Your friends may be green with envy at your holiday plans - but how can you reduce your carbon footprint and go green too?

Although air travel accounts for just three per cent of total carbon emissions - compared to 25 per cent from domestic output - government forecasts estimate that by 2050, emissions from aircraft could be responsible for up to 15 percent of total global warming.

So weekend and short breaks are out; rail travel and UK holidays are in.

But this may not solely be the answer. UK tourists spend £3bn a year on holidays in developing countries and abandoning them altogether could see local economies and conservation projects collapse. So how can you still travel and ensure you leave only your footprints behind?

Before you go
- Take only the brochures or maps you need and recycle when you have finished with them or pass them onto a friend.
- Don't take litter on holiday with you - remove packaging from clothing and toiletries before you go and recycle.
- Contribute towards a carbon-offsetting scheme, such as www.climatecare.org.uk or ask your tour operator if it does so. Operators such as First Choice and Sunvil automatically add a charge for this to holidays, although you can opt out if you choose.
- Buy electronic tickets.

Hotels
- Don't change your towels and sheets every day and turn down/off air conditioning/heating, lights and TV when they are not required.
- Take showers instead of baths and save water.
- Take used bars of soap home and leave unopened bottles of shampoo and toiletries in the bathroom.
- Recycle packaging and newspapers where possible and ask the hotel to introduce appropriate bins. Pass on newspapers, or leave them in the lobby for another reader.

Exploring the area
- Use public transport or the hotel bus rather than hiring a car, and take excursions that use local suppliers, guides or taxis - it will enrich your holiday experience and support the local economy.
- Walking and cycling are environmentally friendly and a great way of meeting local people and learning about their culture.
- Minimise waste by reusing plastic bags, refilling water bottles and taking used batteries home with you.
- Take only photographs (with a regular camera as disposable ones are wasteful), not 'souvenirs' from natural or historical areas.
- Don't step on or remove any coral when swimming or diving as it is extremely fragile and takes decades to grow. Avoid kicking up sand as it can suffocate and kill coral polyp. - Don't have your photograph taken with any wild animals - lion and tiger cubs, monkeys, bears, snakes and exotic birds. These animals are taken from their mothers in the wild when very young and often mistreated or abandoned later on when they get too large or difficult to handle.

Shopping
- Buy locally made products, shop in locally-owned outlets and enjoy local food and drink - it will add to the enjoyment of your holiday and will benefit the local community too.
- Don't buy products made from endangered species or plants such as tortoise shell, ivory, animal skins, coral, shells, starfish, teeth, orchids or feathers.