MyHab Cardboard Tents Now Available

Festival goers in the UK will have a new eco-friendly camping option this year with the official launch of the MyHab service on 7 May 2008.

The two-person tents, which are made from tough recycled plastic and water proof cardboard, are now available to book at several UK festivals this year, including Reading, Leeds, Latitude, T in the Park, Wickerman, and the End of the Road festival - and the aim of the MyHab accommodation is to reduce the amount of abandonded tents left at these festivals.

Once booked the MyHab's will be assembled ready for arrival and Myhabers' will also have access to showers and toliets within the MyVillage - a service which could be worth the rental fee alone. Once the festival is over the tents will be dismantled for reuse or recycling.

myhab.com

Kew Gardens to Open Botanic Gallery

With the Spring bulbs beginning to bloom there's already plenty of reasons to visit Kew Gardens, one of the world's largest public botanical gardens, yet in April the gardens will add another colorful attraction with the opening the Shirley Sherwood gallery of Botanical Art - the world's first gallery dedicated to botanical art.

The gallery will exhibit works of art from Kew’s collection of over 200,000 items, many of which have never been on public display before, including works by masters of botanical art such as G.D. Ehret, the Bauer Brothers and Redouté, together with nineteenth century artists such as Walter Hood Fitch.

The Gallery will host three exhibitions a year and the inaugural exhibition will combine some of the highlights of the Kew and Dr Shirley Sherwood collections, providing an overview of the most significant artists from c1700 through to contemporary artists.

kew.org

UK to Build World's Largest Butterfly Attraction

London is set to become home to over 100,000 butterflies at a new tropical rainforest visitor attraction.

Plans for the new Butterfly World were announced this week, and the project promises to become one of the UK's top environmental attractions.

Butterfly World will be built on a butterfly-shaped site near St Albans in Hertfordshire and will feature a translucent dome, similar in style to the Eden Project domes, forming its centrepiece 'eye' to house exotic butterflies. Wildflower meadows and gardens designed to attract naive butterflies will also surround the dome.

Work on the project is expected to start this month, and the first areas of the attraction will open in June 2009, will further areas opening over the following years.

Clive Farrell, the property developer and butterfly enthusiast behind the project, said: "I wanted to build one more butterfly house but on a gigantic scale and incorporating everything I have learned in 30 years about butterflies and the idea of a massive dome emerged.

"The dome will be big enough to contain seven Stonehenge sites and it will have in it the replica remains of a lost Mayan city and a tropical rainforest. It will be surrounded by the best wildflower meadows in Britain and 12 competition gardens which will change annually and incorporate the latest thinking on sustainable, contemporary garden design."

According to the Daily Telegraph the recreated rainforest will have ponds, waterfalls, and rope walk-ways overlooking the rainforest canopy while below ground level sections of the dome will be submerged to incorporate caverns featuring creatures such as giant spiders and scorpions.

Green Tint to Heathrow's New Terminal

The Queen officially opened the new terminal five at Heathrow Airport today, and while any expansion of air services can never be described as green, the terminal does have some eco-friendly features.

The building, for instance, has glass walls to let in natural lighting, rainwater will be harvested and excess heat from the airport's power station will be piped in to heat the terminal.

The layout of the terminal has also been designed to cut down taxiing and waiting times for aircraft, and later in the year travelers will be able to make use of the new ULTra system - personal rapid transporters that will carry passengers from the car lots to the terminal.

The driverless, electric powered pods run along a guided track at speeds of up to 25mph and can carry four passengers with their luggage. The system will eventually replace the use of buses at the terminal, but it won't be completed until late 2008 and will initially only have 18 pods.

Around the terminal thousands of trees and shrubs are being planted, and dedicated cycle lanes leading to the terminal have also been built - any passengers cycling to the airport will also be able to leave their bikes in secure facilities for up to 90 days.

With Heathrow's annual passenger numbers rising from around 68 million to 95 million, however, the environmental impact of the airport is still considerable.

terminal5.ba.com

United Nations Launch Green Travel website

By 2020 it is estimated that the global number of tourists could reach 1.6 billion annually, a number which will obviously have a significant environmental impact. This week, in an effort to help reduce that impact, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has followed our footsteps here at Jamble and launched a green travel tips website, called Green Passport.

The site offers green advice on areas including planning, getting there and climate change, and rather than suggest everyone heads to an eco-lodge or organic farm for their next vacation, the tips focus on small changes that everyone can make. For instance, the site advises that tourists should avoid buying souvenirs made from wild species, use solar rechargers instead of disposable batteries and eat local food wherever possible.
Achim Steiner, UN-Under Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "Many consumers are now making green domestic choices from sourcing electricity from renewable sources and choosing eco-friendly investments up to buying leaner and greener cars. Packing a Green Passport along with airline tickets, the swimming costume and the sun lotion means tourists no longer need to leave their green credentials at home but can make them part of the holiday of a life-time."

The website has a smart look, is easy to use and has great advice; all aimed at mainstream rather than 'extreme green' travelers, and is a definite step forward for the image of green travel.

unep.fr/greenpassport/

BoltBus to Launch WiFi Budget Coach Service

Long distance bus travel in the US doesn't have a great reputation, and we know from personal experience that late night stop overs at remote bus terminals are rarely a pleasant experience; but it is of course an eco-friendly way to travel.

