Green travel is respectful travel. It means that, wherever you go, you think about:
The environment. Try to find ways to get where you're going that have minimal impact on the planet, such as public transportation.
Local people. Whether you're traveling to the next town over or a faraway place, remember that people live there—and act accordingly. Be friendly, say hello, respect native culture, eat in locally owned restaurants, and buy locally made goods.
Your body. Take care of yourself when you travel, just as you do at home. Don't gorge on junk food, for example, or use toiletries that might contain harmful ingredients.
Whether you're on a business trip or vacation (or combining the two), the tips in this section will help you care for the earth while you explore it.
Green travel starts with planning ahead. Here's how to plan and prepare for your trip:
Book earth-friendly accommodations. Choose a hotel that's in line with your principles to lessen your impact on the environment and support green businesses. Lots of hotels claim to be green, but make sure those claims are true by looking for an independent opinion from an organization like Audubon International's Green Leaf Eco-Rating Program (http://greenleaf.auduboninternational.org). Or check out one of these websites:
Best Green Hotels (www.environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com) lets you search for a place to stay by location or hotel name.
"Green" Hotels Association (www.greenhotels.com) lists hotels that have shown a commitment to green practices by joining the association.
Green Lodge (www.greenlodge.org) rates hotels as gold, silver, or bronze, with gold being the most environmentally responsible.
Sustainable Travel International (www.sustainabletravelinternational.org) has an eco-directory you can search by type of lodging, region, and/or keyword.
CouchSurfing International (www.couchsurfing.org) lets you skip the hotel and make new friends by matching you up with locals who are willing to let travelers sleep on the couch (or in a spare bedroom). After you've registered, you can make arrangements to stay with other couchsurfers—the site has more than a million members around the world. A system of verification, references, and members vouching for one another helps assure your safety.
Do your research. For example, if you plan to take any tours on your trip, look for guides who are certified as environmentally responsible. (Ask before you book, or take a look at Planeta.com's Guide to Recommended Guides and Tour Operators at www.planeta.com/worldtravel.html.)
Pack light. The days of lugging steamer trunks across the ocean are long gone. Choose a lightweight bag and take only what you need. A light bag is easy to carry and puts less weight on the plane, ship, or whatever you're travelling by.
Unplug appliances. Minimize the phantom load (Minimizing Your Phantom Load) at home by unplugging anything that doesn't need to stay on while you're gone, like computers, TVs, and microwaves.
Turn down the water heater. There's no reason to heat water if you're not around to use it. So lower the temperature on the water heater to "vacation" or, if it doesn't have that option, to the lowest setting.
Go paperless. Use e-tickets and print your boarding pass at home. That way you can use recycled paper and environmentally friendly ink, and save yourself time at the airport.
When planning your vacation, consider camping. Sleeping in a tent has a smaller carbon footprint than staying in a hotel—and gets you close to the nature you're trying to preserve. Choose a tent over a recreational vehicle (RVs get terrible gas mileage) or trailer (which cause drag so your car burns more gas). You can cook over a camp stove or a small campfire, but don't build any big bonfires, which send lots of smoke and greenhouse gases into the air. Or eat your meals at a restaurant (you're on vacation, after all).
How you travel is one of the biggest ways you affect the environment when you go somewhere. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS, www.ucsusa.org) analyzed the impact of various ways of getting around, and came up with some surprising results. For example, a nonstop economy-class flight is greener for one or two travelers than going by car—especially you go more than 500 miles.
When planning your trip, keep these points in mind:
Buses are green options. If you and a friend take a long-distance bus (call it a motor coach if you like) rather than driving to your destination, you'll cut your trip's carbon footprint almost in half. And taking a motor coach instead of flying reduces your trip's footprint by as much as 75%. It'll take longer to get there, but enjoy the relaxed pace and watching the countryside roll by.
Take the train. Another good option for long-distance travel is going by train. According to Friends of the Earth, flying creates 4–5 times the pollution of taking a train.
