Challenge 7 – July – Summer Swaps

Challenge 7 – July – Summer Swaps

Published —
07.17.24
Writer —

Bonjour! Hola! Konnichiwa! Guten tag! God dag! Yassas! Asalaam alaikum! Nǐn hǎo! Hello! Hi again, in several languages, because summer has finally approached us (though she’s clearly going through a mini emo phase because she’s cloaked in grey and crying rain a lot) and beckoned us here, there and everywhere. All across the very blue and green globe that we’re desperately trying to protect. So, as you can imagine, this month’s green swaps are all about how we spend our summers; at home, and away.

For these challenges, we’ve broken them down into sections regarding a typical summer holiday, and a little staycation back home.

They say it’s a hot girl summer, and only the hottest girls travel sustainably and ethically. Ready to join in?

1. Before your holiday

Half of the actual holiday happens before you even get there, right? The giddy anticipation, the impatience, the countdown apps, the holiday buys, the travel toiletries, the selection of five, possibly six holiday reads even though you’re only going for a weekend trip. Like Christmas, summer fun begins in the weeks leading up to it – and so do our first lot of green swaps.

As easy and exciting as it is to grab yourself three new pairs of pastel-coloured flip-flops even though you already have nine back home; as weirdly thrilling as it is to overload on tiny travel toiletries that can barely wash the hair in your mole, let alone your entire luscious mane; as affirming as it is to buy the bottles of suncream stacked at the counter, reminding you that the sun really is out there beyond all the thick grey clouds still rolling in – it’s in these moments that we’re asking you to stop, and swap. Here’s what we mean:

Swap liquid toiletries for bars

We’ve mentioned this before, and we’re saying it again, because plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles take up to 450 years to decompose, so think about the mountainous amount of tiny hotel-sized toiletries that are barely even single-use (you get approximately 0.4 of a use out of them. Pick your favourite limb to wash, and the rest can wait until you’re back home), discarded within the graveyard of immortal, plasticky creatures that live for almost half a millennia, all from your one weekend trip.

However, shampoo bars are recyclable, biodegradable, no-waste, cruelty-free, non-polluting, cost-effective alternatives. Now that’s a criteria you want both your hygiene routine and your life partner to meet. They’re lush – and you can get them from Lush.

Swap chemical sun cream for reef-safe sun cream

Not to put my mom hat on (it’s a wide wicker-looking fedora that could be transformed into an average-sized boat for all the family in a beachside emergency) but: YOU SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR SUN CREAM. You, a young pale child. You, a dad of four. You, a natural tanner. You, a natural burner. You, somebody who prefers the shade. You, a sun worshipper. You, an immortal vampire, because you still need to set a good example to the mortal humans surrounding you on the shore. Whoever you are, you need to wear sun cream to protect yourself from the harmful sun rays.

Even when it’s not necessarily overtly sunny, or if you’re in the shade or water – protect yourself no matter what. Sun cream is a shield against UVA and UVB.

But did you know it’s also a weapon? One that can damage the environment when it washes off into the ocean, damaging all kinds of ocean life, including bleaching coral and harming its DNA, impairing growth and photosynthesis of green algae, inducing defects in young mussels, and so, so much more. It’s inevitable, when 6000 tons of sun cream wash away into coral reefs worldwide each year. All because of their harmful chemicals; oxybenzone and octinoxate.

Buying chemical-free reef-safe cream can change all that. There are plenty of natural alternatives to choose from. Like Green People’s or from Peace With The Wild (as well as all kinds of eco-products that are summer ready).

Swap new stuff for second-hand

New suitcases, new travel bags, new travel pillows, new wallets, new bum bags, new sandals, new holiday clothes, new sunglasses, nude beaches (one of these does not belong); the summer is an excuse for both cheesy novels and novel items. A chance to shed the winter weight of your bulky coats and dust-coated suitcases and replace them with shiny, clean, new ones!

But when it’s in with the new, then the old becomes waste. Needless waste. Waste that could be recycled, reused, re-loved. And everything new requires more resources and energy to create, meaning we’re not only wasting, we’re using up – both of which can be alleviated if we sew up a few holes in our backpacks, wash our old trainers and switch our mindset from “old stuff” to vintage stuff. And take them out for another spin.

2. During your holiday

Peace. Tranquillity. Milka bars. Travelling is all about exploring nature – and foreign supermarkets – to connect with the unfamiliar worlds around you. To see architecture we’ve never seen, to eat cuisine we’ve never eaten, to meet animals we don’t have in our corners of the globe. But there’s a right way and a wrong way to holiday.