Now, a new coach service called Boltbus is aiming to improve the image of bus travel with the use of modern, free WiFi enabled coaches. The company is launching its first budget service between New York and Washington DC on March 27th, using online ticket booking that will offer seats for as little as $1.

As with other similar ticketing models, prices rise the closer it gets to departure date; and the use of online ticketing may help the service attract a more student, internet savvy clientele. Frequent users will also be able to join a program that will reward them with a free journey once they have completed eight trips on the bus.

Budget services such as these are already a huge hit in the UK, where obviously journey times are much shorter,and the Megabus service, which operates in the UK and midwest US, has now expanded its service to the west coast too. No matter how cheap the tickets, however, both these services have a tough challenge to overhaul the image of coach travel in the US.

boltbus.com

Cyclists’ Sat Nav Launched in Loire Valley

Tourist offices in the French wine region of the Loire valley have grouped together to launch a satellite navigation guided cycle route for biking visitors.

The Cyclopedia sat nav unit can be hired for a deposit of 250 Euros from tourist offices along the “La Loire à Vélo” - a long distance cycle path that follows the Loire river. The unit currently maps 40 miles of the Loire route and as well as allowing cyclists to pinpoint their exact location, it carries an extensive database of local highlights, including châteaux and wildlife hotspots within a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Loire à Vélo route itself carries on for another 60 miles, and is part of the European Rivers Cycle Route scheme, a program launched in 2005 which will eventually link Nantes, on the Atlantic coast, to Budapest and later on to the Black Sea, a 1500 mile long journey.

loire-a-velo.fr

Eco-friendly 'Floating Village' to be Built in UK

A floating complex of eco-friendly buildings, resembling an ancient marshland village, was announced today as the winning design for a new visitor facility for Brockholes wetland and woodland nature reserve in Preston, UK.

The winning concept, created by Adam Khan Architects, was selected over five shortlisted entries in the RIBA design competition, and is based on a cluster of buildings constructed largely of wood and other sustainable materials. It has been designed as part of wider plans to regenerate the former quarry site into a major visitor attraction.

Brockholes is part of the Newlands program - a unique £59 million ($118 million) scheme that is reclaiming large areas of derelict, underused and neglected land across England’s Northwest, transforming them into thriving, durable, community woodlands.

No details have yet been given, however, on when construction will begin on the visitor center, or on specific eco-friendly features of the building.

New National Park Opens in Denmark

The first of five new National Parks has opened in Denmark, in a move by the Danish government to further help protect the country's natural environment.

The new Thy National Park, a 24.3 hectares stretch of dunes, sand heaths, plantations and lakes along the West Jutland coast, attracts millions of migratory birds that gather to rest and feed there en route to and from their breeding grounds twice a year.

Hikers will be able to follow the West Coast Trail, a marked hiking routes following the coast and dunes; while cycle routes are available further inland on smaller public roads and forest roads throughout the plantations. Numerous campsites, around a day's walk apart, line the route, and the area is also one of the best in Denmark for sampling organic food such as marsh-reared lambs, which impart a salty tang, and for joining guided mushroom gathering tours.

A further four national parks at Mols Bjerge, Skjern Å, The Wadden Sea and Kongernes Nordsjælland have also just received approval from the Danish government and will be opened during 2008 and 2009.

Virgin's Bio-diesel Test Flight a Success

Critics had claimed that a plane couldn't fly at 30,000 feet when fueled on bio-diesel, but yesterday's flight by a Virgin Boeing 747 from London to Heathrow proved them wrong.

The aircraft flew using a biofuel composed of babassu oil and coconut oil, which Virgin Atlantic state are environmentally and socially sustainable as they don't compete with staple food sources, and no modifications were needed to either the aircraft or its engines to enable the flight to take place.

Technical advisers on board the plane collected data in order to analyze the efficiency of the fuel, but according to Richard Branson this is just the first step towards finding an alternative fuel source. Speaking after the flight he said "as a result of what's happened today, we can now start developing bio-fuel for the future that hopefully the whole of Virgin Atlantic can use, and other airlines too.

"The particular fuel we are looking at working on is algae. Algae can come from sewage plants, we can then turn it into fuel, and fuel the planes of the future without any effect to our environment."

Virgin Airlines' Mile High Green Club

Virgin Atlantic have launched a new booklet this month, aimed at encouraging passengers to join the mile high green club.

The in-flight pamphlet, 'Change the World at 35,000 feet', has been produced by We Are What We Do, the environmental group who published the very successful 'Change the World for a Fiver' book, and as well as being printed on recycled paper and being carbon neutral, it offers Virgin passengers some ideas on 'little things' they can do to get greener, such as eating local, a task where they advise to "be adventurous, imagine you're a hunter gatherer exploring a whole new continent. Gather it into your tummy."

For any eco-minded readers there's nothing new in the booklet - but it's aim is not to preach to the converted, but to reach a new audience, and it does so with cheeky illustrations and sassy style rather than a worthy know-it-all approach.

The one-off booklet will be placed on Virgin Atlantic flights for passengers to peruse - and although it doesn't suggest that passengers should fly less in an effort to be greener, this booklet is yet another step in the right direction by Virgin, and we applaud it.

wearewhatwedo.org

Intelligent Eco-buses Headed For San Fran

As a free roaming city explorer bus travel is often the best way to get around a city, but as most backpackers will have experienced, bus travel in a new city can often be confusing and disorientating, as bus fares are rarely simple and bus tops are easy to overshoot. New bus technology unveiled in San Francisco this week could help change that.

