Ecotourism is different from environmentally friendly tourism. The latter means travelling without adversely affecting the environment. This is part of the ecotourism concept but isn’t the whole picture.

Ecotourism options in Europe
So what kinds of ecotourism are available in Europe? To start with, there are a lot of activity holidays which make the most of the great outdoor locations in Europe. From walking holidays in Spain, to cycling in France, to more adventurous alternatives, there are suitable choices for everyone. There are also options of staying in naturally based accommodation in many countries. These often have the advantage of offering cheap holidays at the same time. Many people automatically think of walking holidays in France or Spain if they think about an ecotourism holiday in Europe. But what about some other choices?

Germany
Not often seen as a typical holiday destination, Germany has some incredibly beautiful countryside and great outdoor activity options. It has a couple of wonderful cycling holidays available and there are also some world famous walking tours there. A number of German holiday companies have very strong ecotourism credentials and work closely with local communities. A remarkably clean and pleasant country to visit, Germany is definitely worth considering for an eco friendly holiday.

Ireland
Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t always rain in Ireland. The scenery in much of the country is beautiful, it is easy to get there by ferry from the UK, and the Irish are known for their hospitality. There are many companies which offer ecotourism holidays in Ireland, and one particular highlight is a guided walking holiday in the beautiful county of Mayo. The emphasis of such holidays is on responsible tourism so it is more than just enjoying the outdoors.

Greece
Although most people think of Greece as a package holiday destination, how many think of it as a country with lots of eco friendly holiday options?

Greece is a fantastic place to take a walking holiday, but even better to take an eco sailing holiday. The Greek islands are beautiful, and a sailing holiday in the Aegean or Ionian Seas is an unforgettable experience. Eco sailing and diving holidays in the area, help to cut down your CO2 emissions, which is great news for the environmentally conscious traveller.

The whole world is available to you
With a little imagination and research, your options for an ecotourism holiday are endless. There are many companies which now specialise in responsible tourism and ecotourism and they will be happy to give you advice and help you choose the right holiday – for you and for the environment.

What is Ecotourism? is a post from: Sun Environments

Building or Remodeling your Home

If you are building your home you have several choices to choose from regarding your heating source.  If you choose to heat from the sun you need to build your home facing in the direction that the sun rise’s.  This allows your home to get the most sunshine during the hottest part of the day. Buying solar powered glass windows allow the sun to come through and stay in the home without escaping back out.  After the sun goes down your home is kept warm by the sunlight that came into the home during the day.  You need to keep the door shut in order to keep the heat in and you also need to use insulated curtains on the windows at night so that the heat will not escape at night while you sleep. Make sure you don’t allow too many windows on the side of the house that faces the evening sun as it may cause the home to cool down quickly.

Remodeling your home to use the sun as a natural heating source is fairly easy to do.  Although you can’t change the direction that your home is built in to face the morning sun you can still trap the sunlight that shines through and reduce the amount of time that you use another source of heat.  You may want to consider building a sun room onto the side that catches the morning sun allowing it to heat up naturally and then install ceiling fans that will circulate the air into the parts of the house.  During the day this may provide enough heat to maintain the warmth in your home. When remodeling your home, it will help to install solar power windows that are specially designed to attract the sunlight and allow it to come into the house but not let it escape.  This is a natural way to heat your home.

Using sunlight to heat your home is an excellent way to safe money on your heating bill and also to improve the environment.  You can install a backup heating source incase the sunlight does not heat your home efficiently during the day because of clouds.  Your back up system can be used to assist the solar energy which will also cut down on the use of electric or gas.

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Heating your Home with Solar Energy is a post from: Sun Environments

The problem with capturing the suns heat is the fact that when it reaches the earths surface it does not go to one particular spot.  It is spread evenly over the earth where the sunlight is able to reach.  When this happens you may find it difficult to heat something using only the sunlight.  Although the area or object may be hot if left in the sun too long it will not reach the full heating potential of the sun’s light.

In order to use the heat efficiently to heat a room after the sun goes down or when the sun is unable to shine because of clouds you will need to use a source that will attract the heat to one particular area.  This source is called a solar collector.  The solar collector attracts a lot of sunlight to one particular area allowing the sun to pass through the source and into the space.  The objects in the space absorb and hold the heat from the sunlight and trapping it so it will not get back out with the help of the source. Glass is a great solar collector because it allows the sun to pass through it and into the space but the heat from the sun can rarely escape leaving the space under the glass to become warm or hot from the heat. The objects in the space help to hold the heat as it comes in so that the space will stay warmer longer.  This allows the area to be heated using solar power.

Because glass is a natural solar collector it makes it great to put into a greenhouse or a sun room.  The glass attracts the sunlight and traps the heat inside so that they temperature in the greenhouse or sun room remain warm even at night when the temperature outside may be cold.

Solar energy can be found anywhere the sun shines but in order to fill the heat you must have direct sunlight for an extended period of time.  If you just use the morning sun to heat your home your house may not stay warm through the night.

What is Solar Energy is a post from: Sun Environments

There are several different ways to heat your water using solar power. You can even make your own solar power source.  The water runs through pipes before it enters your home. Heating water using solar power will occur before the water gets into your home as it passes by the solar source that attracted the light. You may also have a tank to store the water in that can heat the water up. In order to heat your water successfully you will need to have both a solar collector and a storage tank. 

A flat plate collector is the most common collector. It is designed to be a thin, flat rectangular box that has a see through cover and it can carry fluid to be heated.  This fluid could be the water or it may be a solution, such as antifreeze that will prevent the water from freezing. Next the water moves through the tubes to an absorber plate.  This plate is painted black to attract and absorb the heat from the sun.  When the collector gets hot, it will heat the fluid that passes through the tubes. As the water passes through the tubes it goes into the storage tank. The storage tank holds the heated water.  It is usually well insulated so the water will stay warm longer.  Then the water flows into the home on demand. 

Solar water heating systems are divided into two groups: Active and passive.  When the heating systems are active, that means that they rely on the pumps or other mechanical device that can move the water between the flat plate collector and the storage tank.  Active is the most common because it is quicker and more efficient.  The passive system relies on gravity to feed the water from the flat plate collector to the storage tank.  This may be slow at times and may not be sufficient enough to keep up with the demand.  Both ways are logical and may be more of a choice of preference for you.  Another thought that you need to consider is that if your flat plate collector and your storage tank is not angled right it may be hard for the gravity to feed the liquid through.

Heating water using solar power is very affordable and can be installed with minimal effort.  Choosing to heat your water using solar power is a wise choice and a first step in making a choice to help preserve our environment.  We know how easy it is to use solar power to do a lot of things, including heating our water.

Heating Water using Solar Power is a post from: Sun Environments