This is responsibletravel.com’s sixth year of running the Responsible Tourism Awards and we really need your help to find holiday companies that are, one way or another, trying to make a difference to our world and the people who live in it. We wanted to say a big thank you for nominating in our 2008 Awards (you can read all about last year’s winners here), and to see if you have an organisation, accommodation, tour operator or individual in mind to nominate in this year’s Awards!

From the outset, the Awards have been aimed at making a fuss of those organisations putting responsible tourism at the core of their business. While some companies shout their eco credentials from the rooftops, others play their cards a bit closer to their chest – and that’s where you come in! Every year the Awards have relied on travellers keen to share their holiday tips, secrets and know-how to help us honour the best of the best in responsible tourism. Last year the awards received over 1900 nominations from travellers around the world and this year they’re hoping for your help once again. Read all about the Awards here:  www.responsibletourismawards.com

As before, you are free to nominate in one, some or all of the 13 Award categories, but each organisation may only be nominated in one category.

Nominate a winner in any of the 13 categories and you could win a safari holiday for 2 to Kenya from Gamewatchers Safaris & Porini Camps! Last year Gamewatchers were one of the Award winners, and they’re supporting the Awards by offering one of the holidays that put them on the responsible tourism map.  Find out more about the prize holiday here: http://www.responsibletourismawards.com/prizeholiday.htm

Get nominating!

www.responsibletourismawards.com/nominations

In fact, by the end of January, over 300,000 people will have registered with liftshare,  the UK’s largest scheme – with about 300 new members signing up to the free network every day. But does it really make a genuine difference to how green your lifestyle is?

Well consider this: in 2005, over 60% of cars on the UK’s roads had only one occupant (among commuters, that figure was 85%). Overall, our average occupancy level is 1.6 people per car. In 1965, that figure was 2. Not such a big drop, you may think. Until you realise that it results in literally millions of empty car seats on the UK’s roads every single day.

If occupancy levels only increased back from 1.6 to two, nine million tonnes of CO₂ would be saved per annum. The potential environmental impact of car-sharing is enormous.

Indeed, it would surprise many people to learn that a fully-occupied car is as environmentally friendly as public transport. If the UK is to enable maximum mobility while still aspiring to achieve its Kyoto commitments, it is essential that we acknowledge the car’s ability to provide one of the greenest forms of motorised transport – when used correctly.

Members of liftshare are currently taking 40,000 cars off the road every day,sharing about 70 million miles per year. And many of them are doing it for environmental reasons, knowing that the typical commuter who car-shares with just one other person every day saves one tonne of CO₂ a year.

Finding someone to share your journey with is very straightforward. Just register your details and your journey on the free website, liftshare.com, and then do a search for people going the same way as you. The journey-matching success rate is increasing all the time as the number of registered journeys grows, and new members are often surprised at how quickly they find someone to share with.  liftshare is a social enterprise so is not a company concerned with making money.  Any profits made are put straight back into the business.

But perhaps you’re one of the lucky ones, and are already in a position to take the even greener option of walking or cycling to work. If so, you might have been put off by the idea of doing it alone – especially in the darker months.

If you want to give it a go, but would prefer a bit of company to brighten that journey, liftshare also has a smaller but growing membership of their BikeBUDi.com and WalkBUDi.com sites, which are worth investigating. Again, membership is completely free – you just register your journey, and see if someone else is walking or riding the same way.

With any of the three sites, it only takes a few moments to sign up, and it could have more benefits than you ever imagined…!

However, fear not because the Responsible Tourism Awards are back in their fifth year to tell us which holidays are the most eco-friendly.  Virgin sponsor the event but the results are down to the votes you and I cast.  Fans of the awards are Michael Palin and Alain de Botton to name but a few.  In 2007 there were over 1700 nominations showing just how much interest there is in the competition.  Once nominations are received a panel of judges will make the final decision.

 This year they are running a competition to win a holiday if you nominate which is a real bonus (and yes I have voted- I’ll let you know if I win!!)  The prize is a two week trip to India with Real World Adventures and looks amazing.  The closing date for nominations is Monday 16th June so get signed up.

It’s really good to see that a massive company like Virgin are taking an interest in green issues.  Responsible travel has been a growing market over the last few years and on our Green Travel page we’ll be taking a look at some of the best holidays and tour operators so keep stopping back.  For now though follow this link and get voting!

Good Luck!