The new eco-friendly 'Connected Bus' is a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot, and as connection is free bus users will be able to use laptops and PDAs as much as they like. For travelers without their own gadgets, interactive touch screens will be available for use. These will display real time information such as bus waiting times for connecting routes, the current bus location on a map and users can even play with a green calculator to work out how much carbon their journey is saving. As for fares, these can be automatically deducted from a smart card - avoiding the awkward moments with bus drivers who demand exact change.

The bus itself is 95% emission free, thanks to its hybrid engine, and it also boasts a traffic signal priority system, which will reduce the amount of time spent waiting at red lights. The connected bus will be on trial for the next 12 months in San Francisco, and looks certain to make bus travel far more appealing.

Adventure Travel Specialists OARS Go Solar

The US adventure travel company O.A.R.S. (Outdoor Adventure River Specialists) have been following sustainable practices for over 40 years, and are set to get even greener this year with the installation of solar panels on their company offices.

OARS, who specialize in white water rafting adventures, such as rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, are cutting their energy output by installing solar panels on their main office operations in Angels Camp, California, and on warehouses in Arizona, Wyoming and Utah. The move will provide 100% of the electricity required by the buildings.

“The last few years have represented a period of change in our country - an awakening to the significance of sustainability – where “being green” is not only cool, it’s expected,” George Wendt, President & Founder of O.A.R.S., said recently. "At O.A.R.S. we’re thrilled to see such progressive movement, but then again, conservation is the foundation of our company and the lifeblood of our future, so let’s hope that “being green” isn’t just a fad; let’s hope it’s here to stay.”

The green initiatives at OARS are no new fad either. They were the first rafting company to go carbon neutral, the company’s Grand Canyon gear vehicles make use of bio-diesel and they have even helped establish conservation areas such as the Upper Navua Conservation Area in Fiji.

The 'responsible' tag often attached to green travel creates a rather dull impression, but the eco-initiatives at OARS help prove that green travel is anything but boring.

oars.com

Electric Cambridge Punt Plan Slammed

Human powered transport is easily one of the most eco-friendly ways of getting around, and in Cambridge, punting along the river Avon is one of the most popular tourist attractions - but now two entrepreneurs want to fit electric motors to punts, in what they claim is an eco-friendly move.

Matt Garlick and Alex Ramsey are aiming to run 12-seater motorized punts along the Cambridge waterways, which would travel at the same speed as ordinary punts, and according to Garlick, would a green transport option. "This is a very green proposal. The motors are electric with zero emissions and will be very quiet. It will only travel at 4mph - it's not like we will be running jet skis up there. This will be a viable and eco-friendly transport link, which will not be clogged with buses."

Critics of the scheme point out the skilled punters are still the greenest option, and are concerned that the boats could disturb nesting birds. The plan will have to meet the approval of the Cam Conservators and local government before it could even enter a trail phase - but unless the electric motors are recharged by solar power, this does not seen to be a true eco-friendly plan.

Mountain Festival Kicks Off in Scotland

The Fort William Mountain Festival begins tomorrow on the slopes of Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, and it will feature the first-ever UK Slacklining Masters Contest as well as live music, movies and biking events.

The festival, which is a celebration of mountain culture, will take from 15-23 February and will feature events all over the Fort William area, such as kayaking and climbing workshops, but the highlight of the festival is set to be the slacklining event - which, for the uninitiated, is similar to tight-rope walking, but using a slack, bouncy webbing instead.

The flat surface and bouncy nature of the webbing means slackliners can pull off some impressive tricks while balancing in the air, and the competitor with the best moves will come away with a £500 ($100) prize.

The festival will also feature films from the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, which includes documentaries, animations and some stunning cinematography on everything from snowboarding to BASE jumping.

Despite the event's focus on human-powered mountain sports, however, it is disappointing that the festival hasn't outlined any green policies of its own to help reduce its environmental impact on the Ben Nevis range.

mountainfestival.co.uk

London to Launch Free Bicycle Scheme

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, announced a new cycling and walking plan for London this week, that will see 6000 public bicycles introduced to the city streets.

The scheme, inspired by the success of Paris' velib program, will give locals and visitors access to bikes at docking stations 300 meters apart. The bicycles will be free for the first half hour of use, with a fee of around £1($2) for each additional half hour - with prices rising sharply for longer periods.

As well as the cycle stations, around £500 million ($1 billion) will be spent over the next decade to improve cycling and walking in the city. This will include the creation of a series of Bike Zones for shoppers in Inner London, with cycle priority streets and strict speed limits; and the expansion of the Legible London signage system, which has been designed to help people make short trips around the capital on foot, rather than driving.

The programme's aim is that by 2025 five per cent of all daily trips are made by bike - 1.7 million in total, and that 22 per cent are made on foot. The free bicycles, however, are not expected to be introduced until 2010.

london.gov.uk

Canoeists Given Chance to Paddle Australian Desert

Eco-adventure seekers in Australia are being given the chance to canoe across the desert - during a once a year opportunity to paddle along floodwaters in the Queensland outback.

The Cooper river system flows from monsoonal Queensland into South Australia's desert country, and most years, floodwaters from the river reach the Coongie Lakes system, creating a freshwater oasis. Australian tour operator Ecotrek will be running an eight day canoe trip to experience the event.

