A holiday that won't cost the earth...

As the impact of plane travel and taking holidays hits the headlines more and more, you could be forgiven for thinking that planning a vacation is a bad thing for the planet. But don’t panic – there are plenty of ways in which you can take a relaxing break, without it costing the earth. Glamping is a great option if you are looking for a sustainable vacation for the following reasons:

You don’t have to travel so far

Staying in the UK means that you don’t need to fly long distances with all the carbon impact that has on the planet. You can even make the journey part of the holiday by taking public transport so you can relax and read a book or just enjoy the scenery rather than the stress of tailbacks on the motorway. Here at The Forge we are very happy to collect out guests from the mainline stations which are less than half an hour away, or you can arrive in wonderful Great Gatsby style on the steam train which runs to within a few miles of our place.

You can try out new energy sources

Glamping sites with good eco-credentials are a great way to see find out about the possibilities of sustainable energy sources such as solar and wind energy. At The Forge our site is completely electricity-free meaning that all the lighting (and phone charging) is done by the power of the sun. We also collect all of the grey water from our camp kitchens to water the 2000 new trees we’ve just planted. It’s amazing how you can start to make people just a little bit more conscious of how much water they use on a daily basis by collecting the water that they throw away!

You can become more mindful

Living outside for a few days helps people to reconnect back with nature and the natural rhythms of the great outdoors. You can go to bed when it gets dark and get up when it gets light. You can tune into which edible plants are in season or which wild flowers are in bloom. All of this helps you to slow down the pace and become more observant and appreciative of nature, which helps you to relax whilst also fostering a greater sense of environmental stewardship both during your holiday and when you get back into your normal day-to-day life.

You can give a bit back

If your glamping site comes complete with composting toilets, you can (quite literally) give your bit back by helping to produce ‘humanure’. Using natural anaerobic processes, some friendly worms and the great gift of time, all of the waste from our composting toilets is broken down over a couple of years and makes a fantastic fertiliser for our new woodland.

You can use what you’ve got

If you are trying to cut down on your use of plastics, glamping is a great option. As most of the kit you need – crockery, cutlery, mugs, glasses etc. are provided you don’t need to buy lots of plastic throwaway stuff. At The Forge, we are passionate about using as little plastic as possible, for example providing all of our sustainable logs in net bags, using refillable tea, coffee and sugar glass jars and recycling as much as we possibly can. We are also very keen to minimise our carbon footprint in terms of food and materials miles, sourcing all of the goodies for our hampers and firewood from local suppliers.

So you see, a sustainable holiday can still be huge amounts of fun and provide plenty of luxury, but without landing you with the guilt of a long-haul vacation. It can allow you to try out new things and maybe just sow the seeds to starting making micro-changes to your behaviours when you go back home. After all, it is the thousands of little things all added up together that will eventually make a big difference.