Travelling with a lighter tread

Following on from the feature Taking the green route in February's u3a matters magazine, two u3a members reflect on eco-friendly holiday experiences they have had.

The joy of train travel

Dulwich u3a member Margit first became passionate about sustainability in the 1980s - and has recently been reflecting on how to make her holidays more sustainable.

I think the main thing, most of us could do to be more sustainable is fly less. Flying uses by far the most carbon of any mode of transport.

I’m trying not to fly frivolously and think about ways of cutting flights. I now consider, do I really want to go there and is it necessary? Over the last few years I have reconnected with train travel. Since retirement, I have travelled a great deal. Initially we flew everywhere – but, realizing the impact, we are thinking about it very differently.

Train travel on the whole does cost more than flying – it is obscenely cheap to fly. However, the train journey can be part of the experience, you just need to take the time to do it.

Last summer, my husband had some business in Spain, with two meetings two weeks apart. Previously we would have gone back home in between. This time we took the train out and stayed in Spain in between the meetings. We then flew back. That would have been four flights and this time it was only one. Rather than going through Paris, we went through Lille where it is much easier to change trains to go south. We stopped over in Lyon, where I wouldn't have thought of going otherwise and was pleasantly surprised that it is such an interesting city. 

On another trip through Germany, we made a stop in Cologne as I've always wanted to see the Cathedral. We also stopped overnight in Bremen, a small town, where I hadnly particulary thought of visiting but we had a really plasant evenign with beer, brockwurst and conversation with some nice German people. Be open to these experiences – and go for it.

I have met some interesting people on train journeys who I would not have met otherwise. It may be that we are more likely to interact when we sit opposite each other on trains.

Just do what you can – I’ve not stopped flying, I just do it a lot less and think about it very carefully. There are places you can’t get to without flying. If you have to fly, you can reduce your carbon emissions a bit, by flying direct rather than having stopovers, or carrying less luggage.

Responsible travel goes beyond sustainablity. There's also a wider issue of ethical travel to consider, which is about impact on local communities where you go.

I’m giving a talk as part of an online learning event coming up about the practical aspects of sustainable travel. This came about because I thought, what can I do in terms of fighting climate change? One thing I thought was, why don’t I share this with u3a members? 

Margit's event, Sustainable Travel in Europe, is taking part on 12 March. Book your place on the online events page.

Cruising more sustainably 

Chris from Croydon u3a recently travelled on a cruise with Hurtigruten. He talks about his experience.

I went on the Hurtigruten Northern Lights Cruise with a friend, Sue, from New Eastwood u3a. The ship was a ferry calling at 34 ports right to the top of Norway so we visited the most northern town in Europe and then, by coach, the Russian Border knee deep in snow.

Hurtigruten’s ambition is to be the most Sustainable Travel Operator in the World.

There was no sign of single use plastic anywhere on-board M.S. Nordnorge. All disposables were paper based including the napkins in all restaurants as it is arguable that they are more environmentally friendly than reusable and washable cotton and linen ones.

The cabins are provided with a Green Tag to put on the door to stop room cleaning and towel replacing in exchange for a donation to support worldwide sea/beach clean-up projects. There are multi compartment recycling bins on all the landings and others in sitting areas. The food waste, most of which is plate leftovers, is collected along the voyage and stored until the Loften islands where it is discharged to a special unit that turns it into fertilizer and used to grow the food for the ships.

The food on board was fantastic and was delivered to the ship at various ports of call as it was local. We passed the salmon farms and the fishing boats which had provided the brown crab, king crab lobster and fish and saw the salad and vegetables being delivered by local farms. The kitchen and restaurant food waste is kept to a minimum by clever recipes and menus - the lunchtime soups were delicious.

The highlights of the trip for me were the Northern lights ,food ,snow and guided tours by enthusiastic locals.

Hurtigruten is the Norwegian sister brand of HX Hurtigruten Expeditions.
u3a Friends get 5% off when booking a HX Hurtigruten Expedition cruise. To access this offer, sign up to the u3a Friends newsletter - https://www.u3a.org.uk/get-involved/u3a-friends