The temporary wetland areas, set in the middle of a desert, offer an chance to see wildlife including Red kangaroos, dingoes and flocks of pelicans, and like all of Ecotrek's tours, it will be run with a minimal impact and sustainability in mind.

With Australia's increasing water crisis, flooding rivers could become rare in future years, so for anyone unable to seize an opportunity such as this now, it should serve as inspiration to do your part, travel green, and help ensure natural events like this are still taking place years from now.

ecotrek.com.au

Eco-friendly Moon Clock to be Built in London

London could have a new sculpture, built from recycled steel and glass and powered by the tidal movements of the River Thames, in time for the 2012 Olympic games.

The vast Moon clock named Aluna, which will be larger than stonehenge, will feature three giant, concentric rings made from recycled glass. Low energy LED lights built into these rings will illuminate to show the phase and position of the Moon, and the height of the tides. The animation of light, which the designers have called ‘Alunatime’, will flow slowly and continuously around the structure in a clockwise direction.

As well as being made from sustainable materials, the project will also be powered by renewable energy. Small tidal generators placed in the River Thames will be linked directly to the structure, and any excess energy created will provide power for Aluna’s Visitors’ Center and surroundings.

Funding for Aluna, which has been designed to be 'art that is meaningful', has now been secured for the next phase of development, although additional funds may still be needed before construction begins on a site in the East India Dock basin - near the Olympic Park site. The project team are also hoping to build a sister Aluna project in Australia in the future.

alunatime.org

Eco Fish and Chips Headed For London

Tom's Place, and eco-friendly fish and chip restaurant owned by Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens, is due to open this week in the Chelsea neighborhood of London.

The restaurant and take-away will only serve fish from sustainable sources and the menu will also include a few fish you won't find in traditional chippies, such as red gurnard, ling and megrim sole.

With prices at around $24 for a cod, meals won't be cheap; but the price reflects that most of the fish will be line caught by a small group of family-owned boats in Southern England, which according to Tom, is necessary to be able to eat fish with a clean conscience and reduce food miles.

The restaurant itself is also eco-friendly, with recycled plastic furniture, and recyclable cardboard takeaway boxes, and Tom is also aiming to spread awareness of sustainable fishing throughout the restaurant industry and recently teamed up with Greenpeace to launch a eco-fish campaign.

“No-one wants to see some of our fishy favourites disappear from dinner plates. But, unless we only use seafood that has been caught in a sustainable manner, then this is a situation we could see very soon." Says Sarah Shoraka, a campaigner at Greenpeace.

“Chefs and food writers are vital in the battle to save the world’s oceans from becoming barren wildernesses, so we’re very much looking forward to getting as many as possible on board.”

tomsplace.org.uk

Greener Transport Headed for Dallas

Dallas, Texas is set to gain an improved downtown trolley service and a new fleet of hybrid taxis as part of a multi-million dollar donation from a cement factory - and it's all the result of Texan rancher taking on a multi-national corporation.

One of the area’s most vocal environmental groups, Downwinders At Risk, was set up by local resident Sue Pope to tackle major polluters in the area, but have now teamed up with one of its past corporate targets, Swiss-based Holcim Cement, to create a huge charity to fight smog in North Texas.

The result is The Sue Pope Fund, a new local grant making organization dedicated solely to reducing air pollution in the Dallas area. It’s a result of an historic settlement agreement between Holcim and Downwinders to address the company’s Midlothian cement plant exceeding its original permit for smog-forming Nitrogen Oxide pollution.

Under the agreement Holcim will provide $2.25 million in funds for clean air projects in North Texas, with grants awarded by the Sue Pope Fund board. The first round of funds will help provide 325 hybrid taxis, a lawn-mower exhange programe and improvements to the trolley service to encourage more commuters and visitors to travel by public transport.

“It’s a strange and wonderful thing for a group that has historically depended on garage sales to suddenly become millionaires in the world of philanthropy”, said longtime Downwinder board member Becky Bornhorst. “Even more strange and wonderful to have Holcim to thank for that development.”

New York to Get Eco-friendly 'Action Center'

Mercy Corps - an international relief agency that has been operating since 1979, announced plans this week for a new eco-friendly and interactive education center to be built in Battery park in Manhattan, called The Action Center to End World Hunger.

The visitor attraction, which is slated to open in Fall 2008, will give visitors a chance to learn about global hunger and poverty, what efforts are being made to combat these global challenges, and how they can get involved. Included in the plans are exhibitions of the key areas Mercy Corps works, a news bureau that will show live feeds from various countries and a store that sells handmade crafts and gifts from across the globe with the profits going directly to the artists.

The building will cost around $5.4 million to construct, and although detailed plans have to be released, the building is being designed to be fully sustainable and will aim to achieve a platinum LEED rating – which if it does so, will mean it will be one of the first public buildings in New York to achieve such a rating.

mercycorps.org

Eco-friendly Surf School Opened in San Diego

California has no shortage of surf schools, but now learner surfers in San Diego have the option of taking lessons at the Surf Eco school, set up surfer Torrey Trust.

Trust, inspired by trips to the Costa Rican rainforest and by Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth, has set up the school to be as green as possible. Surfboards are made from a vegetable based bio-foam, surf wax and sun screen is made from organic, natural products - as the chemicals in regular waxes and lotions can endanger marine life; and even the towels are made from bamboo.

