Another year on and Biostays is just over a year old now. Lots of interesting and big things have happened this summer. What a weird summer 2021 it has been. Step back and compare this summer, with the exception of last summer, with all the other summers of your life, I bet you this one was the weirdest. At least last year we knew where we stood, which was firmly in our living rooms staring longingly at holiday destinations on our screens. This year, we are still in the Covid-19 pandemic limbo, and the climate crisis seems to be getting worse. 

What has changed since last summer for you? For me, I grow yet more frustrated at the inaction of governments around the world to address the climate emergency as soon as humanly possible. I worry about fake news on the internet disrupting democracy and selling it to the highest bidder, I worry about the global economy and I fear that we are heading for rocky times ahead. We must address our own lives now if we are to enable our planet to heal and tackle climate change itself. Working with nature and the planet will be our biggest weapon against climate change. 

Capitalism has been a pivotal system that has brought us out of the early stages of our modern evolution, but we are now realising that the relentless growth and consumption of resources is now starting to come back to bite us.

There is simply not enough environmental space for everyone on this planet to aspire to private luxury, the kind we find in the west. 

The richest 1% use 175 times as much carbon as the poorest 10% of the planet, which is the majority of the population. What happens when the rest of the fastly growing 99% achieve the same lifestyle as us? We must find ways to do this sustainably, otherwise we will not survive as a species. 

There is enough however if everyone shared evenly, and we had sustainable and regenerative capitalism. In order to do this, we must do a few things:

We need to electrify as much of the economy. Increasing the total global electricity supply by at least 4 times will greatly reduce carbon emissions and stress on the balance. 

We must harness the sun's power. In one day alone, the sunlight that hits earth has enough energy to power 8000 times the daily human demand. 

The cost of solar energy has fallen over 85% in the past decade as well, meaning it is increasingly becoming easier to gain the sun's power. 

Since the signing of the Paris climate agreement in 2015, 1 billion dollars have been spent by the top 5 oil companies on lobbying and greenwashing in 2020 alone. On top of this, governments are still handing subsidies to oil companies of amounts in the hundreds of billions yearly.

100 of the biggest companies are responsible for 70% of CO2 emissions since the 1980s. 

In order to stop climate change, we need to think about what we aspire to personally. We should all strive to be net-zero as soon as possible. I personally have sold my Jeep Wrangler which I intended on doing big offroad trips. The reason being I cannot justify the CO2 footprint of the car. I have ordered a fully electric VW. Everyone can make better personal choices. 

Next time you go on holiday, consider checking out some of our stunning eco-hotels and experiences on the biostays website here https://www.biostays.com/

Biostays are being featured in a few major publications this month. Keep an eye out for them in the November edition of National Geographical travel magazine. On top of this, they will be in a few major UK newspapers toward the end of October. Everyone's support until now has been great, not to mention our superb hotel and experience partners.

As always, stay safe, have fun, and do please consider forwarding this email to your family and friends! 

Big love from 

Ed and the biostays team.