We’ve switched to plant-based milk, we’ve cut back on buying fast fashion, and we’ve even discovered ways to make our sex lives more sustainable.
But what about making our holidays more eco-friendly too?
While we can choose to travel by boat or train or carbon offset our flights, where you stay should also be a factor.
We’ve found some of the most eco-conscious destinations from around the world, from clean European city breaks to nature-preserving adventures in Latin America.
Plus we’ve included our pick of super sustainable hotels and resorts to stay at when you get there.
Gothenburg, Sweden
Sweden’s second city has topped the annual Global Destination Sustainability Index (very long title, very important concept) five times, including last year.
It was also named last year’s best sustainable city stay by Lonely Planet.
It boasts award-winning accessibility schemes, while projects fight segregation and inequality gaps.
Restaurants have easy access to local produce, most public transport uses renewable energy and an eco-certification scheme covers about 95% of hotels.
Super sustainable stay: Even the 1,200-room Gothia Towers impresses, supporting non-profits and hosts 150,000 bees on its roof. From £102pn.
Costa Rica
Recently named a winner at the first-ever Earthshot Prize award by Kate and William’s Royal Foundation for its sustainability efforts, Costa Rica has preached conservation since the 1970s.
Drives to stop and reverse deforestation and close zoos began back then. Today, a quarter of this Central American country now comprises protected national parks.
That includes Corcovado on the Osa Peninsula, where a staggering 2.5% of Earth’s biodiversity prospers beside the Pacific.
Visitors can surf, kayak through mangroves or hike to see sloths. The country aims to become carbon-neutral this year.
Super sustainable stay: La Leona Eco Lodge’s beachside hammocks and tented cabins border Corcovado National Park. From £129pn.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Slovenia’s leafy, red-roofed capital has topped a list of the 20 best green capitals in Europe and been shortlisted as 2022’s European capital of smart tourism.
Car-free (save for electric taxis) for more than a decade, the city has 500 parks and is intent on reducing tourism’s seasonality.
Slovenia as a whole ranks among Earth’s eco-pioneers.
In the tourism sphere, businesses from hotels on the shores of Lake Bled to truffle-focused bistro Rizibizi on the Adriatic Coast have adopted its Green Scheme.
Super sustainable stay: The stylish, Green Scheme-accredited Bled Rose has an innovative spa. From £142pn.
Copenhagen, Denmark
Since 1980, Denmark’s GDP has risen by 100% yet energy consumption is only up a fraction and water consumption has almost halved.
In Copenhagen, the waste-to-energy power plant Copenhill heats 120,000 homes and an estimated third of all journeys are cycled – helped by huge infrastructure investment.
Tourists can explore by e-bike, pausing in the many green spaces, then trying local produce in food halls or cocktail bars.
Super sustainable stay: Utilising its own solar power, the cool new Coco Hotel donates fruit trees to Tanzania or Mexico with each booking. From £110pn.
Panama
Panama is a carbon-negative country, partly because so much of its territory is forested or newly reforested.
National parks and other sanctuaries are common (as in Central American rival Costa Rica), and so too are ecotourism initiatives supporting the nation’s seven indigenous groups.
Marine conservation is another focus, with 26,000 square miles now protected (safeguarding the superb whale-watching), while a Frank Gehry-designed biodiversity museum educates green-minded travellers.
Super sustainable stay: The Canopy Tower, a rustic birding lodge in the jungly, monkey-filled Soberanía National Park, recycles waste and supports the Embera-Wounaan indigenous people.
Seven nights from £2,995pp, full-board, including flights, transfers and excursions, visit journeylatinamerica.co.uk.
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