The school is also aiming to save 1000 acres of tropical rainforest by 2010. To achieve this, for each participant that signs up for a class or lesson, the school purchases half an acre of rainforest through the Nature Conservancy Rainforest Program.

sdsurfeco.com

Virgin Atlantic to Run Bio-diesel Test Flight

Virgin Atlantic announced today that they will run their first bio-diesel flight in February by flying a Boeing 747 from London to Amsterdam.

The flight, which will have no passengers on board, will be used for research into the viability of using bio-fuels across their fleet, and although no details have yet been given, Virgin state that the bio-diesel used is not competing with food stocks.

Sir Richard Branson, President of Virgin Atlantic, said: "This breakthrough will help Virgin Atlantic to fly its planes using clean fuel sooner than expected. The demonstration flight next month will give us crucial knowledge that we can use to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint. Virgin Group pledged to invest all its profits from its transportation companies towards developing clean energy and with this breakthrough we are well down the path to
achieving our goals."

The announcement comes only a few months after Virgin Atlantic introduced an onboard carbon offset scheme for its passengers - the first such scheme in the industry.

virgin-atlantic.com

Singapore Opens Green Airport Terminal

Changi Airport in Singapore, already one of the busiest travel hubs in Asia, opened its third terminal this week, and passengers traveling through it will be greeted by a butterfly garden and a five storey high green wall.

The vertical garden, covered with climbing plants and interspersed with four waterfalls, adds to the nature trail which winds through cactus, orchid and bamboo gardens and koi ponds in terminals one and two.

The terminal also features a unique roof design with more than 900 skylights, specially designed to keep the heat out but let natural light in. The airport's light rail system has also been expanded to link all three terminals.

Any environmental benefits of the terminal, however, are vastly outweighed by the increased capacity of the airport which will only add to pollution in the area. Singapore Airlines' long-haul flights will operate out of Terminal 3, and eight of the terminal gates have been designed to handle the new Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger jet, when it comes into service.

changiairport.com

Sydney Aquarium Opens New Reef Ride

Sydney Aquarium's Great barrier Reef exhibit is already one of the most popular displays in the aquarium, and now visitors will be able to see the marine life from a new angle by jumping onboard a glass bottom boat.

The 'Shark Explorer' is a ten minute ride along the surface of the exhibit on an eight seat, four meter boat - which means sharks nearly the same size as the boat will be swimming alongside.
The Great Barrier Reef exhibit is home to thousands of fish and 10 sharks including lemon sharks, black tip reef sharks, leopard sharks.

The ride is an additional AUS$10 on top of admission, but part of the fees do go towards the Sydney Aquarium Conservation Fund, which supports projects to protect marine life across the globe.

sydneyaquarium.com.au

Chicago Museum to Build Green Showcase Home

Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry announced today that it will build a fully functioning, three storey green home in its own backyard functioning, three-story eco-friendly technologies.

The house will be the centre point of the new exhibit Smart Home: Green + Wired, which will run from 8 May 2008 through to 4 Jan 2009.

With the help of Wired magazine "smart" technologies will be incorporated throughout the home, including a full-home automation system that allows homeowners to control heat, window coverings, lighting, security sensors and cameras and a touch screen will track electricity and water consumption in the home on a real-time basis.

Visitors will also be able to see how stormwater runoff can be collected for landscape irrigation; how toilets can be equipped to use waste water from the shower and bath, and how recycled bottles and fly ash can create bathroom countertops.

To see the green home, however, visitors to MOSI will have to buy an additional ticket for $10 on top of the usual entry fee to the museum.

mosi.org

Split A Cab Taxi Share Service Launches in New York

Travelers in New York now have a new cheap and green way to get to the airport from Manhattan. The Split A cab service helps travelers share can rides in order to share the costs and save gas.

Like other ride share services Split A Cab is fairly simple to use. Travelers just add the time, date and location of their journey to the website free of charge, and if other travelers sign up to jump in the same cab, the original poster a text message to let you know that you won't have to ride alone.

SplitACab was conceived and founded by Manhattan resident John Winiarski who was inspired by his old ride share commute in the San Francisco Bay Area and wondered why people should take cabs alone to Newark, La Guardia, and JFK when 100 million people travel through those airports each year. At any given time, dozens of people are traveling to the same place.

Winiarski also has plans to expand the Split A Cab service to other locations in the future and aims to launch a Spanish language version of the website too.

splitacab.com

Paris to Offer Public Electric Cars

Last year Paris introduced thousands of public bicycles known as Velibs to the city streets and the success of the scheme has now led the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanöe, to announce a similar program with electric cars.

Like the bikes, the electric vehicles, called Voiturelib’s, will be available to the residents and tourists for a small charge but without needing to book ahead. Users will be able to pick them up from a EV station and leave them anywhere in the city.

Full details of the scheme are yet to be announced, but the plans are to start with 2000 vehicles and will act as an alternative to introducing a congestion charge, which Delanöe had already rejected as an option. The vehicles used are likely to either be a car known as the Blue Car project - a three-seater with a 156 mile range, or the Cleanova, (pictured) which uses the body of the small Renault Kangoo van.

Times Square Goes Green for New Year's Eve

2008 is just around the corner and predictions for the year include everything from Blue becoming the new green to 'green fatigue' - a backlash against climate change. Whatever happens the environment is likely to dominate the news once again, and the travel industry will see a host of new green hotels opening their doors in 2008.

