ETHICAL TRAVELLER: Catherine Mackon responsible tourism
MY NEW YEAR'S resolution will be to get fit - again. First stop towards the removal of winter woollies, and underlying layers of seasonal excess, is a spa. But "spa" is a bit of a dirty word in ethical travel. Excess use of water and energy are usually their biggest environmental faux pas. But if you want to start 2009 with low calorie and carbon counts, there are lots of places close to home to pamper yourself.
Blow off the Christmas cobwebs by heading to Clare Island Yoga Retreat Centre (www.yogaretreats.ie). The last time took a boat out there I "detoxed" en route across the Atlantic waves. Nothing beats this wild island in winter, however, and the warm welcome of the owners, Ciara Cullen and Christophe Mouze, will make you want to stay forever. Accommodation is in a restored cottage, with classes in a new wooden studio overlooking Clew Bay. Ecocredentials include solar panels for heating water, wood-burning stoves and natural building materials, such as wood, hemp and lime plaster, and natural slates. They grow and source as many of their ingredients as possible on the island, and, as they offer courses in vegetarian cookery, the food is veggie at its finest.
Hagal Farm (www.hagalholistichealth.com), in Co Cork, is about as far from a glamorous spa as I could hope for. You don't need bleached white robes and paraben-filled pampering when you can collapse in front of the open fire at this hobbitesque hideaway in the Bantry hills. Owners Janny and Fred Wieler are both healers in their own way, Janny through her hands and Fred through his cuisine. Organic and vegetarian, most sourced only metres from their kitchen, every meal is treated as a celebration of what nature has to offer. A two-day retreat with treatments (from €265) will transport you to another world.
The northwest has a couple of exemplary pampering green getaways. Book into Co Leitrim's Ard Nahoo (www.ardnahoo.com) for a yoga, walking and relaxation weekend at the beginning of February - one of many breaks staying in wooden ecocabins a hot stone's throw from Lough Nahoo. The retreat has a steam room, detox box, sauna and hot tub. Farther up the road, in the under-rated county of Fermanagh, is Blaney Spa and Yoga Centre (www.blaneyspaandyogacentre.com). This state-of-the-art retreat, with airy studio, underheated wooden floors, sauna and hot tub, as well as adjoining Innish Beg Cottages, all overlook Fermanagh's lakelands. Stretch out for a massage and look out over the lake, or take a morning yoga session on the decked veranda. I strolled just two minutes from my whitewashed cottage to watch the sun come up over the water. You can have all the hot tubs and saunas in the world, but diving in off the jetty is detox heaven.
Seaweed is, however, my weed of choice when it comes to detoxifying, and my favourite places to indulge in bladderwrack bliss are Delphi Mountain Resort (www.delphimountainresort.com), in Leenane, and Bellinter House (www.bellinterhouse.com), in Co Meath. Both are four-star hotels, and both are committed to sustainable practices. Bellinter's swimming pools are heated geothermally, and Delphi heats everything from its hydrotherapy pool to its hot showers using wood-burning boilers. They both use organic and sustainably sourced seaweed in their exquisite spas, and boast top chefs with Slow Food principles drooling off their menus. They also support slow travel, so take the train or the bus, and they will meet you.
So detoxing doesn't have to be dreadful, and spas don't have to be ethically evil, either. You just need to look for the ones that do not only you the world of good but also some good for the world in the process.