On vacation it is recommended to relax and get out of daily routines but you might still make eco-friendly choices while chilling. If you have summer cottage or planning to rent one, here are some great tips you can take into consideration.
The first move is to think about how you transport vacationers from home base to the point of relaxation. It is always recommendable to use bus or train instead of personal car, sometimes routes to isolated cottages are out of reach of public transport. When renting a summer residence, you can choose location near your home or from area that can be reached by public transport. If you can’t choose location and transportation requires personal car, you can drive outside big traffic jams, and save some fuel and be much less frustrated. Try to get everybody into one car, with every seat taken; environmental pressure is divided among several passengers.
Take a new look at heating this summer and try to substitute at least some of resources with ecological ones. If you use electricity, check your electricity supplier and make sure you use electricity that is produced with wind power or other eco-labeled resource. Try to find some waste or residue fuel wood instead of primary wood and turn electricity off for a while. The heating issue is even more important during the cold season. Even if the cottage is not used, some people prefer to keep the temperature above the outside temperature. It is worth considering if the heating is really needed during the winter, it can be quit costly too.
One Did It registered users can use extended ecological backpack test to add several energy sources in secondary residence. Just take the test again after registering and you’ll see extended sections highlighted.
To keep room temperature nice and warm, check visible insulation every year, the mice and birds might have taken something to their own purposes during low maintenance time. When sealing up cracks in the cottage, keep an eye out for spider webs. Spiders like to weave them in the path of airflow to catch insects.
If you need to renovate, do it with recycled materials. Using recycled materials is a great way to save money and avoid wastage. It is important to take measurements of the things that you need before you start going out to buy materials. Visit around local recycling centers, buy-sell& trade -places, garage sales, demolition places and even local dump. Make it like an adventure and meet local people. Getting to know the people who deal with recycled materials can aid you, as many of them can give you tips on where you can find materials that you need.
Maybe the biggest influence you can do is getting to know local people and neighbors when you need builders, remodelers and developers and buy locally harvested and manufactured materials and groceries. Consider what types of resources have a local industry and make sure that your products actually come from there. And think about what veggies and herbs you can grow in your own garden. Remember to collect rainwater to water your plants. You can spread out the word with neighbors about local work and utilities, change good tips and influence consumption habits in a bigger scale than your own yard.
After you have read all this you might end up thinking how much work your own cottage requires. Renting a cottage is not a bad idea at all and it is ecological too. One Did It registered users can use extended ecological backpack test to fill the whole amount of people using the secondary residence with you.
We have gathered a few links for further reading on Finnish, and we would be interested if our readers would share similar liks to us and other readers.
Further reading in Finnish:
Report about the environmental impacts from electricity use in summerhouses and possibilities to reduce electricity use through the means of alternative heating systems. (PDF)
Tourism MIPS – Consumption of natural resources of tourism (PDF)
Sustainability in leisure time housing (Website)
Summerhousing as a lifestyle (PDF)
Should we go to summer cottage? (PDF)
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1 comment:
It is very important that you plan your vacation well. There are a lot of sites online where you can benefit from. This is relevant in order to keep your vacation less expensive.
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