- Easy Green Travel for Earth Day (wikicommons)
On Earth Day, it’s important to consider the potential benefits of traveling on the earth, as well as how to mitigate negative consequences. No doubt about it; travel leaves a carbon footprint. The CO2 emitted by airplanes is a greenhouse gas, as we (mostly) all know. Further, biodiversity (important for the health of any habitat) is affected by the construction of hotels and resorts. What can an eco-conscious travel lover do? Plenty. And on Earth Day, it’s important to consider the potential benefits of traveling on the earth, as well as how to mitigate negative consequences. Here are the Traveling Mamas’ Top 5 Easy Green Travel Tips!
Don’t worry; our level of commitment can vary. Not just between person, but between trips as well. Awareness of the environment doesn’t have to equal staying in yurts and other no-indoor-plumbing types of lodging. Eco-travel is not a forced choice. There are many small ways in which any type of travel, from budget to luxury, can be made more environmentally responsible.
1) Getting There by Plane: In terms of getting to our vacation destinations, we don’t have to sacrifice air travel for leaving a lighter carbon footprint. There are click-through carbon offset purchase options available online. I like NativeEnergy for this, because its benefits aren’t just environmental, but economic as well. NativeEnergy builds positive businesses for family farmers and Native Americans by taking those carbon offsets and putting them towards farmer-owned renewable projects.
2) Getting There by Car (or otherwise): It’s good green thinking to research whether we can forgo car rentals. Some hotels offer free shuttles to and from the airport and local activities. Since these shuttles are running regardless, using them cuts down on CO2 emissions. Bikes and public transportation are also great alternatives. When it’s necessary to rent a car, we can ask if there are hybrids available. Some hotels offer rebates on parking for guests who pull up in hybrids. The Better World Club is an eco-friendly alternative to AAA.
3) Once You’re There: Sure, there’s camping, and there are yurts and ecolodges. Environmentally Friendly Hotels has a list. No matter the destination, though, there are easy choices we can make to travel “greener” without giving up accommodations we want on our vacations. For example, we can still turn off the lights in our hotel room before we leave for the day (it’s surprising how many people don’t bother). Ask if a hotel has a linen reuse program. These hotels usually have signs in the bathrooms that say something like, “If you want us to wash the towels, leave them on the floor.” Also, we can check if there is a hotel at our destination of choice that participates in a water recycling or conservation program.
4) Time to Eat: Some hotels – notably the Fairmont family of hotels - have restaurants that use locally grown, organic ingredients for their menu offerings. This not only cuts down on transportation costs, but assures a fresher quality of food too. Eating locally but outside of the hotel is still more ecologically sensitive than, say, a Happy Meal at McDonald’s. The 100 Mile Diet promotes locally grown produce. Inquiring about which of your destination’s restaurants participate in this earth-friendly concept is an easy way to affect positive change while traveling.
5) What to Buy: No matter where you take your vacation, remember to take only photos, leave only memories (as they say). The broken-up a’a lava rock looks plentiful and free to take as a souvenir in Hawaii, but it’s illegal to do so for a reason: Can you imagine if everyone took some? While buying unique crafts from local artisans is more expensive than buying that cheapo t-shirt at the airport, doing so invests back in the community. It supports traditional craft-making as a sustainable job in the travel destination’s economy. Sustainable tourism money translates into vacation destinations promoting the protection of their habitats’ biodiversity.
Making informed choices as a travel consumer is easy. Green travel is also easy, once we realize we don’t have to forgo our favorite vacation amenities to do so. Every little bit helps, after all. And who knows? Maybe next Earth Day, we’ll be game for that backpacking-camping-no indoor plumbing-ecotrip. Until then, incorporating easy green concepts into our vacations is painless, and great for the planet.
{ 12 trackbacks }
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice piece Jenn. Thanks for pointing out the obvious and simple things most people don’t do—like turning out the lights (the a/c too for that matter) when they leave a hotel room.
