Do you dream of connecting with Mother Earth and wish to see the world’s natural wonders up close and in-person? Or are you a self-confessed holiday enthusiast; constantly planning new places to visit?

Fortunately, being mindful of the environment and considering your own personal impact on the planet does not mean forgoing luxury or binning any of your bucket list. In fact, it makes perfect sense to preserve our planet as best we can, so we can continue to enjoy the world at its very best for years to come.

We can all take simple steps to minimise our personal impact on the planet, by being actively more sustainable and working towards being less wasteful. We can easily continue to work on this and be thoughtful of our impact when we travel by creating positive habits while we are away. Start by reducing single-use plastic by travelling with your trusty re-usable water bottle or you can merely request fresh towels every other day instead of daily and remember to turn off your lights as you leave your room. When holidaying in new locations, a great way to reduce your personal footprint is to fully embrace the regions culture, enjoy sampling homegrown cuisine in locally sourced restaurants and shopping in smaller community-based stalls, thereby passing on imported goods as much as you can. 

Across the globe there is a huge choice of sustainable holiday destinations to choose from that not only specialise in providing thoroughly luxurious escapes in every aspect but do so while implementing responsible practices and pushing forward the standard of sustainability across the world. 

Some practices implemented by award-winning resorts and flight providers include:

• Creating new farming and fishing techniques led by local people, to grow plant life and raise wildlife that will be used in restaurants or provide organic ingredients for spa treatments, while also benefitting the local community.   
• Numerous resorts and flight companies are now entirely plastic free or have pledged to be fully free of plastic usage in the very near future, by getting rid of plastic water bottles and instead using refillable fountains, or even producing their own glass-bottled mineral water on site. 
• Taking steps to rejuvenate and protect the local environment and keep water cycles healthy, by using natural cleaning products, limiting the amount of chemicals used on site and compositing organic matter to improve overall soil quality.
• Ensuring all energy is used as efficiently as possible and innovating renewable energy techniques. 
• When building and developing, countless resorts are ensuring now that they are utilising local materials and making sure all resources are sourced sustainably, as well as, guaranteeing the architecture and skills displayed are culturally traditional and blend in with the local geography.  
• Various companies, including flight providers, are stepping up to reduce their carbon footprint or pledging to become entirely carbon-neutral, by buying carbon credits in renewable energy schemes or planting trees to counteract the impact of their carbon emissions. 
• Many holiday businesses are championing various projects that target marine, forestry and animal conservation, as well as, supporting renewable energy schemes and research and embarking on education and outreach programs within the local communities.

When on holiday, there are lots of interesting initiatives for you and your family to get involved with and enjoy, while leaving a lasting positive impact on the resort. In the Maldives you can roll up your sleeves and get involved in harvesting coral, to help boost the underwater habitats or learn more about how seawater is filtered on the islands. In Dubai you can visit a turtle sanctuary or in Thailand you can get up close and personal with elephants and see for yourself the work that goes into rehabilitation and protection of the animals. Various resorts offer opportunities for discovery, where you not only get to sample local cuisine, but visit the markets and learn the culture and history behind your favourite dishes. 

Why not let one of these proactive properties take the worry away from you? Let the conscious effort to bring about positive change fade into subconscious as you sit back and relax in one of these idyllic locations. From French Polynesia to Portugal and Oman to Vietnam there is no need to sacrifice indulgence or minimise your wanderlust, while supporting efforts to preserve and protect our planet.

WINGED BOOTS WISDOM 

If you have a destination in mind, why not speak with one of our travel experts to see if you can contribute to offset your carbon footprint while enjoying a luxurious escape?