Nine of the best eco-conscious holidays

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Behind the scenes it operates the first glass-recycling machine on the entire Colombian coast, shipping in bottles from local hotels and training locals to make them into sustainable building materials, via its Green Apple Foundation – a social enterprise set up by the hotel’s owner to promote responsible waste management in hospitality and also provide positive employment opportunities. blueapplebeach.com Take a low-impact city break in Helsinki open image in gallery Helsinki, Finland, has set a goal to be carbon-neutral by 2035 Helsinki residents said climate change was one of the key issues they’d like to see dealt with, and the City listened – setting a goal to be carbon-neutral by 2035, and launching Think Sustainably, an online guide to the city’s most sustainable accommodations, shops, restaurants and attractions. nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays/working-holidays See gorillas and help communities in Uganda open image in gallery See mountain gorillas in Mount Mgahinga National Park When gorilla tourism kicked off in the 1990s, one of the oldest groups of people in eastern Africa, the Batwa, were displaced from their land in Mgahinga National Park – so Volcano Safaris provided 10 acres of land for them to build homes and farm near their Mount Gahinga Lodge. The sustainable credentials also run to its other safari lodges: as well as chimpanzee tracking and lion safaris, guests at Kyambura Gorge can plant indigenous tree seedlings as part of its reforestation project, while the lodge runs local beekeeping training and buys its coffee from a local women’s co-operative.