If you've emerged from the festive season with a muffin-top, booze expanded waistline and a complexion like pizza, chances are you're feeling guilty enough. Go to a spa? After all the indulgence, isn't that a carbon footprint too far? Once you've recycled the wrapping paper and shredded your bank statements, it's time to think about recycling yourself.

Pick an eco-friendly spa that cares for the planet as well as its ailing guests and you can inhale the jasmine candles and drift off to the sound of bird song guilt free.

1. Yu SPA, Dundee, Scotland

The city famous for lardy currant cake is now home to Scotland's first eco spa. Taking its name from the Japanese word for hot water, Yu Spa at the Apex City Quay Hotel is Zen central with carbon emissions kept as minimal as its chic décor. From organic Elemis spa products to water filtration systems, every inch of the complex has been designed with eco credentials as well as pampering in mind. Chlorine stinging the environment and your eyes is a thing of the past thanks to ozone - a naturally occurring purifier – used to keep the pool clean; the Japanese style hot tubs are cleaned using ultraviolet light rather than chemicals and energy efficient LED pool lights are set to save £57,000 in its first year. So relax, choose from more than 50 spa treatments from around the globe or sample the herbal-infused steam room and sauna.

· Half and full-day passes are available including the Detox day, which includes an anti-aging facial, aroma spa ocean wrap, deep tissue full-body massage, three-course lunch and drinks and full use of sauna and pool for £160.

· Double rooms at Apex City Quay Hotel from £94 including breakfast based on two sharing; +44 (0)1382 202 404

2. Monart Destination Spa, Wexford, Ireland

Detox, inch-loss, anti-ageing? All three? Run to the woodlands of Wexford and zap the middle-aged spread in a spa that bears an uncanny resemblance to Middle Earth. Set in the grounds of an 18th-century sandstone mansion, the Monart's green credentials are as impressive as its spa treatments. A computerised energy management system controls heat and light throughout the 68-bedroom hotel to limit energy wastage and a bio-mass system heats the hotel using only locally produced timber to cut down on fuel miles. As for the spa, it's like being inside a tree house with individual relaxation pods carved into the walls, and is linked to the hotel via a glass tunnel to blend in with the gardens. All treatments use 100% natural products and all food served in the restaurant is locally sourced. Even the waste cooking oil is used to make bio diesel.

· Weekend break packages at the Monart Destination Spa in January cost from £312pp for two nights including breakfast, gourmet evening meal and full access to the thermal spa; +353 (0) 539 23 8999

3. AquaCity, Poprad, Slovakia

Suffering from SAD? Head to the eco spa resort of AquaCity and brave the two-minute walk through the ice chamber where temperatures plummet to -120°C. You'll enter scared but emerge euphoric as the bone-chilling blast sends your endorphins into overdrive. Wimps can sit in the snow cave where temperatures hover at a mere -15°C – great for your heart, apparently – before running into the sauna. And here you can dip in and out of the vast complex of indoor and outdoor thermal pools, drawn from a natural spring and heated from 36° - 28°C, relaxed in the knowledge that not a drop of bath water is wasted. Pools are lined with stainless steel rather than ceramic tiles, which means that just one tenth of the usual amount of chlorine is required, and all water is UV filtered. By using geothermal water, solar power and wind turbines to centrally heat and supply up to 80% of its electricity, the resort's not far off achieving its ultimate aim to become entirely self-sufficient.

· Czech Travel offers a three-night stay from £299pp half-board, based on two sharing, with return SkyEurope flights and transfers; +44 (0)1582 748840; aquacityresort.com

4. Hotel President Terme, Abano Therme, Italy

Between Venice and Verona lies the charming spa town of Abano Therme, home to the Hotel President Terme, which draws upon the magical waters to heat its buildings as well as nurture the guests. Sample the thermal grotto – a hot room heated to 60°C to create an atmosphere somewhere between a dry sauna and a Turkish bath – before swimming and soaking in the three pools drawn from the hotel's own thermal spring, which also heats the 109-room hotel and provides 90% of its energy. Full-fat gourmet meals are served in the restaurant along with leaner cuisine - this is Italy after all. The onsite fitness centre has enough weights and machines to burn off the gnocchi.

· Thermalia Travel offers a three-night stay from £461 including flights, wellness consultation water treatments and two massages

5. Rogner Bad Blumau, Austria

Rogner Bad Blumau, designed by the master Viennese artist and architect, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, is a visual treat that proves that green doesn't have to mean dull. Based on his philosophy that everything taken from the earth must be returned to it, this Austrian spa features grass and tree-covered roofs, organically curved walls and bold white and colour blocked facades. The series of 11 landscaped indoor and outdoor bathing areas are drawn from the Vulkania healing source - the most powerful thermal water source in the Styrian Spa region – also used for the specialist body wraps and massages and harnessed to produce the spa's electricity. This water is not only mineral rich but contains natural carbon dioxide used to clean the water.

