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A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

This is how you can make your holiday better for the environment

Going green needn’t mean giving up on travelling, just taking more care of your surroundings

composite holidays and environment

JULY is Make Holidays Greener month – and if you didn’t know, don’t worry.

Travel association ABTA has teamed up with charity the Travel Foundation to help make our holidays kinder to the planet.

ABTA has teamed up with charity the Travel Foundation to help make our holidays kinder to the planet
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ABTA has teamed up with charity the Travel Foundation to help make our holidays kinder to the planet

First on the agenda is the Big Beach Clean, involving 26 beaches around the world with clean-up events running this month. Get involved at .

And if you can’t make any of those, below are ten other ways ABTA suggests to travel more responsibly.

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Each one makes a real difference and shows how easy it can be to help. Holidays DO take a toll on the planet but travel companies are taking steps in the right direction.

Going green needn’t mean giving up on travelling, just taking more care.

See what some travel firms are up to — and don’t miss your chance to win a holiday to Morocco with Thomson, below.

  1. When packing, remove all packaging from toiletries. Bring any new packaging home if there are no easy-to-find recycling facilities.
  2. Take body wash and shampoo in reusable pots.
  3. Take a re-useable water bottle and bags to the beach rather than relying on disposable plastic, a major source of pollution.
    Dominican Republic, Saona Island, Palm trees on beach
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    Holidays DO take a toll on the planet but travel companies are taking steps in the right directionCredit: Getty Images
  4. If you smoke, use an ashtray. Cigarette butts take years to biodegrade and are a major source of beach litter.
  5. Choose sensible souvenirs. Sealife and shells are taken off reefs every year and sold to tourists. Seeing corals alive is already a gift ­— don’t buy them as presents.
    Look at the coral - don't buy it as a souvenir
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    Look at the coral - don't buy it as a souvenirCredit: Getty Images
  6. Ask your tour operator how you can offset the emissions from your flight. Global warming has a profound effect on our planet.
  7. Do you need the air con on? Switch it off if you can. Ditto lights.
  8. If bins at the beach are full or don’t exist, dispose of your rubbish back at your hotel or apartment. Also, ask your hotel about its recycling policy.
  9. Hot destinations — especially desert resorts such as Las Vegas — may have a very high water shortage so think about reducing your water usage.
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    Desert resorts like Las Vegas have very high water shortageCredit: Getty Images
  10. Book a sustainably certified hotel that has been checked against social and environmental criteria to help reduce its impact. You can check out the greenest hotels at ABTA’s eco subsidiary, .

Canaries

RECYCLING may not be glamorous but on a small island it is key.
The Hotel Jardin Tecina is above Playa de Santiago on La Gomera, the second smallest of the Canary Islands. By ordering less cargo from the mainland, it has cut CO2 emissions. And the wooden delivery pallets have been recycled into 30 sofas and 25 tables for the garden terrace.
The hotel also offers guests picnic bags made of natural fibre and recycled paper, reducing the use of more harmful plastic bags.

Cyprus

THERE is a great incentive for couples to tie the knot at the 5H Aphrodite Hills Resort near Paphos.
Have your wedding here and it will plant an olive tree, as per Cypriot tradition.
It is a nice gift from the hotel to the happy couple – and to the environment.
Last year the hotel planted 30 new trees in its garden and this year staff will add almost 100 more.
The little things count – and it is simple gestures such as this that helped the Aphrodite Hills earn its Travelife certification.

Zakynthos

MANY of the Greek islands support rare wildlife and, in 1999, the National Marine Park was founded in Zakynthos with the aim of preserving endangered loggerhead turtles and other sea life in the region.
The idea of the park is to raise awareness of endangered species while managing tourism so that it contributes to local economic development.
Results so far include opening five visitor exhibition and research centres and ongoing protection for the seas, managed by park rangers.


Win a week in Morocco

THE Riu Tikida Palmeraie in Marrakech won a Travel Life Award for its sustainable credentials – but don’t think that means spartan surroundings and austerity. It is a 4H all-inclusive hotel with a focus on fun for all the family.

Enter our prize draw and you could win our seven-night break there for two adults and two children, for travel between November and April.

For full terms and conditions and to enter the prize draw, go to .

 

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