Yahoo News How to achieve peak sustainability this ski season
Those back-to-back ski weekends you booked on a whim before Christmas? Suddenly a little more sobering since seeing pictures of koalas dying in Australia’s bushfires. Energy-guzzling ski lifts, kilos of new kit and busloads of travellers jetting to the mountains are taking their toll on the planet and skiers will be some of the first to see the effect.
According to scientists in Davos, snow in Alpine areas below 1,600m has already dropped by 20 per cent. Skiing more consciously is the hot topic on the slopes this year but it’s more than simply reusing your old jacket: it means a total clean-up of your trip.
From carbon-neutral kit to flight-free trips, here’s how to ski green this season.
All aboard the Alpine express
A recent study found that a typical one-way plane journey to the Alps emits roughly 122kg of CO2 per person, while a single car emits roughly double that. Snowcarbon wants to cut this figure by 90 per cent by taking skiers to the mountains by snow train (snowcarbon.co.uk). The site works with Eurostar, Rail Europe and Deutsche Bahn to list the 30 easiest European resorts to reach by rail and offers step-by-step guides to timetables, transfers and booking (plus how much carbon you’re saving).
“Until now, finding this information has been difficult,” says founder Daniel Elkan, who launched Snowcarbon in a bid to spread the benefits of Alpine train travel. “It’s more comfortable and fun,” he insists — plus it’ll save you money. Fares are often cheaper and companies like Mendi Holidays offer a €100 discount per person if you don’t fly to their resort (mendiholidays.com).
If you must drive or fly, offset your emissions. Travel app TripIt calculates your flight’s carbon footprint and offers ways to offset it, while offCents lets you track your carbon emissions across all your travel (tripit.com; offcents.com). The Capture app also tracks your travel, letting you offset your journey through forestry projects (thecapture.club).
Rate your resort
Not all resorts are created equal in the eco stakes. Climate-conscious travel platform Holiable names Laax in Switzerland and Les Gets in France among its most responsible ski resorts (holiable.com), while Chamonix is one of only three Alpine resorts to be awarded a “green snowflake” award for sustainability: its energy action plan for 2020 includes renovating heating systems for energy efficiency, electric mobility and added public transport.
Nearby, Avoriaz is car-free and uses artificial snow sourced from the natural environment, while Saas Fee in Switzerland — the world’s first CO2-neutral municipality — obtains all of its electricity from hydroelectric power.
Rent-a-wardrobe
Ski hire doesn’t stop at skis and boots: now you can rent your entire outfit. Poppy Delevingne-endorsed site My Wardrobe HQ offers ski pants as part of its rental range, Rent the Runway has Terez ski onesies and thermals from brands like LNDR, while Ski Chic lets you hire everything from trousers to goggles (mywardrobehq.com; renttherunway.com; ski-chic.com). They’ll deliver everything straight to your chalet so you don’t have to lug it through the airport.
Green gear
If you are going to invest in your own kit, make it green. Patagonia’s winter 2020 collection is the first in the industry to make all its outdoor shells using recycled materials and at Fair Trade-certified factories and profits help to support eco charity Protect Our Winters.
Ortovox’s mountainwear is made using eucalyptus wood and locally sourced Swiss wool, Gogglesoc’s lens covers are made from recycled bottles and half of Planks’s ski clothing is now made from recycled materials thanks to the world’s leading recycled yarn manufacturer, Repreve (ortovox.com; gogglesoc.com; planksclothing.com).
