Jetting all over the world is never going to be the best way to help the environment, but there are ways and means of ensuring your holiday is as sustainable as possible.
Lots of resorts and destinations are innovating on their own terms, building up initiatives and attractions that use tourism and the money and power it brings to help local areas.
Here are some of our highlights and the ways in which they’re helping the fight against climate change in their own way.
Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic-Free
Where: Paralimni Cyprus
Paralimni, a small town on the east coast of Cyprus, is changing the whole island’s attitudes to the use of plastic on its beaches… one giant tortoise at a time.
What started with a community art piece, Calypso – a huge tortoise mural made up of discarded plastic waste found during beach and sea clean-up campaigns on Ayia Triada beach – is now part of a much wider Keep Our Sand And Sea Plastic Free movement that’s quickly spread throughout the Famagusta District.
Proving that small alterations can make a big impact, free refill stations for cold, filtered water, designated smoking areas and signage with top tips for avoiding single-use plastic have all been placed along the coast – and have already made a massive difference.
Stay: The Malama Beach Holiday Village has rooms from £125pn.
Say No to Sunbeds
Where: Lipsi Greece
Known as the pearl of Greece’s insanely beautiful Dodecanese Islands, the municipality of Lipsi – a cluster of 24 islands and six rocky inlets – is among the most simple and authentic Greek islands.
In keeping with its wholesome personality, and intent on ensuring its seas stay crystal clear, in May the district launched its Say No To Sunbeds initiative, supporting plastic-free tourism, the complete abolition of sunbeds and a ban on the use of cars – no great surprise considering the island’s entire area is about six square miles.
Still a well-kept secret, Lipsi’s natural port sits on an impossibly sparkly white sand enclave right next to Lientou Beach, a swathe of spotless sand bordered by pink-flowering tamarisk trees that’s leading the area’s innovative eco stance.
Stay: The charming Aphroditi Hotel, just steps from the sea, has rooms from
£68pn.
Keeping it clean on the beach
Wherever you live in the UK, you can take part in a beach litter clean-up with Beach Cleans, originally launched by ocean activists Surfers Against Sewage.
Their passion and perseverance is a massive factor in why the UK now has some of the cleanest beaches in Europe.
Their campaign, the Million Mile Clean, aims to make the whole of the UK a greener place to enjoy – you can register and run a clean-up in your own area or simply look for one to join.
Beach Buddies
Where: Port Erin Beach Isle of Man
Bordered by the cliffs of Bradda Head, the Isle of Man’s Port Erin Beach looks out to Ireland’s Mourne Mountains. It’s known for the deep orange sunsets framing its sands, kept golden by the work of Beach Buddies, a charity setting world standards in beach cleaning.
The initiative was founded in 2006 when two dog walkers realised their beaches were overrun with plastic rubbish. Since then, two has become a whopping 15,000 volunteers, who hold more than 200 events each year and have cleaned 100 miles of coastline in total across the Isle of Man.
To get involved, show up and look for the bright red truck laden with litter pickers and bin bags.
Stay: Check in to the pretty Surfside coastal cottage on Port Erin Beach, sleeps four, from £350 for two nights.
Unwind and Be Kind
Where: Tampa Bay Florida
Channelling the chilled-out surfers who flock to this white sand stretch in Florida’s Tampa Bay, ‘chill mode on’ is the slogan behind Visit St Pete/Clearwater’s new green initiative.
Championed by TikTok creator Caulin Donaldson, who is spending 500 consecutive days beach-cleaning across the US, the eco drive encourages locals and travellers to ‘stay cool’ by following eight simple steps, including not bringing plastic bags, straws or water bottles to the beaches, being a good boater to protect manatees and – winning a zillion points for being ridiculously cute – knocking down sandcastles at the end of the day to help baby turtles make their way from the beach to the ocean during hatching season.
Stay: The sprawling RumFish Beach Resort has rooms from £192pn.
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