Planning to go on a beach holiday to escape the winter? We wanted to give you some tips about greening your holiday at the beach.

Winter is coming at least for some people in the world. Maybe you are part of those suffering from extreme cold and planning to escape to go to the beach and enjoy a cocktail under a tropical weather? We invite you to follow a few green steps if you are planning to leave for this kind of trip. This would help you enjoy your holidays even more and will protect the environment in the country you are planning to visit. So how to green your holidays at the beach?

It all starts with planning

  • Book green hotels as much as possible or at least ask at the moment of reservation what are the hotels green practices. You would be surprised to see that many hotels don’t want to share these info or don’t have any sustainable policy. The GreenPick tried to book hotels in Rio and Salvador based on their reviews on Booking.com and Tripadvisor without necessarily looking for green hotels. Simply because many hotels don’t explicitally say if they are green or not, as green labels are quite expensive for smaller hotels and boutique hotels. We are reviewing hotels chains but we also wanted to check with smaller hotels whatever they were doing to become sustainable. We booked them and sent them an email in advance to ask a few questions about their sustainability policy. On 6 hotels we contacted, none replied. We had to chase them and still we only got 1 reply despite the fact that we were clients. We found it rather shocking, so we are looking forward to reviewing them and let you know.
  • Download an e-guide
  • Much easier to carry and more discrete than a book guide. You can check everything from your mobile or tablet. The other advantage is a weight loss of 200 to 500 g! And now you even have apps to download like Triposo or even Tripadvisor.
  • Spot some organic/sustainable places to eat. As food will be an important part of your trip, you can also try to look for places that serve organic food as alternative to regular restaurant. First because you will be reassured of your food origin especially when traveling in a country you don’t know anything about hygiene regulations. Second, because if demands increases for this kind of places, offer will too
  • Try to reduce transportationWhenever possible or choose public transportation such as train. Which is why it’s better to check prior to your trip how you will travel during In some countries it might not be possible to travel with public transportation but if you can, do it. Good for your budget and for the planet!

 Packing

  • First Rule: Travel light!!!
  • You can also buy things if needed in the country. Why taking so many clothes – I am especially talking to girls here? Not only traveling heavy is bad for the environment but it’s also a pain in the b*** to carry your suitcase all the time. And girls, the more you take, the least you can buy there, so think twice before packing, I am sure we all like to give excuses to our loved ones to ask them to go for shopping. “I really need to buy a new beach dress, as I didn‘t take the one at home which is anyway not so nice anymore“
  • Buy environmental-friendly sunscreen. Sunscreen is so bad for the sea, it’s terrible. The worst is that most people don’t even know that. When sunscreen washes off in oceans, lakes and rivers, it can leave chemical residues behind that are harmful to marine life, particularly coral reefs – a concept supported by a 2008 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives.There is no need to add chemicals on top of all the other chemicals rejected in oceans.
  • No disposable and try not to buy too many plastic bottles,
  • Use yours and refill them. If you are like us, and you have some toiletries from hotels, you can recycle them by filling them with your own shampoo or shower gel.
  • Prepare a bag for the garbage! Some brands offer eco-friendly trash bags for this kind of usage. Don’t leave it on the beach especially the cigarettes. Sitting in the middle of cigarette butts it’s not nice. For smokers, you can actually find those little portable ashtrays (even sometimes in key holder format) to make sure you don’t throw your cigarettes butts away as not only they pollute but you also increase the risk of fire if you throw them in a green area.

During your holidays

  • Eat more fruits and veggies than meat;
    first it will be more refreshing after a day at the beach, less heavy on the stomach and healthier. When you sunbathe all day, there is very little need for proteins. Your body mostly needs water which you can find in fruits and veggies.
  • Reduce your waste by reusing plastic bottles and try to recycle as much as possible. For instance with water bottles, try to use them several times by refilling instead of buying new bottles each time. And please, we are saying that for everybody but don’t leave bottles or cans on the beach, it’s really not nice. Just take them to the next trashbin a few meters away, and ideally you would find glass/aluminum recycling containers but if you don’t, not leaving them onto the beach is already a good start.
  • Pick up the trash you seeturtle-caught-in-plastic-ring

Ok this is for advanced green vacationers but imagine that the plastic bag you just picked up could have ended in a turtle stomach and kill her. You just saved a turtle with your simple gesture.

how to green your holiday at the beach responsible travel sustainable tourism

Cet article est disponible en Français (French)