In New York the year will start off a little greener for those who head to Times Square too. The traditional ball, which was first dropped in 1907, has now become eco-friendly. The star of the world-famous holiday extravaganza was revamped this year with 9,576 energy-efficient bulbs that use about the same amount of electricity as 10 toasters.

Philips Lighting, which created the LED bulbs specifically for the event, says they are smaller but more than twice as bright as last year's lights, and the new lights can create more than 16 million colors.

So Happy New Year from all of us at Jamble, and here's to a cleaner, greener 2008.

Belgium Visitors to be Given Green Welcome Pack

Travelers arriving in Brussels (pictured) on the Eurostar from London this week (17-21 December), will be given a green welcome pack in an effort to encourage greener tourism in the city.

The Brussels pack, some of which will be handed out by Belgium's Minister for the Environment and Tourism, contains a 'Green Passport' to Brussels, which highlights the city’s green attractions and its sustainable development ambitions; FairTrade chocolates and tea, a one day travel ticket for use on the metro, trams and buses with a metro map, and a voucher for a cocktail at one of Brussel's four eco-dynamic labelled hotels (the Plaza Hotel, The Royal Radisson Hotel, the Meridien and the Sheraton Four Points).

With Eurostar trains also making a strong effort to go greener, Brussels, less than two hours from London on the train, could become a popular choice as a green city break destination from the UK.

Re-packing to be next major backpacking trend

It's the time of year for looking back at the past twelve months, and looking ahead to the next, and in spirit of 2008 predictions, we've made a few of our own - and it all revolves around Re-packing - traveling while following the three R’s – recycling, reducing and reusing.

Carbon offsetting was the major green travel topic of 2007, but in 2008, travelers are likely to want to take their green habits from the home, such as reducing water and energy use, reusing equipment and recycling, on the road and will soon expect hostels and budget to provide recycling facilities, access to rental bikes and vending machines and mini-bars with an organic food option.

This prediction is supported by the results of a recent nationwide survey of 701 people by A Closer Look, Inc., an Atlanta-based market research company focused on the hospitality industry.

Ninety-four percent of those surveyed said they have never stayed in a hotel that offered guestroom recycle bins, but 69 percent said that if recycling bins were made available they would use them all the time. Seventy-five percent of survey respondents also said it is important to them that the hotel where they stay follows green practices.

In 2008 we also predict more backpackers will seek out energy sipping gadgets and replace batteries with wind up or solar chargers in an effort to reduce energy use, and the trend of swapping old equipment as well as Make It Yourself (MIY) travel gear will also become a popular alternative to buying brand new equipment.

Check back this time next year to see if we were right.

Eco-friendly Sundance Cinema Opens in San Fran

After a complete remodeling San Francisco’s Kabuki theatre in Japantown today as part of the eco-friendly, Robert Redford fronted Sundance brand.

Originally an AMC cinema, the eight screen theatre has been given a $6 million overhaul by the Sundance group, and like the Sundance TV channel and film festival, the cinema will focus on the finest art, independent, world and documentary film available.

Adults will pay $8.50 for matinees and $10.50 for evening shows, and the ticket price includes an amenity fee, which helps the cinema operate without resorting to pre-movie advertising, and helps the cinema maintain its green approach.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle green features at the cinema include seating made of recycled plastic, the use of reclaimed timber in the lobby and take-away food served in compostable corn-based containers and eaten with "spudware" utensils made from potatoes.

The theatre also offers a restaurant, and as San Francisco’s only cinema with a liquor licence, it is the only place in the city where you’ll be able to enjoy a drink while watching a movie on special over 21 nights.

The first Sundance theater opened in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Sundance group also has plans to open cinemas in Denver and Chicago in the next couple of years.

(photo via curbed.com)

sundancecinemas.com

Cyclists Big Winners in UK Lottery

The UK’s cycle network is set to benefit from an additional $100 million of investment after the cycling charity Sustrans came out as the big winners in a lottery giveaway.

The TV program the ‘The People’s £50 Million Giveaway’ gave viewers the chance to vote on which of four charity projects, which included schemes in Sherwood Forest and the Eden Project, would be granted the top prize from the Big Lottery fund, and after two weeks of voting the Sustran Connect2 plan was today announced as the winning project.

With the prizemoney and around $200 million of additional match funding from local governments, Sustrans will begin work on 79 different Connect2 projects around the UK. Work will start in January, and over a period of five years they will create more cycle lanes, build tunnels and bridges to bypass busy roads, railway lines and rivers, and connect cycle paths to create an extended national network of routes.

Individual projects, which have now received a the green light, include a link between England and Wales over the River Wye. The route will make use of an abandoned railway tunnel and a new bridge over the river to enable cyclists to cross the borders. Other projects include the opening up of a cycle path along a disused viaduct (pictured) over the River Wear in the North East England and the construction of a new cycle bridge in Cardiff Bay.

sustransconnect2.org.uk

Howies Open Eco-store in London

Welsh t-shirt company Howies have been knocking out eco-tees for skaters and bikers for years now, but this month they opened their first highstreet store in Carnaby Street in London, and like their clothes, the store follows their green principals.

