Lessening Your Summer Vacation's Environmental Impact

As summer approaches, we all look forward to escaping our day to day and taking trips with family and friends. With energy prices rising and more people conscious of the ecologic impact of travel, many are starting to have second thoughts when planning summer getaways. However, with just a few adjustments, you can have a wonderful summer holiday while substantially lowering both trip cost and emissions. Here are a few our of top tips.

Travelling Green
How you get from point A to point B can be another opportunity to stretch your green lifestyle. There are so many options, with commercial aircraft probably at the top of the carbon impact list. Get creative! Explore options like a sailboat, whitewater rafting, or overland exploring on horseback. Green Tortoise Adventure Travel (www.greentortoise.com) offers funky and fun sleeper buses that stop at hot springs and beaches as they travel from British Columbia to Mexico.

Try the Train: It might take more time, but you’ll see more countryside, avoid the hassle of airport security, and feel good about contributing fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Rail travel uses less fuel per passenger mile than cars or commercial airlines

Driving Lightly: Rather than put miles on your own car, rent a hybrid electric vehicle or efficient diesel car that you can even fill up with biodiesel. Go to www.evrental.com to find hybrid-electric cars, or try www.bio-beetle.com for rental of Volkswagens fueled with biodiesel.

Green Accomodations
One way to make your vacation greener and healthier is to choose a hotel that's committed to bettering its environmental footprint. Eco-resorts are available in most tourist destinations, and nearly every major hotel chain seems to be going green in one way or another. Help more hotels go green by patronizing one that matches your environmental ethic. Check these websites:

- www.ethicaltraveler.org: a grass-roots alliance uniting adventurers, tourists, travel agencies, and outfitters.
- www.environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com: Rates properties worldwide in seven areas on a point system depending on their eco-friendly commitment.
- www.responsibletravel.com: Displays hand-picked holidays from global tour operators.
- www.rezhub.com: Helps you find a hybrid vehicle and book a green hotel.

No matter where you stay you can also:

- Let housekeeping know you’re O.K. with keeping your same sheets or towels for a few days. (Most hotels will have signs you can hang out.)
- Bring a reusable water bottle for everyone in your group.

Green Activities
Entertain the possibility of experiencing different natural systems like a desert, river, lake, seaside or forest. State and national parks are also a great place to chill, especially with kids in tow. You can create a holiday camping under the stars or find a four-star retreat lodge with all amenities. Either way, you’ll be rewarded with the added bonus of creation’s natural regenerative, healing, and inspirational effects.

If you're traveling to a city, see the local sights on foot, or rent a bike. You can also search for a vacation by event (cycling, rafting, etc.) or by location at www.sustainabletravelinternational.org. Or visit www.rainforest-alliance.org for sustainable tourism options. The site www.unep.fr/greenpassport offers a U.N. program with great information on sustainable tourism that’s good for the local economy, the local community, and the planet.

Offset Your Impacts
Carbon offsets are a way to lower the environmental impact of a plane trip or other impact by investing money in companies that plant trees, help to build wind farms, or develop energy saving projects; basically paying for emission reductions to take place somewhere so that it offsets your own emissions. It’s much better to lower your own personal carbon footprint first, and then look at supporting sustainable projects that sequester carbon responsibly in other parts of the world. Be sure to check the credibility of the carbon-offset fund you want to support.

Here are some carbon footprint calculators:
www.carboncounter.org
www.carbonfootprint.com
www.safeclimate.net

You can also calculate your emissions and purchase offsets from:
www.terrapass.com
www.nativeenergy.com