The wrong way:

  • Getting a taxi to and from every destination, even if they’re only a five minute walk from where you’re staying.

The right way:

  • Explore places on foot. Take a walking tour, hire a bike, wrangle a pack of huskies or even just roam around of your own free will. You see more of the world when you take it step by step, mapping these new territories with your own two feet – and not littering it with your carbon footprint.

The wrong way:

  • Eating at Pizza Hut. Or Starbucks. Or Subway.

The right way:

  • Swap big chains for local businesses. Granted, you and your brother might be halfway to beating the record for The Most McDonald’s Dined In At From All Around the World, but the local italian bistro beside it has a world record for selling The Best Coffee in the History of Everything – just look at that clearly handwritten sign on a scraggly piece of paper taped to their front door! See! Their credentials! – but instead you’re McMissing Out. Eating locally is a way of understanding where you are, tasting their culture, experiencing flavours you might never have tasted before – and you’re supporting their local economy at the same time.

The wrong way:

  • Booking an elephant ride with a company that treats their animals poorly. Visiting a circus that treats their animals poorly. A trip to the zoo that treats their animals poorly.

The right way:

  • Head to a nature reserve, learn about local wildlife, find a zoo that supports endangered species and allows them freedom over captivity. Unethical animal activities are a no, but there are plenty of other creature-based ethical ones you can give a go. And don’t forget to be nice to all local stray cats. Or else (they’re like the feline mafia, so watch your back).

And there you have it. Just a few quick and easy alternatives that only serve to enhance your trip, whilst being much better for the environment and locals around you.

3. How you travel

When easyJet is dropping discount deals into your inbox every other day, it’s hard not to book flights to uncharted corners of the globe for less than your council tax bill. But, if you’ve ever watched BBC’s Race Across the World, you’ll know that catching a flight is not the only way to travel. For a means of transport that allows you to put your feet up – your carbon footprint on a flight is huge. A short journey via plane is one of the most carbon-intense trips there is, so, if you’re travelling locally, staying in the same country or one accessible via train or boat (or piggyback, if your partner’s offering), choose… anything but the plane.

That’s pretty much the entire premise of the Flight Free UK pledge. A campaign for climate action, with over 3000 people from the UK already signing up and pledging to go flight free for 2024.

“Our mission is to inform people of the climate impact of aviation and inspire people to travel by other means.” – Flight Free UK.

Source: Flight Free UK

We’re all trying to reduce our emissions on the Earth. Cutting out meat, taking the bus instead of the car, swapping out for renewable energy – and then we board our plane, and in the span of less than an in-flight movie, we’ve produced more emissions than we managed to save with all our green swaps thus far. It’s just plane astonishing.

But if you sign up for a year of flightless adventuring – and there are many ways to do just that! – then you can both cut your carbon footprint dramatically, and inspire social change.

So put your foot down, keep it on the ground, and pledge to a flight free year (or create your own pledge entirely).

4. A summer at home

Now, this instead might be a year of summering right where you are, in the comfort of your own existential AirBnB known as; your home. If that’s the case, that’s ace! You’re still more than entitled to stuff your face and lounge about under the Holidaying Act of 2024; “it doesn’t count, I’m on me holidays!” And there are still more than enough green swaps you can make from home, too.

Leave the car at home

You probably know your hometown pretty well – but act as if you don’t. Pretend you’re not a local. Explore as though you’re a tourist, taking in the sights one road at a time. Walk around, cycle places, venture near and far and without your car. Leave it at home (if you were truly abroad, you wouldn’t have your car with you now would you?), and go for a roam.

Plan a waste free picnic

For one of your at-home summer activities, why not gather together your favourite foods and grab a wicker basket, thread some daisies into your french plait, stick on your prettiest plaid dress, fish out a throw woven by fairies and head out for a family picnic. But before you do; swap your cling film for beeswax wraps or glass containers. Forget disposable cutlery, just pack some oldies from home and wash them when you’re back! Bring a reusable water bottle and washable napkins and even fruit you’ve gathered in netted bags rather than plastic packaging. All eco-alternatives, you see. For your picnic, pick green.

Let your clothes air dry

Granted, this summer might not be the most opportune time to do so, but in the brief and fleeting bursts of sun, find yourself a nearby sunbeam and stick your sodden undies in it to dry! It’s your washing machine’s summer holiday too – let it rest once in a while, like you.

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