Summer is on its way and whilst holidays abroad may be out of the question this year, staycations are in season and are a great way to have a well-deserved break!

 

The UK is a beautiful country which is home to amazing coastlines, quirky villages, rolling hills, diverse history and vibrant cities and I think many of us are finding ourselves wanting to explore the country more this year.

 

Staycations: A More Sustainable Holiday

 

Travel Reduction

 

Staycations are a great way to reduce your carbon footprint if you avoid air travel – which is an intense polluter due to their combustion of large quantities of fossil fuels. To understand the immense scale of flight emissions I present two scenarios for a short and long haul flight.

• A ‘short’ return flight from London to Spain (around 745 miles) produces around 2.47 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent). This is over a quarter of the UK average yearly CO2 emissions of 8.34CO2e.
• A long haul return flight from London to New York (approximately 3461 miles) produces around 6.79 tonnes of CO2e. This is nearly all of the UK average yearly CO2 emissions. 

What is crazy is that in just one long-haul flight (a single not a return), a person flying produces more carbon emission than the average person living in many other countries around the world, such as Uganda.

Staycations promote the use of public transport, such as trains and busses, and enable the opportunity to reduce your carbon footprint. For those you own an electric car you too can travel long distances with significantly lower carbon footprint than a regular petrol or diesel car!

Transport choices aside, what other ways can we improve the sustainability of our holidays?

 

An Eco Holiday Home

 

To help you reduce your environmental impact during your staycation you can always look out for ‘eco-friendly’ holiday rooms and homes. 

This includes staying at an ‘airbnb’ or home which utilises renewable energy. For instance,  properties which use renewable micro-generation systems such as solar PV or wind turbines to produce energy or the owner supplies the building from the grid through companies such as Octopus Energy which supply only renewable energy. 

Moreover, if it’s a new building, you can check if the property owner has announced that the building was constructed using sustainable materials such as FSC wood and recycled metals and plastics.  Or see if the building uses a ‘Passivhaus’ design to reduce the need for heating.

Furthermore, if you have an electric vehicle, you can check if the property has a charge point fitted on site! 

 

A Huub Staycation

 

At Huub we offer clients the ability to own an eco-pod.  These come with fitted solar panels that can produce between 3,000-5,000kWh of electricity – which can be more than enough to power a home for a year!

All our modular buildings are manufactured using high quality sustainable materials. This includes

• Aluminium fascias, doors and windows (our aluminium is made from up to 60% recycled materials!
• Sustainable siberian larch cladding
• Impervia eco flooring (low VOC’s)
• Woodfibre insulation: Highly insulation and great for acoustics
• Concrete not required for footings – we use ground screws

Moreover, since we offer the Tesla Powerwall solar battery,  Huub owners can reduce their entire electricity bill by up to 90% by storing their renewable energy. And, we can also fit an electric vehicle charging pod to the Huub which enables your EV to be powered by renewables!

Huubs are great for attracting eco-tourism and promote environmental sustainability whilst enabling families, couples and solo travellers the opportunity to sit back and relax on their staycation.

For example, our ‘Type 41’ Huub provides you the space to install an outdoor hot tub under the balcony or set up an outdoor dining/ drinking area (see image below).

Before you go, just remember that ‘eco’ property owners are proud to announce and advertise that their building is ‘Eco’, so don’t be afraid to ask them if they are undertaking sustainable initiatives – you may inspire more people to get onboard!

Click HERE to find out more about Huub.

If you would like to contact us to inquire about a Huub please call us on: 01305 250429

 

Sources:

The Independent: Carbon Footprint

The Guardian: Flight Emissions