So you’ve got your hybrid SUV, or you will buy one as soon as you can afford it. You recycle even when it isn’t convenient. You’ve tried to stop you junk mail and organic fruits fill the inside of your refrigerator. Yes, you are doing what you can to be a good global citizen. But then you realize after you buy your ticket to London that you haven’t greened up your travel. And after that you realize you wouldn’t even know where to start. You don’t have to sleep on a bed of hemp to make a difference. It takes the little things as well as the big to reduce your environmental footprint as you set off to see the world, and here’s the way to do it.

Before you leave

If you’re going to be away for a while, unplug everything you can. Appliances and gadgets that are off but still plugged can account for 40 percent of your energy use. So unplug everything you can and have the side benefit of a lower energy bill when you get home.

Turn down or off your thermostat. You’re not going to be worrying about the ambient temperature in your home while you’re sipping wine looking over the Italian Riveria, so save some energy by lowering the temperature.

Offset your carbon emissions. Travelocity.com offers a service where you can make a contribution to The Conservation Fund’s Go Zero Program. Expedia.com offers a similar program through TerraPass. It isn’t that expensive, anywhere from $10-40 will help offset your flight, hotel, and car.

On the road

Use your towels more than once. We have all seen those signs in the hotel bathrooms saying they are trying to conserve water. Just hang up your towel and you’ve just saved a load of laundry. Better yet, leave your “do not disturb” sign up so that no one comes in to change the linens. I mean, how messy can you be?

Check out the ecotourism sites. A lot of companies will claim to be green, so read carefully before you sign up for the tour of the Amazon jungle. You want to make sure your tour guide is doing everything he/she can to reduce the impact you will have on the natural elements as possible. And then you need to make sure you do the same. I have seen people leave cigarette butts on the top of 5,000-year-old pyramids. You wouldn’t do that, but other people do.

Buy local foods. You went there to see a new place, right? So getting the local foods shouldn’t be much of a sacrifice for you. Not only will you be supporting the local economy, you will also be being products that didn’t have to be shipped and packaged and prodded to get to you.

Use public transportation, walk, or rent a bike. The same rules that are true at home are true on the road. Two people in one car produce a lot more carbon emissions than 60 people on a bus or untold amounts of people walking.

In addition to these steps, do the little things. Recycle when you can. Try not to use more than you need. No one expects you to be perfect. It is when we hold ourselves to standards of perfection that we fail. Do your best, and it will make a difference.

Here’s a couple of websites that will help you find the greenest travel:

www.sustainabletravelinternational.org

www.responsibletravel.com