Responsible tourism & plastics


How are responsible travel companies changing their plastic habits?
Our Plastic free Vacations
Sri Lanka sketching and painting vacation
Relaxing sketching break near the stunning Sri Lankan coast
West-central India wildlife vacation
A socially sustainable plastic-free Indian wildlife safari
Croatia sailing vacation
Don't miss our classic super sailing adventure in Croatia!
Greece sailing vacation in Dodecanese
Kos you don’t have to be Homer to know it will be a blast :)
Volunteering in Portugal, fight food waste
Redistribute unused food from eateries to Portugal's poor
Wildlife tour of St Kilda and the Shiants, Scotland
Cruise the Outer Hebrides & St Kilda with a wildlife guide
Scotland tour and cruise
A combined land and sea tour to the West coast of Scotland
Le Marche vacation accommodation in Italy
Vacation rentals & b&b on an organic farm in Le Marche hills
Art cruise in Scotland
Scottish Island cruises perfect for relaxing and painting.
Elephant conservation volunteering in Laos
Help to conserve elephants on an inspiring volunteer project
Learn to scuba dive in the Red Sea
Learn to dive, safely, in the warm waters of the Red Sea.
Whisky and wildlife sailing vacation in Scotland
Malt Whisky and Wildlife Cruise to Mull, Jura and Islay
Malaga to Lisbon small ship cruise
Cruise Spain, Portugal and Morocco
Freediving and sailing vacation in Greece
-sail, freedive and explore the Ionian Sea
Caledonian Canal cruise, Scotland
Cruise the Caledonian Canal in a wee ship
Inner Hebrides Wildlife Cruise
A great introduction to the breath-taking Scottish Highlands
Yoga sailing vacation in Croatia
Practise yoga skills with instruction and sail in Croatia!
Wildlife sailing vacation in Scotland
Extraordinary wildlife above and below the waves
Luxury Greek Island vacation
Organic country estate by the sea on Greek island of Ithaca
Greece sailing vacation in Ionian Sea
Sail, explore and experience the Ionian islands in Greece
St Kilda, Outer Hebrides Cruise, Scotland
Cruise to St Kilda, Monachs, Outer Hebrides and Small Isles
Spain, Portugal and Morocco adventure cruise
Soak up the sultry south on this eclectic adventure cruise
Scotland family cruises vacations
Join a unique small ship cruise in Scotland
Yoga and sailing retreat in Greece
-A week of relaxation and yoga while sailing the Ionian sea!
Greece sailing vacation, Saronic coast
You don't have to be Homer to know it will be a blast!
Eco hostel in Lisbon, Portugal
The most sustainable hostel in Portugal
Thailand marine conservation and diving vacation
Diving and marine conservation on a beautiful Thai island
Croatia central coast cruise
8-day adventure cruise along the breathtaking Croatian coast
Yacht charter in Sicily Aeolian islands, 8-12 people
The “Have a Blast” sailing in Sicily Sept 12th Departure !
Sailing skills vacation in Croatia
Super charge your sailing skills in small group in Croatia!
Other plastic criminals


Tampons & their applicators


Microbeads
Although now banned in many countries, they have not been eliminated worldwide, so do be aware of them when making toiletry purchases abroad. These tiny plastic balls, or 'microbeads', found in household beauty and cleaning products, make their way from company factories to seabed ecosystems worldwide. The knock-on effect of these beads is fatal as they are ingested by fish, harm flora and fauna, act as magnets for harmful chemicals and enter the human food chain as a result.Calling all airports and airlines
I have a right to drinking water free of charge – or do I?
Water is a human right. So declared the UN in July 2010, stating that ‘safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right essential to the full enjoyment of life and all other human rights.’ Try telling that to the airport customer service desk as you traipse around looking for a fountain to fill up your water bottle after you have downed all the contents before going through security. Of course, this UN Declaration concerns the right of human beings to have access to clean drinking water around the world, particularly in countries where contamination is an issue.Our right to request free drinking water on our travels is a grey water area, and it changes according to the country you are in. Under British law, you have the right to ask for free tap water in licensed premises but only if you are a paying customer. The same applies to schools and workplaces, unless you are in Northern Ireland where Ulster continues to ‘say no’ to free water. Unlicensed premises are under no obligation to provide free drinking water, so this would include airports (unless you work there, of course).
This is changing, however, with more and more transport hubs around the world being put under pressure to provide water fountains, and the largest of UK’s international airports do now have fountains after you pass through security. Keep Britain Tidy is a big player in this movement, in order to reduce the consumption of bottled water.


Are airlines coming on board?
Airlines are under no legal obligation to provide tap water although it does fall under their ‘duty of care’, so you may need to present some medication that you urgently need to take with water to convince those hard line budget airlines to give you some water. Which will be presented in a single use plastic cup, no doubt. However no one should be denied water when in need.Generally airlines have a long way to go when it comes to reducing single use plastic, although Ryanair has pledged to become ‘plastic free’ by 2023. It will be very impressive if they switch to biodegradable cups, wooden cutlery and paper packaging onboard, and in their offices, as promised.
LIFE + Zero Cabin Waste
The EU-funded Life + Zero Cabin Waste campaign was launched in 2016. It aims to tackle the issue of airlines’ waste, the majority of which is compacted, incinerated or sent to landfill. All the more reason to bring your own picnic set on board. Good luck with that, given that a lot of cutlery won’t be allowed through security. However, we fully appreciate that this is complex territory as you are dealing with different countries’ regulations, and so new Zero Cabin Waste guidelines are being tried out by Iberia airline in Madrid to see if they can come up with a framework that works for all airlines.
Marina G. Aedo, Environmental Affairs at Iberia, working on LIFE Zero Cabin Waste project:
“We have carried out different trial flights where we have tested different characteristics of our project to make sure we are going along the right path. Our goal is to reduce the generation of waste by 5 percent and to recycle 4.500 tons of waste per year. The Spanish Congress has approved a legislation modification whereby the commercialisation, exportation and importation of single use plastics utensils will be banned. By the end of 2019, we expect to carry out a replication phase of our project in London Heathrow. Many EU airports such as Frankfurt are developing sustainable projects to reduce the generation of waste in their facilities. However, in order to increase the percentage of recycled cabin waste, it is not always the airport’s participation that is needed, but that of the agent in charge of the waste management.”