Eco Travel

We all must make an effort to minimise the effect that travelling has on other cultures and the environment. 'Tourism' and this includes 'Travellers', is an industry that is not going to 'go away', nor reduce in numbers. Therefore the purveyors and the consumers of travel must be cognisant of what impact their actions have on this world. By illuminating worthwhile activities, accommodation and visitor sites, we hope to further yours and our knowledge of what has become known as 'Eco Tourism'.

We welcome your suggestions as to suitable sites to highlight here;

Eco Tours: Tourism related recycling: National parks: Eco friendly Land Transport: Eco Hotels and Resorts:

Ideas to practice in an effort to minimise your impact.

Turn out the lights when you leave a room;
Practice energy efficiency by regulating air conditioning and heating. Don't leave it on when you go out. If practicable open a window and do without air conditioning. Don't sleep with the heating on - use another blanket.
Ask to recycle your hotel rubbish;
Shut off water while brushing teeth or shaving;
Keep showers short.

Contact us here to Suggest

Offsets made simple

Each time we heat our homes, take a flight or drive the car, CO2 is added into the atmosphere. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that is released when fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal are burnt.

Offsetting means paying someone to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere by the same amount that your activities add. In this way you can 'neutralise' or 'balance' the CO2 added by your activities.

Climate Care offsets your CO2 by funding projects around the world. These can be in:

Renewable energy – this replaces non-renewable fuel such as coal
Energy efficiency – this reduces the amount of fuel needed
Forest restoration – this absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere as the trees grow

So as well as taking steps to reduce your 'carbon footprint' you can offset what remains, helping to promote low-carbon technologies where they make the most impact. Click logo picture above to visit website and the personal calculator.

August 2009
Las Vegas trying to go Green? How could this be??

WWF World Earth Hour

Join the dark side! This funny advert was asking people to save the planet by simply switching off the lights at certain time
(28th of march, from 20.30 to 21.30).

Credits
Advertising Agency: Germaine Brussels, Belgium
Creative Director: Dirk Domen
Creatives: Jef Boes, Pieter Claeys
Photographer: Evert Thiry

20 March 2009:

An entire Greek Island goes green and self sufficient!

Green Travel News Items - Visit page

Indicator of Global climate changes:

This link takes you to a European web site where you can see before and now pictures of European glaciers...Significant changes!
Open to view

Eco Friendly Land Transport

New Zealand Campervans go green and offer in-house CO2 offsets!!
If you are planning a trip to New Zealand and intend using a campervan please read more...

"Care for the environment, travel Eurostar"

Travel to the heart of Paris with the Eurostar. The CO² emissions from a Eurostar train on a London Paris sector are 5.4 kg as opposed to 67 kg on a flight between London and Paris.

Eco Tours

Windmill Tours:

With the recent 'backout' by the U.S.A. from the Kyoto emissions agreement. And this from a country with the highest energy usage, it is pleasing to see someone in the U.S adapting that old 'Dutch and Belgian' technology of Windmilling! Visualise this: In a desert area 3,800 30 metre high white windmills that generate enough power to run 920,000 houses (and that is with an American energy consumption). And yes, it is now a tourist attraction. Worth a visit.
www.windmilltours.com

Cruising
Perhaps it is time to investigate which cruise lines maintain a recycling system for plastic. This commodity is becoming the pest of the ocean. Regretfully, too many cruise boats still simply toss their refuge overboard!! When you come down to selecting your cruise boat check their rubbish and recycling policy. If you witness abuse of this whilst on board report it. Here is a short email with links to various reports received from a friend of ours who also happens to be a marine scientist.

Computer Equipment Recycling:

By you reading this page you are a member of the world wide computer 'club'. upgrading of computers has never been so rapid. What do you do with the old P.C.? And this includes your PDA's and 'Computer Phone' combo's. The following list relates to Australia. We would welcome suggestions for similar organisations in other countries.

Computer Recycling: COMPUTER BANK: Providing computers to communities with need - Australian and Overseas. Parts that cannot be reused are stripped and processed correctly. Donations of equipment, and funds, are sought. Click to visit	If the physical location of the above office does not suit here is a list of other computer equipment recyclers in Australia. Click to view
Mobile Phone Recycling Upgrading to a new phone? Make sure the old one is recycled. If you are in Australia Click Here.

National Parks:

Thailand	Malaysia Sarawak	Bangladesh	Philippines	Brunei	Singapore
Nepal	Korea	Taiwan

Eco Minded Hotels and Resorts:

Sth Africa	Malaysian Frangipani Langkawi Beach Resort	Crown Plaza Alice Springs	A whole Greek Island Ai Stratis

Gaia - Eco Travel related newsletter

Gaia Discovery sniffs out environmental-related news and captures inspirational life stories. It also zooms in on people, sometimes ordinary people, who make a difference. Planet's a curious place and there's a lot going around than what meets the eye.

Untold travel stories, unchartered territories and harmonious simplicity with mother earth. Precious heritage. We hope to bring you exciting tales based on personal experience so that you know you’re not simply relying on a glossy brochure when you head out to foreign lands.

Why Gaia?
Gaia, the name of the Greek earth goddess, is used to describe the self-regulating state of the earth as formulated in the 1960s by Dr James Lovelock, an independent research scientist. Lovelock’s theory explains the Gaia hypothesis , which later became referred to as the Gaia Theory.

Have read and sign up.