Don't drive during rush hour. Stop-and-go traffic is more than frustrating, it means worse fuel efficiency. Time trips for when you'll be able to cruise along the highway without hitting traffic.
For group travel, drive a fuel-efficient car. When you're traveling with friends and don't want to go by bus or train, your best choice is a fuel-efficient car (Fuel-Efficient Cars). (That means leave the gas-hog of an SUV in the garage.) If none of you own a car that gets good gas mileage, consider renting a hybrid (Hybrids) for the trip.
Avoid flying first class. Yes, first class is roomier than economy—and that's the problem. Those bigger seats make your trip less efficient. According to UCS, when you sit in a wider seat with more legroom, your carbon footprint is up to twice as big as someone flying coach.
Take nonstop flights. You probably already prefer nonstop flights to sprinting across airports, trying to make connections. But flying nonstop also makes good environmental sense because taking off, landing, and fueling the plane, loading and unloading bags, and all the other stuff they do on the ground all produce a lot of carbon. The UCS says a 1,000-mile nonstop flight from New York to Orlando is almost 35% more carbon-efficient than a two-connection trip between those two cities.
Fly fewer miles. Sometimes you can't get a direct flight to your destination. In that case, compare the mileage of the options you're presented (most travel websites give you this info). The fewer miles you fly, the smaller your carbon footprint.
Pick the best plane. In general, regional jets and narrower planes are more fuel-efficient than wide-bodied planes. Your travel agent or the website where you book your trip will tell you what kind of planes fly the routes you're considering. Once you know your options, download the UCS's Getting There Greener report from http://tinyurl.com/5uzj9u. Appendix B lists emissions for different planes so you can choose the most efficient one.
Support green airlines. Some airlines offer only economy seats, which reduces the carbon footprint of each flight. When you can, spend your travel dollars with these carriers.
If your trip is going to have a bigger carbon footprint than you'd like, consider buying a carbon offset (Buying Carbon Offsets) to reduce your impact. Or offset the carbon the natural way by planting a few trees, which take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.
Getting there is half the battle, but once you arrive at your destination, you want to be a good guest. Tread lightly upon the earth and respect the people and environment you're visiting. Use these ideas as guidelines:
Take public transportation. Taking the bus or subway lets you experience the area as the locals do—and it saves you the expense and greenhouse-gas emissions of a rental car.
Share a taxi. When you take a cab, split it with someone who's going your way. You'll cut the environmental impact of the trip in half.
Take a stroll. Put on Your Walking Shoes explains why walking is a good for both you and the environment, so travel by foot whenever possible. If you're a tourist, take a walking tour instead of one that goes by bus. Of course, use common sense when walking in an unfamiliar place—don't walk alone or late at night, and take a map so you won't get lost.
Air-dry towels at the hotel. You probably don't insist on freshly laundered towels every day at home, and you don't need them at a hotel, either. If the hotel has a linen program, join in it by hanging up used towels instead of leaving them in a heap on the floor. If the hotel doesn't have such a program, ask the front desk to tell housekeeping that you don't need the towels and sheets changed every day.
Use your own toiletries. Do-It-Yourself Health and Beauty tells you how to find (or make) safe, environmentally responsible shampoo, conditioner, and other health and beauty products. So instead of wondering what's in the little bottles at the hotel, bring your own. And don't open those little bottles, even for a sniff—if you do, the hotel will throw them away when you leave.
Turn off the lights. When you go out to explore your destination, turn off the lights in your hotel room. And adjust the temperature when you're not in the room; you don't need to keep the AC or heater going full blast when no one's there.
Check out over the TV. Many hotels let you review charges and check out through the in-room TV, which helps you save time and paper.
Say yes to local flavor. What's the point in traveling if you're just going to patronize the same chain stores and restaurants you go to at home? While you're on the road, seek out neighborhood businesses to support the local economy. Buy native handicrafts as souvenirs (instead of imported junk), preferably directly from the artisan who made them.
Flip to Can I Ever Eat Out Again? to for tips on finding organic restaurants when you travel.