Green Vacations

We’ve all heard about going Green at home and in our cars, but what about when we travel? Eco-tourism has become de rigueur at many hotels and resorts across the country, and Green vacations are available in all price ranges. Even though emissions from cars and airplanes can etch a deep ecological footprint, there are ways to Go Green on the road.

Take An Eco-Friendly Road Trip

The easiest way to make your driving trip green is to stay close to home. But no matter how far you go, there are other rules of the road to keep your trip eco-friendly.

• Use less gas by taking the shortest route. Find your destination on Expedia or Yahoo Maps, where you can get driving directions for the quickest route.
• Save gas by driving during off-peak times. The potential stop and go of heavy traffic during peak hours wastes gas.
• Pack your own food and drinks. Idling in drive-thru’s wastes gas and produces emissions. Or, if you do stop for something to eat, try to find a restaurant that uses food from local farms and markets.
• Check Tire Pressure. Low tire pressure wastes more than 2 million gallons of gas every day in the United States. Have your tires aligned regularly and keep them properly inflated.
• Drive a greener car. You don’t have to have a hybrid or an electric car, but it should be fuel efficient.
• Keep your car maintained. Even basic maintenance like properly inflated tires saves gas mileage.
• Go slow. But not in the left lane!
• Roll up the windows. It saves gas.
• Use cruise control. This also helps keep your speed slow and steady.
• Rent an RV. Stay at campsites instead of hotels.

Fly An Eco-Friendly Airline

Some airlines have invested in making their planes more fuel efficient in order to reduce emissions. Others are testing biofuels, which are cleaner and more sustainable for the environment. Some of the "greenest airlines include:

• Continental Airlines. This Houston-based airline has made their planes more energy efficient by installing winglets on most of their Boeing 737s and 757s, and thus reduced fuel emissions by nearly 5 percent. In 2008, they were awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency for being the first airline to use an eco-friendly pretreatment on their aircraft.
• Virgin Atlantic: Virgin has completed the world’s first flight using a biofuel-powered commercial aircraft. Virgin flew its Boeing 747-400 aircraft using 20 percent biofuel (a mixture of coconut and babassu oil) and 80 percent conventional jet fuel. Virgin has used all of its profits since 2006 for the research and development of alternative fuels.

-- From http://www.seatguru.com