Eco-website smartplanet.com, who visited the store, gives a run down of the features: "The wall-boards are made from reclaimed wood-chippings and recycled green glass, water-based eco-paint is used on floors and other surfaces, while the 't-tree' shelves are made with sustainable oak from Pembrokeshire Woodland.

"The table in the middle of the store has been constructed from t-tree offcuts, there are low-energy light-bulbs, a reclaimed sink and tap for people to fill up their water-bottles for free and last, but not least, there’s a button outside the store that, when pushed at night, will light up the window-displays for 30 seconds. This means people can have a peep in without Howies wasting energy by leaving their lights on overnight as most other clothes shops do."

The store doesn't just sell Howies gear either, you'll also be able to find solar chargers, green themed books and stacks of other eco-friendly gifts and gadgets.

howies.co.uk

UK's newest eco-hostel opens in National Forest

The National Forest project began in 1990, with the aim of reforesting a large swathe of Midlands countryside in order to lock up carbon and create a new recreation area.

The project still has at least 15 years before it is completed, but the Forest has already become popular with hikers, cyclists, horse riders and even survival skills students - and on Friday (14 December) the Forest's first backpacker hostel will be opened.

The YHA hostel, in fitting with its surroundings, has plenty of eco-friendly features, including a wood-chip boiler which uses sustainable wood chips sourced locally in the Forest, solar hot water heating, natural air conditioning and greywater collection. Guests at the hostel won't be roughing it though, as it has been built to a four star hostel standard - all the two, three and four bed rooms are en suite, and the hostel boasts a coffee bar, games room, and bar and restaurant serving local food. Rates, however, are still are bargain rate, only around $30 a night.

The new hostel is part of a $20 million building program by YHA, which also includes refurbishing hostels in Bath, Manchester and Oxford, and the opening of the YHA London Central in Westminster in January 2008 - although there is no information yet on whether these hostels will have any green features.

yha.org.uk

Eurail Network Grows into Eastern Europe for 2008

The classic Eurail Global Pass, which is one of the most felxible and greener options for exploring Europe, will be adding Croatia and Slovenia to the list of countries covered by the pass in 2008. This brings the total number of countries on the Global Pass to 20, and with the cheapest ticket option at around US$500, it is still decent value for money.

Eurail will also introduce three new passes covering Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, and backpackers heading to Scandinavia can now choose passes covering Finland-Sweden, Denmark-Sweden and Norway-Sweden rail passes, as well as a single pass covering all four Scandinavian countries.

Eurail are also rolling out a new logo and slogan for 2008 'your pass, your Europe', and despite the availability of super cheap flights in Europe, rail travel still offers the flexibility and scenery that flying doesn't.

Eurail.com

Hybrid Taxis Headed for Auckland

New Zealand’s first hybrid taxi cab service, Matakabs, launched earlier this year in the town of Matakana, a community around 40 miles north of Auckland, and are now set to expand the service to Auckland in early 2008, with ambitions to go nationwide.

Matakabs use hybrid four-seater cars and six-seater vans, and as well as offering a standard taxi service they also operate wine tours of the Matakana area. Tours can be easily customized, depending on what you want to see, but around NZ$160 (US$120) will get you a two hour tour taking in two wineries, including wine tasting – so ideal for small groups when no one is willing to volunteer as a designated driver.

Matakabs environmental policy extends beyond the hybrid cars too. They operate a small worm farm at their office, wash the cars using greywater where possible and have helped plant hundreds of native trees in their local area.

With the recent announcement by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark that New Zealand should aim to become the world’s first carbon neutral country, Matakabs appear to have launched their business as exactly the right time, so it may not be too long before their low carbon cab journeys are available all over the country.

matakabs.co.nz

Transport Museum Reopens With Look to the Future

After a two year, $44 million refurbishment, the London Transport Museum re-opened this week with several new interactive exhibitions – including one that takes a look at how London’s transport system may look in 2055.

The exhibit explores how London will adapt to challenges such as congestion, population growth and climate change by focusing on potential future scenarios. Always On, for instance, looks at a future where life is in perpetual and people become scared to switch off their connection to the internet.

Carbon Controlled looks at a society where carbon output is closely monitored. Local Living shows how lives could become simple, urban colonies relying on local resources; and, Energy Shock focuses on a life of adapting to survive when oil runs out and resources once taken for granted, disappear.

Although these scenarios are still fictional, the museum’s ‘Visions for London’ interactive exhibition takes a look at transport solutions that are being developed now, such as upgrades to the tube network and concept hybrid cars from Toyota – including their I-swing personal vehicle.

Another new exhibit, London Connections, uses a vast 3D scale model of the city to show how the Tube and road networks all connect. Londoners’ will also be able to submit their individual journeys through London, via Facebook, see the journeys plotted on the model, and work out which is the quickest way to traverse through London (although it’s common knowledge that cycling is the fastest way to travel.

ltmuseum.co.uk/

New Zealand to Launch Public Recycling Program

'100% Pure' has been New Zealand's tagline for several years, and earlier this year the kiwi government announced their plans to green up the country even further - with the eventual aim of generating 90% of their electricity from renewable sources.

As part of their green plans the government launched a new recycling scheme this month, which will introduce recycling bins in public places in cities across the country.

The scheme is not designed to get New Zealand residents recycling, however, but created to make it easier for the millions of tourists and backpackers who visit the country each year to recycle their waste.

The first towns and cities to benefit will be Christchurch, Kaikoura and Wellington, and over the next three years, over 600 recycling bins will be placed around the country.

