Tips on making your vacation greener
It’s great to be eco-friendly, but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. Does having a green vacation mean missing out on enjoyment? Not at all. Read on for our tips on making your trip or vacation a little bit greener.
Plane Or Car?
There’s no getting away from it - cars spew out a lot of carbon emissions and burn a big hole in the ozone layer, if some scientists are to be believed. If you travel by car, you’ll be making a lot of starts and stops, adding to the environmental impact of your trip. Strangely, instead of driving, it might be more eco-friendly to take a direct flight (probably on the grounds that with a full flight there’s less impact per person), so book your car into an offsite airport parking lot and catch that plane. When booking your trip, choose an eco-friendly travel agent too.
Green Hotels
Getting eco-friendly accommodation does not mean staying in a shack. On the contrary, you can still stay in luxury at one of the country’s many green hotels. Green hotels minmize their impact by reducing packaging waste and waste in general, using low energy light bulbs and installing showers and toilets that use less water. They may also promote recycling and other eco-friendly strategies. There are green hotels all around the US - check out GreenHotels.com to see where you could stay.
Packing Tips
When it comes to packing, you can have all the comforts of home and still reduce your impact on the environment. Travel sizes of your favorite toiletries are certainly convenient, but a more eco-friendly option is to get reusable bottles and top them up from your home supply. That applies to drinking bottles too. And guess what? Packing light is not only good for your back, but for the environment. The lighter the cases, the less fuel the plane needs to take off.
Getting Around
Once you arrive at your destination, it’s time to think about how you will see the sights. When you book your green hotel, think about where you want to go, so you can find a place that will allow you to walk to some of the attractions. For those that are not within walking distance, consider using public transport to reduce your carbon footprint.
Where To Go
According to UNEP, eco-friendly tours have a few things in common: they have regard for conservation, they have small group tours, they make use of local businesses and resources, and they have an educational element. There are plenty of attractions that meet those criteria, so find one you like and start there. You can also do your bit by reducing the amount of packaging you use and by disposing of waste in an eco-friendly manner.
Giving Back
Once you have returned, there’s one final thing you can do to be kind to the environment - use carbon offset coupons which help offset your carbon footprint by contributing to wind farms, tree planting and other similar schemes.
Resources
Use the tips above to plan your green vacation and get more information from the resources below:
译文:
那么你想来一次绿色假日吗？
使假日更加绿色的小贴士
环保是伟大的，但有时就难在从哪里起步。拥有一个绿色假日就意味着要丢弃乐趣吗？绝对不是。读读我们的贴士，让你的旅行更为绿色。
飞机还是汽车？
这是无法摆脱的事实——如果大家相信一些科学家的话，汽车排放许多含碳气体，使臭氧层空洞。如果驱车旅行，你要无数次发动、停车，旅行会给环境带来影响。让人吃惊的是，换乘直达航班会对生态更为友好（可能是基于一架全满的飞机，人均影响会较小），所以把你的车预订下机场外的停车场，然后坐个飞机。如果还要预订旅行，也选一个环保的旅行社吧。
绿色旅店
让住宿变得环保不是说住一间小棚屋。恰恰相反，入住绿色旅店，你仍可以享受奢华。绿色旅店以对环境的影响最小化为宗旨，降低包装浪费和总体上的浪费，使用低能原灯泡，安装用水量小的洗浴和盥洗用具。它们还提倡循环使用和其他环保策略。这样的旅店遍布全美——登陆GreenHotels.com 看看适合你居住的旅店。
打包窍门
说到打包，你可以带上家中所有心爱之物而减少对环境的影响。最爱的化妆品旅行装是绝对方便的，但更为环保的是使用可再用的瓶子，在家中就把它们装满。饮用水也如法炮制。为什么要这样呢？轻装上阵不仅有利于你的背部，也有利于环境。行李越轻，飞机使用的燃料也越少。
到处走走
到了目的地，是时候看看风景如何。在预订绿色旅店时，你要考虑自己想去哪里玩，这样你就可以找家步行便可到达风景区的地方入住。对于一些较远的地方，考虑使用公共交通以减少碳的排放量。
从何着手
据联合国环境规划署称，生态友好型旅游有一些共同点：重视保护自然，小型旅游团，利用地方商业和资源，含有教育性元素。符合这些标准的景点有很多，选择你喜欢的开始旅游吧！你还可以尽一份自己的力量，比如减少使用包装袋，以环保的方式处理废物。
复原
当你打道回府时，还有最后一件事是你可以对环境出一份力的——使用“碳排放抵消券”，致力于风力耕作、植树和其他类似方法来抵消你的碳排放量。
资源
用上述贴士安排你的绿色假日，更多信息查看以下资源：
ParkRideFlyUSA 和Taking Off Travel Blog 祝愿我们所有的读者新年快乐，2009年好运！
