The Broads Is A Green Holiday Destination! Honestly!

[JennyMorgan]

I did think about posting this under jokes!

http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/tourism/broads_are_included_on_list_of_100_greenest_holiday_destinations_in_the_world_1_4720620

[JennyMorgan]

I did think about posting this under jokes!

http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/tourism/broads_are_included_on_list_of_100_greenest_holiday_destinations_in_the_world_1_4720620

[ExUserGone]

Echo Echo Echo.

[JawsOrca]

Well the idea of not collecting rubbish and allowing some boaters to just dump it is pretty green I guess.. eventually it will degrade.. thus it saves on electricity and rubbish truck exhaust fumes...

Don't forget there are a couple of weird rag and stick boats on the broads.. they are all green (until they get bored and put the engine on)

 

[Timbo]

I painted Royal Tudor's hull green this year so do I win an award? 

[MauriceMynah]

I don't know, doesn't it rather depend on what the parameters are?. If you compare the broads with say Disney World, I would thjing the broads are emerald green in comparison. but if compared with pitching a tent in  the Sahara for a week then maybe less so.

Where would YOU go for a green holiday?

[tjg1677]

greenland !!

[riyadhcrew]

I know it's odd, but Greenland is almost all ice and Iceland is almost all green. 

[TheQ]

They're only Green if you start in the UK  therefore no flights, but are they number 1 or number 100? I suspect near 100 if you're motoring round the broads...

 Some sailies can't put the engine on, they depend on a long stick or two short sticks.. when the wind decides not to play. (where's  a quanting Icon when you need it?)

[BroadScot]

Isle of Arran is very green, except when the heather is nearlly in full bloom!

 

[BroadScot]

Merged the two duplicate threads.

[Baitrunner]

MM no green in the desert. Unless you had a green tent, then it would be green Would you need a camel to get to your desert camp site? Do camels fart? If they do that might not be green if it's methane

[Timbo]

2 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

Where would YOU go for a green holiday?

I'm not a big fan of this 'green' holiday thing MM. It's a bit hypocritical unless you hike there of course. Now that I've hit 50 I'm not a big fan of rafia knickers, Zan Izal and flip flops. These award things are all a bit phoney really. I mean they failed to mention the other awards that the Broads have won like the...'Tourism Officer who looks most like a used car salesman award' or the prestigious 'Authority with least number of elected officials award'  (The poor old BA is always runner up to China in this one but who knows next year maybe). Of course I made those up but then that's the name of the game...Dear Sir you've won an award. The ceremony is at some big hotel in Brazil tickets to the award ceremony are a gazillion quid how many do you want? Best green holiday? Er..summer sunday morning lie in...before I start the boat engine!

[MauriceMynah]

To both Timbo and Baitrunner. You have both rather summed up my point (which can be painful at my age.) What is green and what is not, will always be so debateable that the term means next to nothing. For example, a diesel boat, whilst being less green than a sailie, is far more green than an electric boat globaly, though an electric boat is far more green than a diesel boat locally. So! which is better for the planet, yet which one gets all the plaudits.

Yes I agree with you entirely Tim, the whole issue stinks of hypocracy, but that's politics for you. and no Mark, camels don't fart, at least not when they're standing next to me they don't.

[Baitrunner]

I can see the green debate being on the radio tonight if Sid can get an expert in on camels and their bowel movements. Could be a good show

[JennyMorgan]

Camels do fart, witness desert sandstorms.

[riyadhcrew]

Look on all the camel movies and you will never see a camel herder standing behind the beasts - enough said???? 

[BroadScot]

I've smoked a camel and lived to tell the tale! No flatulence either, just one hellova guff off the smoke !

Iain

[JennyMorgan]

Ian, it takes around twenty four hours to smoke a bloater so however long did it take you to smoke a camel?

[BroadScot]

46 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Ian, it takes around twenty four hours to smoke a bloater so however long did it take you to smoke a camel?

JM, it is without fear or contraception the most vile fag I have had the misfortune to smoke ! 

[tjg1677]

2 hours ago, JennyMorgan said:

Ian, it takes around twenty four hours to smoke a bloater so however long did it take you to smoke a camel?

Depends how big the fire is and how fast you turn the spit handle. Going on turkey cooking intructions i.e 30 mins per pound, i would say about a month.

[JennyMorgan]

10 hours ago, BroadScot said:

JM, it is without fear or contraception the most vile fag I have had the misfortune to smoke ! 

