The government wants the tourist industry to green up their act, because we won’t have a beautiful country or planet to enjoy if they don’t.  Tourism minister Barbara Follett launched a new sustainable tourism framework for England last week saying: “All of us must try to behave in a more environmentally responsible way and the tourism industry is no exception. If we value the future of our world and if we want to protect our country’s unique tourism offer for future generations, we must take sustainability seriously and not see it just as an add-on luxury.

“There are already many businesses doing exemplary work in this area but more must to do so and soon. We have to challenge our thinking about what is on offer and how businesses are run. This will not be easy in difficult economic times, but a sustainable approach can be good for business too.

The new framework sets out “six key challenges” for the tourism sector to make it sustainable economically and ecologically.  They are:

• cutting waste, energy consumption and water use, recycling more and improving buildings
• tackling the impact of tourism transport (getting us onto public transport rather than travelling by car)
• improving the quality of holidays and making them accessible to everyone
• improving the quality of tourism jobs
• enhancing community prosperity and quality of life
• cutting the seasonality of demand

You too can do your bit by making your travel choices greener.  Offset your carbon emissions.  Choose your destination responsibly.  Leave only footprints and take only photographs.  And on the subject of photographs, if you’re going to be spending your holiday in the rugged outdoors with your camera, you might like to take a look at this Lowepro recycled backpack that offers adjustable comfort along with great camera protection.