If one of your resolutions was to be a bit greener in 2011, we’ve got some great new ideas you could try. Like booking a low-carbon holiday as an eco-volunteer. Or going on the environmentally friendly wagon for a bit. Or trying your hand at a spot of DIGY. That’s Do It Greener Yourself.
Go green this year instead of brown
January is the busiest month for booking holidays. If you want to try something a bit different this year, why not try eco-volunteering? Take a low-carbon break in the UK and you could try your hand at loads of different traditional skills and crafts.
The whole family can join in on a National Trust working holiday. Spend quality time together learning tasks like dry-stone walling, goat herding and organic gardening in some of the most spectacular scenery in Britain.
If you’re a bit of a twitcher, then staying on an RSPB reserve can be a real treat. You’ll help plant trees, clear paths and monitor bird populations. And get the chance to share your knowledge by leading guided walks.
Britain’s waterways are like a huge national park playing host to a huge range of animal and plant species. You can play a vital role restoring them on one of The Waterway Recovery Group’s Canal Camps.
Or if you really must get away, you can still make a difference by volunteering abroad:
If you’re the type that gets jealous watching David Attenborough bobbing alongside blue whales, treat yourself to two weeks working on marine conservation in Mauritius. You’ll monitor whales and dolphins and engage local communities with protecting natural resources.
Or perhaps you fancy preserving the Italian landscape by helping to bring in the olive harvest in the heart of rustic Umbria. Using traditional methods – and benefiting from local hospitality – you’ll be supporting the threatened olive grove ecosystem.
Few people ever get to experience China the way you can at the Gutianshan Nature Reserve. You’ll spend 12 days assessing the impact of climate change on the world’s forests.
A pint of the green stuff
A January detox can clean up your carbon footprint as well as your body. Because UK alcohol consumption accounts for an estimated 1.5% of our greenhouse gas emissions.*
If you’re not planning to go entirely teetotal, why not try these great-tasting environmentally friendly tipples to help cut the carbon hangover (provided you’re over 18, of course).
Organic, Fairtrade and vegan, Vinceremos wines tick a lot of green boxes, supporting small, principled producers around the world.
Or maybe start ‘slow drinking’? We don’t mean taking tiny sips, but supporting growers who use natural processes by applying the principles of the Slow Food Movement.
You can also support your local brewery. Not only will your pint not have travelled far, it also comes out of a keg – the height of recyclable packaging.
Go organic. Pesticides and biodiversity are rarely good friends and St Peter’s Brewery is one of several brewers using UK-only organic hops.
Try cider. Britain is an apple-growing nation, and drinking our local speciality means far less booze miles. The Campaign for Real Ale, CAMRA, has been campaigning for just that.
*Source: Food Climate Research Network
Can you fix it? Yes you can
If you’re feeling the urge to learn something new for the new year, why not focus on developing your sustainability skills using techniques which reduce your environmental footprint?
Forget traditional building and home improvements. The future is in green home makeovers. Learn the tricks of sustainable renovation at a Buildstore Eco Home workshop.
Tap into your inner creativity and save some cash in the process. All Free Crafts is packed with ideas for recycling objects you no longer use and repairing those you do.
The Permaculture Association promotes skills and techniques learned from nature that can reduce our impact on the planet. Courses include forest garden design, fruit tree cultivation and building bent willow chairs.
Get back to Ray Mears-style basics with a Camp Fire Skills course covering everything from tracking and wild cooking to basketry. And Low Impact Living has courses all over the country, from knitting to beekeeping and rainwater harvesting.
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