Pesky One, tis good to read that contraception is still a consideration in your life. Amazing what can be achieved with a block & tackle!

For some of us it is nothing more than a distant memory!

[Poppy]

8 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Pesky One, tis good to read that contraception is still a consideration in your life. Amazing what can be achieved with a block & tackle!

For some of us it is nothing more than a distant memory!

You can get tablets for that - on the NHS too, now.   Works wonders for wrinkles too... well, some wrinkles

[LondonRascal]

I had typed up a deep reply about sustainable tourism and the types of people who think about their travel plans and environmental impact.  I was going to draw attention to the fact that I know Faricraft Loynes and Richardson’s are members of the Green Tourism scheme both achieving silver status. 

Then I went further and read about Green Tourism and their mission statement sounded fishy: “Green Tourism, the natural leader in green grading. As the world’s largest sustainable certification programme of its kind, we are proud partners to over 2000 eco-friendly accommodation providers and attractions in the UK and abroad.”

Then I tried to find on their site what you need to do as a business to get a Bronze, Silver or Gold award and was ht by percentages and ways to enhance and grow your business, make money, appeal to a new demographic of people placing various percentages on the green credentials of their holiday accommodation or the company with whom they holiday with eco-friendly practices. 

So often the case then – little about actually doing much for the environment and more about actually business growth (more people holidaying with you or in an area) which means only one thing – more impact to the environment. 

There are so many things about boating that are bad for the environment as a holiday – the travel to the boatyard, seriously I don’t think it would be a bad guess to say that 90% arrive by car – the rail links are there but little use this as a way to travel and boatyards don’t do anything to encourage people to (Horizon Craft closing will end their free minibus transfer to Acle Station which was very welcomed).  Cars, Buses and Lorries have their emissions tested and have catalytic converters and particulate filters – increasingly buses and Lorries have ‘Ad-Blue’ tanks which spray a fine Urea Solution into the exhaust with a Selective Catalytic Reduction system (SCR) to reduce emissions of Oxides of Nitrogen from the exhaust of diesel vehicles.

Boats have no such controls – diesel engine, exhaust gases water cooled to atmosphere, then you’ve got the fuel – sticky, heavy oil how – one small drop hitting the water creates a plume of the oil on the surface and at times heading up river to Wroxham on changeover day at Barnes Brinkcraft  you will see the tell tale slick begin just past Wroxham Broad – not from spilling large amounts, but the hose dragging on the ground a little spill here then dunked into the water as they get over to the outboard moored boat to re-fuel – I have seen the same from other boatyards too – they do their best but with the rush of water re-fill, pump our and refueling going on these little spills alone don’t seem much – week after week over time maybe they do add up.

The waste that people create when on holiday in the area adds up too and if we are talking about an entire region that is seen as a green holiday destination you need to factor in the holiday makers drinking the beer, the pubs staying open the deliveries to them, the waste cooking oil from all the meals and on it goes.

I don’t see any real ‘green’ activities that help – I don’t see the Broads Authority saying how they now can supply all the shore power points with sustainable energy produced from the Wind Farm off the coast at Yarmouth, or how even a small visitor centre has become carbon neutral, or a boatyard that has 35% of its electricity generated through Solar and Wind – you get the idea – but I don’t know of such schemes because doing so costs a lot of money but then does little in the short term – but fitting low energy light bulbs in your holiday apartments and reducing the heating by one degree in your offices is easy and gets accreditation's - it’s about money not the environment.

[JennyMorgan]

Thank you, Robin, my thoughts exactly, it is just about money. I have been at meetings and this fact has been made abundantly clear. For example one yard owner bragged on just how much he saved by not hauling his fleet out annually and anti-fouling them, no mention whatsoever of the environmental issues. Not only that but he also bragged about the probable increase in fuel sales, fuel that he supplies, due to his boats having foul bottoms. There is an incredible amount of hypocrisy over 'green' in businesses, not just on the Broads. The driving force is profit, let's not kid ourselves otherwise. 

Re the BA and Green, in fairness Thorpe House has quite good credentials in this regard and the bike park is well used. Granted that SOB is far from green however the new river launches are reasonably green to operate. I'm quite sure that the BA could do better but I do acknowledge that their green credentials are generally pretty good. What I do see as highly questionable is their obvious support for this deeply flawed Green Tourism Scheme.