Eco Friendly Travel Tips
Green your Vacation or Business Trip with Easy Eco Friendly Tips for Travel
In the quest for a greener lifestyle, the world's "on the go" attitude often puts the brakes on more eco friendly options, making waste filled convenience the go-to method for travel. From easy to carry individually wrapped snacks to free hotel soaps, waste is abundance when travelling.
Is it possible to be greener on vacation without putting a serious cramp into your fun or spending additional money? Yes! You'll actually save money, make your trip more fun, try new things, and have less to carry. Read on for some ideas and eco friendly travel tips!
Staying away in a hotel can consume a lot more waste than you might think. You might be thinking that you just sleep in the bed and leave, but there's more to the process. When you arrive in the hotel, you check in and enter your room. Once in the room, the temperature might be adjusted, the lights are turned on in every corner, the TV is left going, and all the free toiletries are scoffed up.
What can you do to lighten your load on your hotel stay?
To make your hotel stay a little greener, try out the following:
- Reuse your towels. If you're staying in a hotel more than one night, hanging your towel back on the rack universally means "I'll use it again." That way, you'll be conserving extra water and energy from washing an extra towel.
- Conserve extra water by limiting your shower time.
- Opt out of receiving a newspaper if possible. Save a tree.
From reusing towels to leaving that hotel soap, you can make a small impact on the amount of resources you consume while staying
It's okay to admit, this poll is anonymous! So here's our question...
Do you take the hotel soaps home with you?
Green your Ride - Get a More Efficient Vehicle
Opt for a gas efficient car rental and save cash, lower emissions
Hybrid rental cars are tougher to come by in most rental dealerships than regular non-hybrid cars. Not surprisingly, hyrbids like the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, and Toyota Camry Hybrid often top "most fuel efficent car" lists everywhere. Generally, the smaller the car, the less gas it consumes. The hybrid version of the Chevy Tahoe is going to consume far more gas than the non-hybrid Toyota Yaris. Here's a list of cars that aren't gas pigs that would be excellent fuel efficient picks when non-hybrid cars are your only choice:
- Volkswagen Jetta
- Nissan Versa
- Hyundai Sonata
- Honda Civic
- Ford Escape Hybrid
- Toyota Yaris
- Hyundai Accent
- Ford Focus
- Chevy Cobalt
- Mazda Mazda5 Minivan
- Kia Rondo
Chevrolet Cobalt: It's not a hybrid, but it's greener than the hyrbid version of the Toyota Highlander.
Using Alternative Transportation
Ditch the car and go by foot to save energy and burn calories
When you're staying in large cities, public transportation is always an option. Buses are often very affordable, while travel by train can save time and money. In some cities, there's also the alternative of public boat transportation (like in Boston and New York City).
You can find the local public transportation in any city you're visiting by using the American Public Transportation Association.
Green Travel with Pets
Even pets consume energy! Make their travel experience a little more earth friendly...
Pet travel has become enormously popular in the past decade. Along with this newfound habit and growing love for our pets comes increased energy consumption! First you may want to analyze where you might be consuming energy...
Some Places your Pets Consume Energy
- Eating and transporting food (are you bringing too much?)
- Their body weight when travelling (can't do much about this!) by air, car, train etc.
- Excrement -- paper towels and pooch bags to clean up the mess
- Purchasing special pet transport supplies -- portable bowls, pet carriers...
- Wee pads (if still traning), packaging for pet food
As you can see, pets consume things just like people. However, it's really people consuming these things and making these decisions, not the pets. As much as we love our pets, it might be a better idea to leave your pet with a friend or family member sometimes. Travel is very stressful for most animals. If you do decide that Fido has to make the trip with you, consider bring reusable containers for food, and only bring as much as you know your pet will eat during the trip. There's also biodegradable pooch bags available that will break down in a matter of months instead of hundreds (to thousands) of years.
Flying Green - Choosing the Most Eco Friendly Planes
According to Terrapass.com's carboon footprint calculator, a nonstop flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York to LAX Airport in Los Angeles, California would emit 3,841 lbs CO2.
Carry on luggage is becoming heavier. New fees attached to checked luggage mean more stuffed overhead bins.
Trains vs Airplanes
While trains may emit less pollution than airplanes, jets often have an overall better efficiency rating. Flights are often near capacity, resulting in a maximized efficiency and greener form of transportation.
Is it possible to fly greener?
Raw foods use less packaging and aren't cooked, so they use less energy, too.
Don't worsen jet lag symptoms!
Convenient, high sugar foods like cookies and carb heavy breads are going to bog you down and worsen any jet lag. Bring fresh cut veggies and a sandwich you made yourself on the plane would be a much fresher and healthier option, not to mention be a little greener, too.
Do you buy travel size containers for travel or use refillable containers?
Bring your Own Refillable Containers
Find just the right size containers for your travels and use them over and over again!
Is buying more greener?
When it comes to packaging, it's often a greener choice to buy more. Buying the bigger size containers and portioning them out into reusable containers can save yourself lots of cash and cut down on excess packaging that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
Green Travel Videos - Videos about making your travel a more eco friendly
Leave a note in our Guestbook to let us know you were here or to just say hello!
Sources Used for this Page
- Train Photo
Photo by David Kunz. - The Westin Warsaw
Photo of Westin by Wikipedia user Cezary p.
Recommended Green Links
- Chartreuse Products
Organic, eco chic products from Chartreuse! From paperless paper towels to biodegradable trash bags and organic beauty products, you can find a unique variety here! - Green Living Tips
Green living tips to make your life a little greener by the day! - Reusable Bags
Cool, trendy reusable bags from EcoGreenBags! - Follow Me on Twitter!
Follow me for the green tip of the day!
