recycling!
  • The UK is absolutely teeming with glorious country walks. You can find trails easily by checking the National Trail By sticking to these paths, you are ensuring that plant life isn’t unnecessarily destroyed by clumpy walking boots.
  • Leave gadgets behind where possible! Or purchase a solar panelled backpack that will generate electricity to charge those plug-ins you can’t live without (going phone-less may be a step too far, according to family and friends at least).

Most importantly – enjoy yourself! Eco-travel shouldn’t have to be a stress or hassle. Taking rubbish home with you, recycling properly, and using re-usable cutlery and plates are teeny, useful ways you can help protect the environment too.

Sources:

http://www.greentraveller.co.uk/campsites

http://www.cosfordcaravans.co.uk/Press/How-caravans-can-save-humanity/2695

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/green

Hollie