Play your part in protecting the environment by using existing resources to the full, thus reducing the ever increasing demand for mass tourism development. Green Theme International (GTI) is one of many home exchange companies that have been set up to promote the concept of environmentally friendly holidays on their website and to encourage travellers to be environmentally conscious about the impact of their choices.

Home swapping is not only a sure fire way of getting your plants watered but it means finding out a great deal more about the country you visit than you ever would by staying in a hotel. According to GTI founder Kath Botterill, There is a balance between the holiday traffic, which is inevitably going in both directions with an exchange holiday situation. It also reduces the need for people to have second homes, which are often left empty for a major part of the year, and often denude village life making them ghost villages for much of the year.

Kathleen Botterill is a former lecturer in environmental tourism and has been concerned about the impact of tourism on local communities for some time, she believes home exchanges are definitely greener. I believe that they are a more environmentally friendly alternative to the usual kind of package holiday. They make maximum use of existing resources, and do not require special development and often ill-conceived use of land resources as occurs when a destination suddenly becomes the in place to visit with package holiday tours. How many hotels in developing countries that are popular with tourists have swimming pools, while the local population has to use a village tap?

The home swapping websites are generally very easy to use and have a huge amount of listings for home exchanges all over the world. Simply type in the continent and country you want to visit and up will pop details of homes up for exchange in these areas, along with details of what resources the home has and a bit about its location. There are joining fees for some websites but if you are serious about home exchanges it is definitely worth the money.

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