Responsible Tourism Tips - Ramblers Worldwide Walking Holidays

What can I do?

We can all be proactive when it comes to minimising our impact on the environment when we travel. Together we can help preserve our planet, by supporting organisations like Climate Care, who specialise in offsetting CO2 emissions with projects such as reforestation, to directly contributing to the care of your destination while you are on holiday. Find out more about how you can travel responsibly and Reduce your Carbon Footprint by visiting www.reducemyfootprint.travel the website that offers information and advice as well as opportunities on how to take action to reduce the rate of climate change - specifically to help care for the environment and people at tourism destinations.

21st century travel offers a beguiling choice of destinations. However these destinations are also fragile. Reduce My Footprint is here to help us all protect those destinations, both now and for the future.

Our Top Ten Tips for an Environmentally Friendly Holiday

Do your homework
Find out a little about the history and culture of the country you are going to be visiting. Look at a map, read a guidebook or call us if you have any major concerns. Their concepts of time or of what is important may be wildly different to what you are used to. Making the effort to learn a few words of the local language will usually go a long way. And don't forget, the reason you left home in the first place was to experience something different.

Avoid displays of wealth
Being able to afford an airline ticket is enough to show your relative wealth. Keep your valuables in a safe place until it is appropriate to use them, or leave them at home in the first place.

Give the local food a try
You should, however, avoid drinks and peeled or uncooked food from unknown sources.

Pack in, pack out.
Don't leave anything you brought with you on the trail, including fruit peelings and seeds, which take a long time to decompose and may result in the inadvertent introduction of non-indigenous plant species. Litter is both unsightly and can harm local wildlife, and a discarded cigarette can be a serious fire hazard. Don't bring in what you don't need in the first place; unnecessary packaging can be left at home.

Adapt the rules of personal hygiene to the environment you are visiting
When trekking in wild places, you don't need to wash your hair every day. Use detergents as little as possible to protect sensitive environments and local water supplies. Sometimes it's OK to forego your daily bath or shower, look a little windswept or have a couple of days' stubble on your face. If water supplies are limited, use only enough to stay clean.

Comply with local sanitation needs
We are so used to being able to flush more or less anything down the toilet that we forget that, in many countries, this is not a practical proposition. Observe local rules and if in doubt "Bag It and Bin It - Don't Flush It!"

Comply with local dress codes

Ask permission before taking pictures of local people to avoid causing offence

Don't encourage begging
If you want to give gifts, ask your holiday leader for advice on what would be appropriate and how to go about it.

Only engage in bargaining for something you would like to buy
Don't pay inflated tourist prices just because something might be relatively cheap and not worth the effort of bargaining for - this may well be against local practice and push prices and local expectations up. Bear in mind that what is a small amount to you, may be an important sum to the seller. Equally, don't drive a hard bargain just because you can. Pay a fair price. Tip what is reasonable locally, not at the Ritz. Again, your holiday leader will be able to give you advice.

We'd love to feature your most inspiring (and quirky) pictures in our next brochure. So send us the shots that you think most capture the essence of our holidays. We can't guarantee to use all of them but if we use one of yours you will receive a £20 voucher per photo to use against your next holiday.