· Double rooms at the Rogner Bad Blumau from £130pp per night including half board and full access to spa and sauna facilities; +43 (0)3383/5100

6. Brenner's Park Hotel and Spa, Baden Baden, Germany

Sitting on a chair of hot stones in the Lanconium, a stone chamber with 50°C radiant heat, and contemplating your navel is just one of the treats in store in the long-established jewel of Germany's leading spa town. Situated in the northern foothills of the Black Forest, Brenner's Park-Hotel and Spa's medical spa and two beauty spas, offer enough in the way of hi-tech beauty and wellness treatments, with green initiatives to take away the sting. The spa is chemical-free, the pool is treated with ozone and the hotel uses regional products and organic food. Soak in a lotus oil and milk bath (£37) or Japanese blossom steam bath, wish the wrinkles away in the oxygen relaxarium, and inhale herbs in the biosauna. There is also a multi-media centre for those who just don't know how to switch off.

· Doubles at Brenner's Park Hotel start at €375 per room per night; +49 7221 9000

7. Natura Park Eco-Resort & Spa, Cabeza De Toro, Dominican Republic

You can shiatsu yourself into shape and see conservation in action at the Natura Park Eco-Resort Hotel on the sands of Bavaro Beach in Cabeza De Toro. This resort, built on the site of a former coconut plantation, is surrounded by a conservation area comprising vast tropical gardens, mangrove forest and a natural lake that's home to rare species of flora and birdlife, turtles and flamingos. Solar power provides much of the resort's energy and minimalist building works have incorporated local wood, cane, coco palms and unearthed stones into the furniture and walkways. Boost your lymphatic drainage in the Health Centre or sweat it out on the tennis courts and before you flop on the beach. The resort runs guided walking tours of the conservation area and educational workshops on the ecological projects of the region.

· Thomson Holidays offer seven nights' all-inclusive from £559pp leaving Gatwick in January. Price includes full use of fitness facilities and selected watersports; 0870 165 0079

8. Tabacón Grand Spa Thermal Resort , Arenal, Costa Rica

Spas don't come much wilder than Tabacón Grand Spa Thermal Resort, situated at the foot of Costa Rica's Arenal volcano. Designed around the country's major tourist attraction of Tabacón Springs – mineral rich and super-heated waters that course down from the volcano – this 114-room property harnesses nature without harm. The thermo-mineral rivers, running at a soothing 27º C to 42º C, flow through exotic tropical gardens, forming natural waterfalls, river pools and tropical bathtubs. When you start to prune, head inside to the spa's womb-like hot huts and sample the ancient holistic healing art of Temazcal. Take a steam bath ritual or opt for the full Monty - the Grand Temazcal of the Rain Forest, led by the resident shaman. Sustainable tourism practices are top notch - all of the resort's water comes from the hot springs and is treated in its own plant, new hydroelectric power systems are in motion and Tabacón sponsors reforestation programs for native species.

· South America Experience offers superior volcano view rooms from £106 per person per night. Day passes including a buffet lunch or dinner cost £70 for adults and £35 for children; 0845 277 3366

9. Marari Beach, Kerala, India

Marari Beach, based in the fisherman's village of Mararikulam, is just one of a handful of eco resorts in India managed by CGH Earth, which runs sustainable havens with pristine environmental practices. Marari Beach comprises a small cluster of beach cottages modelled on local fishermen's huts with a full Ayurvedic Centre with expert doctors and therapists. It's chemical-free, and waste becomes natural gas, used as fuel. Water harvesting keeps the groundwater fresh. Integration with the local community, who supply the fish and work on Marari Beach's organic farms, is also part of the experience. Ayerveda massage treatments and steam baths for detoxing and weight loss are personally prescribed by the medical team and yoga classes are held on the beach.

· Wellbeing Escapes offers a seven-night Ayurvedic Rejuvenation package from £1,369pp. Price is based on two people sharing a garden villa on a full-board basis with a seven-day ayurvedic programme, daily yoga classes and flights and transfers

10. Daintree Eco Lodge & Spa, Daintree, Queensland, Australia

Wake up to the sound of chattering macaws in your tree-house villa and take a refreshing shower in a pristine waterfall before contemplating whether you fancy a rub down with lillypilly berries, wattleseeds and desert salts. This north Queensland haven set in the Daintree rainforest, offers a Tarzan and Jane jungle jaunt without the guilt, as protecting this conservation land goes hand in hand with massaging the guests. Simple, wooden tree hut accommodation blends with the environment and both the spa treatment and food menus have been created in association with the elders of the local Aboriginal Kuku Yalanji people, who also played a key part in creating the spa's exclusive organic product range. When you've detoxed with the fruits of the forest, there's plenty of opportunities to see conservation in action. The Lodge runs guided walks through the rainforest and Aboriginal art and cultural workshop days (£66).

· Double rooms at the Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa start from £245 per room per night. New year deals include three nights for the price of two for travel up until April 30 if booked before February 15; +61 7 4098 6100