10 Green travel tips

1. Travel responsibly
Take a train instead of a plane to travel between destinations. For example, if you are travelling in the US or in Europe, a train can often get you to a destination quicker, even if the actual travelling time is longer.
When sight seeing in cities, you could take a bus, or if you are not going too far, take a bicycle or walk. ( You don’t want to go on a great vacation and come back home fat and unfit. do you?)
But, if you need to fly, then fly as green as you can. We are not going to stop flying, that is a reality. If you have to fly, you could consider offsetting the carbon emissions of your flight

2. Reduce energy use in your hotel room
- Use your towels more than once -  save the hotels’ energy and hot water
- Turn the air-conditioner off when you leave your hotel room for the day
- Switch off the lights when you leave
- Switch the TV off standby
- Switch off appliances that you are not using
- Don’t run the tap while you brush your teeth for 5 minutes
 
3. Stay in green accommodation
There are now many green accredited businesses. Some use alternative energy, some use grey water recycling, some have “worm farms’ and other composting type of facilities.  Some businesses are only just starting with green initiatives. Our green icon does not indicate any form of accreditation, it is simply a vehicle for green businesses to show you what they are doing in terms of working towards a greener future.

4. Reduce waste
- Bring your own toiletries from home.
- Bring an eco-friendly bag or two for when you go shopping
- Beware of stopping of at every take out on the way to your destination – these create an enormous amount of waste, which does not always end up being dumped in the right place. ( Pack a healthy organic picnic packed in re-usable containers.)
- Use rechargeable battries for your camera. If you are a photo fanatic, you could quite easily go though a number of batteries on your vacation.

5. Buy local products
Support the locals wherever you go. Become a slow traveller. Foodstuffs shipped in from other areas increase the carbon footprint.
Try some local food and wine, experience the culture. It will enrich your life and make for a wonderfully relaxing vacation

6. Take the train
There are now so many options for travellers to go almost anywhere by train. You could for instance start in the UK, travel all the way to Russia, China and India by train. The US and Canada offer much the same. You could even take a super fast train and get to some destinations quicker than you can fly!

7. Use the internet and electronic guides like this one for your travel research. Print only what you need to print. If you are using printed guide books, recycle them, or give them to another traveller.

8. Volunteer vacations
You can have some wonderful, life altering experiences working as a volunteer in many countries across the globe. Perhaps you have an interest in people, conservation or wildlife?

9. Find out more about the area and its traditions
Enjoy the culture, the local music, the local food and wine.Meet some of the locals and ask them what makes their place tick. Very often a travel guide is not going to give you this type of information.

10. Join the global green team
- Start with the little things, and work your way through it. If we are going to create a better planet for our children, doing the green thing will have to become a way of life.
- Educate your children.
- Find out what a carbon footprint is, and how does all of this apply to you personally. 
- Create parameters for yourself that you are comfortable with. You still need to enjoy yourself and if you are constantly worried about doing the right green thing, you are not going to have any fun and you are not going to relax – which is why you are on vacation in the first place.

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About 2010 Southern Africa Travel Mobi

This is the 2010 mobile web site. Here you can find things to so and see, places to stay, restaurants and travel experiences when you visit Southern Africa in 2010. You can visit the 1 000 001 Travel experiences website for Searches from your PC. http://1000001travelexperiences.world-travelguides.com
You may also download the 2010 World Cup travel magazine for offline travel planning at: http://www.world-travelguides.com/African_Guides/Worldcup-2010.exe