But if this is true:
“Since these shuttles are running regardless, using them cuts down on CO2 emissions.”
Wouldn’t that also be true for scheduled flights? One person forgoing taking a flight isn’t going to make one tiny bit of difference if the flight is departing anyway. Only if everyone boycotts together (as biz travelers are doing now for economic reasons) will the number of scheduled flights decrease. Otherwise your driving instead of flying is a net increase in carbon, not a decrease—the flight left without you, maybe with one seat open…
Plus the media likes to fixate on travel, but commuting an hour to work each day for a year in traffic is far worse for the environment then taking one or two international flights a year. And I can’t feel guilty about flying when I pass huge McMansions on the way to the airport that only have two people living in them…
I hear ya bout the McMansions – they’ve sprung up like giant mushrooms all over my neighborhood. Well, that stopped when the bubble burst…Anyway, Tim, just like we can purchase carbon credits for flights, we can do so for driving too. NativeEnergy has a pretty easy-to-use CO2 emissions calculator.
These are very practical tips, and I learned a lot reading them, thank you very much!
If I may add something, especially for people who camp. Let’s respect the environment and not leave clues that we were there. Sometimes I walk in nature and I see small plastic or glass containers that were left behind. It takes so little effort to bring those back with us and dispose of them in recycling centres.
Thanks again for the great post!
These are very practical tips, and I learned a lot reading them, thank you very much!
If I may add something, especially for people who camp. Let’s respect the environment and not leave clues that we were there. Sometimes I walk in nature and I see small plastic or glass containers that were left behind. It takes so little effort to bring those back with us and dispose of them in recycling centres.
Thanks again for the great post!
Ooops, should have said good post! Waiting for your next post!
I don’t see how camping can be considered “green” or earth-friendly. Campers are much more likely to use disposable plates/cups/forks, as well as throw-away (non-refillable) metal propane canisters.
And away from home and normal recycling routines, campers are more apt to throw away tin cans, glass bottles, etc. (Although some campgrounds do have good recycling programs.)
Campfires burning firewood for several hours each night adds to air pollution.
And don’t get me started on “camping” in an RV!
Don’t mean to sound curmudgeonly here… I do love to camp and be outdoors. I just don’t think it’s very “green”.
Great tips! Easy, effective and fun small steps are an important way to start greening travel and reducing negative footprints. These practical small steps can be much more impactful than taking an all-or-nothing approach to sustainable travel.
Happy Earth Day and Happy Eco-Traveling!
The International Ecotourism Society (TIES)
I would invite anyone looking to travel green to visit our website (www.wholetravel.com). We evaluate our hotels in terms of sustainability and make the information transparent to the consumer.
Environmentally Friendly Hotels is a great website to find green hotels and lodgings. You will find hotels all over the world in just one easy and quick search. Thank you for some great tips that we can all use.
Thanks for this fabulous article. We are going to make a list of everything “Green” possible from start to finish of our next vacation!
One of the easiest ways to travel greener is to use a website like RezHub.com.
Nice to think taking little steps and that every little bit helps.
Consider a home exchange too. Or staying with a local family. Both options allow you to experience the locale as a resident would and neither consumes more resources than would be used otherwise.
These are tips are very easy, simple and effective. I loved this eco-friendly blog. Travel is a delight experience that nourishes the intellect and opens the heart. But due in the increased rate of crime, traveling becomes a challenge to frequent travelers too. Is there any solution to this problem?
Travel can be made easy with the safety travel tips found in some of the website. I came across a website that provided with complete assistance in safety travel which could prevent crime action.
A valuable resource for hoteliers, EcoGreenHotel.com is dedicated to helping hotels address environmental issues
and implement environmentally friendly initiatives. It is a marketplace with plentiful amounts of information ranging from green products and services, industry “green” news, basic environmental overview to other tools like checklists, green project ideas, book lists, and resourceful links for a more sustainable hotel.