Eurostar Trains Go Carbon Neutral

Traveling by train from London to Paris is already 10 times greener than flying, but now the 186mph service has just got even more eco-friendly.

This week the service, which has switched from Waterloo to St Pancras, announced a host of new green measures to reduced its carbon emissions, and announced that any remaining emissions will be offset to make them fully carbon neutral.

The green changes include sourcing food from local suppliers and using organic and Fairtrade products; serving food with biodegradable plates, cups and cutlery and the introduction of paperless e-tickets.

Eurostar have also committed to introducing a few green improvements at their stations and depots too, which include improving bike parking facilities at St Pancras and installing grey water collection at their train wash.

There's no doubt that Eurostar is just a fast as flying from London to mainland Europe, but they may still face a tough time wrenching passengers away from the ultra-cheap short-haul flights - but for green travelers Eurostar is clearly now the best option.

Eurostar.com

New Lonely Planet Australia Takes Green Focus

Lonely Planet have been publishing a backpacker’s guide to Australia for 30 years – but the new 14th edition, published this month, will be the first to feature a new section dedicated to green travel - the GreenDex.

The section is a quick-reference index of Australia’s top eco-friendly hostels, tours and experiences, designed to help backpackers know what’s green and what’s not.

Rather than taking an encyclopedic approach, however, the guide is a little more selective, and only features author recommended green tours and attractions– many of which have also been certified by Ecotourism Australia, who grant certificates based on cultural and environmental sustainability and business ethics.

Lonely Planet’s commitment to promote sustainable tourism also resulted in their guide ‘The Green Code’, which focuses on eco-friendly experiences across the globe, and through The Lonely Planet Foundation they also donate five percent of profits to charity.

It seems likely that the Greendex will now appear in most updated Lonely Planet guidebooks in the future, which as well as encouraging backpackers to travel greener, gives another incentive for hostels and tours to get greener too.

Lonely Planet Shop

Virgin Making Case As World’s Greenest Airline

Flying is a long way off from being a green method of transport, but the announcement today of Virgin Atlantic’s new onboard carbon offset scheme sees them take another step forward as a greener airline.

Virgin’s Gold Standard Carbon Offset Scheme will allow passengers to offset their portion of carbon emissions while onboard, or when they book the flight, and the money will be used to support projects in Indonesia and India – such as a power plant which turns farming waste like sugar cane husks into electricity, and produces ash as a by-product that local farmers are given as fertilizer for their crops.

The announcement is the latest in a series of green initiatives launched by the company. In September Virgin Atlantic revealed that they would switching their tea and coffee to Fairtrade brands, and also offering a range of organic coffee from Clipper – and with nearly seven million cups of coffee and over five million cups of tea served onboard in 2006, the change is a significant boost for Fairtrade farmers.

Earlier in the year Sir Richard Branson also pledged that over the next ten years he would invest all the profits from his travel companies, including Virgin Airlines, to fighting climate change. A portion of that $3billion total is already being invested in the Virgin Green Fund initiative, a scheme which will see Virgin trial the use of bio-jet fuels on commercial flights in 2008. Also, as part of Virgin’s efforts to improve their fuel efficiency by 30%, they have ordered several 787-9 Dreamliners – new Boeing aircraft that burn around 27% less fuel per passenger than the current models A340-300.

Other initiatives from Virgin include the Virgin Earth Challenge, a competition with a $25m prize for the individual or group who can create a commercially viable solution to removing harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere; and on more of a grassroots scale is Virgin Unite, a scheme that encourages and enables Virgin staff to become involved with environmental and social charities across the globe.

Virgin’s green initiatives are encouraging, although the airlines can still make big improvements- using biodegradable utensils and food packaging for instance, but currently Virgin are setting a high green benchmark for other airlines, that we can only hope other challenge.

virginatlantic.com/offset

Ecotourism Award Winners Announced

Eco-businesses in Fiji, India and Ecuador came away with all of the awards at the sixth annual International Eco-tourism Awards held in Turkey today, and although awards don't really mean much to us, the event does highlight some of the greenest and most innovative tourism businesses in the world.

Winners this year, for instance, include the Marari Beach Resort in India, a luxury retreat modeled on a traditional Indian fishing village. All the food served at the resort is grown in their own organic gardens, cows keep the grass trimmed and the traditional 'fisherman's spoon', made from a Jackfruit leaf, accompanies the curry.

Also in India the New Dehli based Uppal's Orchid eco-hotel won the best urban hotel award, Ecuador's Ecovita Organic Camping won in the Cities and Villages category and Fiji's Aqua-trek won the best Tour Operator Award.

Aqua-trek, who specialize in shark and reef dives (pictured), take part in a number of environmental activities, including an annual reef health check, annual beach clean-ups and the installation of artificial reefs to help boost coral and fish populations.

Aqua-trek also run the eco-friendly Garden Island Resort on Taveuni, Fiji's Garden Island and have helped establish marine reserves to protect reefs - worthy award winners indeed.

skal.org

Rezhub.com Launch Green Travel Booking Site

With the recent boom in interest in green travel it's no surprise that travel agents are keen to get in on the market, and one booking agent, rezhub.com, has now launched a dedicated green travel booking portal.

The site gives travelers the option to book a stay at green hotels across the US, book hybrid cars from car hire companies and offset the carbon from their flights whe