Posh pads are a smash hut

JUST when you thought it was cold enough to stop worrying about global warming, it turns out that the eco-fretting ante has just been upped.

Giving up flights and booking a staycation ensured carbon cred last year. This year, you'd need to go a step further to join eco-stocracy - say, buy a tent made from recycled bottles.

And the newly-launched two-bedroom Luoman Finnish Timber Lodge, which has a negative carbon footprint, is the gold standard (see luoman.co.uk for more).

You can check out the plush pad - and other holiday homes like it - today at the Caravan & Outdoor Leisure Show in Glasgow - but make sure you share a car because emission-conscious visitors with more than four folk per vehicle won't be charged for parking at the SECC.

Staycation one-upmanship is more imaginative too, with the cute camping POD - a cross between a beach hut and a tent.

The beehive-like den has one 8ft by 9ft room with better headroom than a tent and since it's insulated with sheep's wool it's cosier than being under canvas.

Since these pretty pods are made in the Lake District from guilt-free wood, they meet the demands of "glampers" - those who like glamour with their camping.

You can try them at three Scots campsites - Innerleithen in Peebles-shire, Mabie in Dumfries, and Skye - and several in England. See campingpodsuk.com for more.

Another odd-shaped option is the Microlodge, which looks like a giant whisky barrel with a window. That's the basic option from the Fife firm. But they can glamp them up - there are versions called the Hobbit House, the Romany Caravan and the Wild West Wagon.

And while the standard one has a double bed plus two single bunks, they can add another two singles above the double. See microlodge.co.uk for more.

For music lovers who are over the muddy field stage, there's the Kabin, a one-room wooden dome-ceilinged palace complete with fridge, TV and sound system with remote control and, er, padded walls. That's for soundproofing, when your eardrums are tired. You can even get a linked-up extension to make an en-suite.

A less luxy version is the Kocoon, a glass fibre capsule shaped like a tent but waterproof, with solar panels for lights and recharging your moby. It also has a safe, a sound system and king-sized, fleece-lined airbed.

But if you really must sleep under canvas for a festival, then there's the yurt, with a double bed covered with hippy style throws and blankets, but electrical comforts like hifi with iPod dock and a TV and fridge. See festivalvillage.net for more.

If that all sounds too static, you could hire a campervan or a trailer tent, which gas-sipping small cars can tow. Log on to highlandcampervans.com, campers-scotland. com or motorhome-city.co.uk for info.

Visitors to the biggest outdoor show of the year can get up close to 2010 models of all major caravans and motorhomes.

There are also outdoor accessories, camping equipment, small boats, marine products, industry clubs and associations.

So what are you waiting for - it's a van-tastic day out!

See caravanshowscotland.com or call 0844 395 4000. Tickets are frozen at last year's price of £9 per adult and £8 for seniors, while under-16s go free.

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