carbonneutraltourism.co.uk

The Peak District National Park Authority has turned down an application from the National Trust to errect a wind turbine to help supply electricity to White Edge Lodge holiday cottage.

Loch Lomond Seaplanes bring back the romantic past of air travel. Operating from March through to November they offer travellers an opportunity to explore Scotland using iconic seaplanes. Loch Lomond Seaplanes have also won a number of awards including a Scottish Thistle Award. They also have good information on seaplanes and the environment here.

Since 1991 Ecoventura have been leading small-scale expedition cruising to the Galapagos Islands.

In terms of the environment all of Ecoventura’s yachts comply with the environmental regulations developed by the Rainforest Alliance and Corporacion y Desarollo from Ecuador.  Additionally, Ecoventura became the first carbon neutral operation in the Galapagos Islands in 2006 when they offset their carbon emissions from their four yachts, offices and operations including business travel.   Ecoventura have also partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to create a new fund in support of Galapagos National Park programs.

A short note from H.E.L.P Travel based in Senegal.

“H.E.L.P. Travel is a non-profit association whose main goal is to promote tourism related sustainable activities, aiming to bring solidarity and aid to the populations visited by our itineraries.

Conceived according to a profound respect towards the environment and the populations, our trips are in deep tune with the Responsible Tourism and Sustainable Development norms and guidelines.”

Follow the adventures of the ‘BioTruck’ team as they complete a journey to Douenza in Mali. The journey will be undertaken in a 19 year old Ford Iveco Cargo which is powered by fuel which is made out of waste chocolate!

The Caribbean Tourism Organization have recently held a conference exploring the impact of climate change on tourism.

“GoLoco is a service that helps people and communities create their own personal public transportation network. Your cars, your friends, your trips, your expenses - GoLoco puts them all together for a seamless way to share travel and expenses.”

GoLoco is a service founded in the USA and used to link you to other people who want to share your journey. You can also add the GoLoco application to your Facebook page.

May be it could be a way for people planning ‘long road trips’ to meet and share the costs?

Find out more about GoLoco here.

I was lucky enough to be invited on Eurostar’s first journey from St Pancras International station to Paris and to a lunch hosted by Friends of the Earth. The new high speed route knocks approximately 15 minutes off of the old journey time.

Eurostar are leading the way in addressing the environmental concerns of passengers. Earlier in the year they launched ‘Tread Lightly’, their green strategy, and Eurostar’s Chief Executive Richard Brown commented: “We don’t have all the answers but we do know that a high-speed Eurostar journey is 10 times greener than flying – and that Eurostar can be greener still. People want to minimise their impact on the environment, and our aim is to help passengers tread lightly when they travel.”

Eurostar have launched an number of environmental initiatives which address wider environmental concerns:

• Installing driver energy advice systems on trains to help drivers drive as economically as possible
• Fitting new controls for train lighting, heating and air-conditioning to reduce power consumption
• Working with suppliers, particularly Eurotunnel and Network Rail, to source cleaner electricity supplies
• Making even better use of train capacity
• Designing energy efficiency into the mid-life re-engineering of the train fleet
• All Eurostar journies are carbon neutral
• Eurostar are also working with Friends of the Earth

KiteShip - an innovative way to help power cruise ships!  Very large free-flying sails, which are being produced by KiteShip, are been used to help power commercial and leisure marine craft. Some of the advantages include using less fuel therefore, less cost and CO2 emissions are reduced.

KiteShip have won the the Lexus Transportation Prize at the first California Clean Tech Open in 2006.  Find out more by visiting KiteShip’s website.

One of London’s tourist icons is the traditional red double decker bus.  Transport for London has noew introduced a hybrid diesel electric bus on Route 141.  The route which is run by Arriva, from Palmers Green, Wood Green, Turnpike Lane Station, Haringey, Manor House, Newington Green, Mildmay Park, Hoxton, Old Street Station, Moorgate, Bank Monument and to London Bridge Station.  A leafy motif on the buses will help passengers to recognise the environmentally friendly status of the buses on this route.