Eco Travel

Reducing Your Holiday Carbon Footprint is Easy … When You Know How

Every year, I try to find new and different ways to celebrate the festive season; ways that mean I’m contributing to social and environmental issues that my family and I care about. With the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen looming, I have my fingers crossed for a comprehensive global commitment to the management of carbon emissions. With this in mind, it’s just not possible to disregard the consequences of an excessive holiday season. I believe that it’s our moral obligation to do our bit to reduce carbon emissions.

As we all know, the holiday season can be a time of over-indulgence, credit card abuse, and a tough time for the environment. For those of us seeking to lighten our environmental impact, knowing how to celebrate without losing sight of the bigger picture can remove unnecessary guilt.

Indulging in fabulous food and wine, travelling to favourite camping spots, purchasing presents for friends and family (particularly things that might keep the kids enjoying the outdoors over summer holidays) and how you do all this with a lighter ‘carbon footprint’, begins to come to the forefront of my mind.

Thankfully, it’s not difficult to make smart choices, which ensure you enjoy the best that this time of year has to offer, without having to compromise on your values.

So – let’s look at the options.

Buy green

Finding the ultimate sustainable product or service is difficult but there are plenty available with good sustainable qualities. We (Sustainable Business Network) have teamed up with Ecobob to design a directory to make this easier. Greenlist.org.nz should be your first destination when contemplating which gifts or bookings you make. The directory is designed to highlight the positive attributes by allowing you to make a simple comparison against a set of sustainability principles.

Grow or make your own

Kiwis are a talented lot. Many of you will have fruit trees and veggie gardens. Grab a cookbook and use the outputs of your labour to gift preserves, relishes, and pickles. Not only will the recipient delight in the idea of receiving a handmade present, you’ll also save yourself a few bob along the way. Some of you will have flair for art or wordsmithing – impress your friends and family with a drawing or a few lines of poetry.

On your bike!

It’s about this time that you’d expect me to start advocating walking or cycling and I won’t disappoint. Admittedly, it may not be an option for most to cycle from Wellington to the Bay of Islands but you can certainly take your bike with you. It guarantees to be a fun approach to exploring your surroundings and the kids will love it too.

Green your travel

To offset the carbon emissions associated with your holiday (and year round) car travel, head to www.greenfleet.org.nz. For an average medium-sized car’s annual emissions, expect to have to pay for the planting of around 23 trees. When you book flights online nowadays, most responsible airlines will provide you with an option for paying a little extra to offset your emissions. Both options will help to alleviate both the carbon and any guilt associated with travelling far afield.

Get green accommodation

While a few of you may be lucky enough to own your own patch of paradise, or will be pitching a tent on a friend’s lawn or in a campground, others will be seeking accommodation that is more traditional. Greenlist features a wide-ranging array of eco options from the five-star Langham Hotel www.langhamhotels.co.nz in Auckland city to YHA New Zealand’s hostels www.yha.co.nz which are located in 52 of the country’s best locations from Ahipara to Stewart Island. Both of these providers are committed to sustainable business practices.

So, now that you know how straightforward and painless it can be to make the New Year a green one, why not give it a try? I’ll be sipping my organic wine and munching on some tasty crackers and organic cheese topped with my homemade relish from the garden. Wishing you a happy, guilt-free holiday season and remember – our kids will thank us for the effort we make now.

Rachel Brown
CEO, Sustainable Business Network
www.sustainable.org.nz