By Isabel Clift

Everyone loves a stolen weekend away, but your typical short-haul city break incurs a heavy carbon footprint. Here are five green travel tips to make your city break more eco-friendly:

Reykjavic, Iceland (Credit: Pocius)

1) Choose a green city

Urban areas generate tonnes of carbon emissions, but some cities are actively working to reduce this by creating more eco-friendly infrastructure. If you’re planning a city break, think about visiting places that make it easier for you to reduce your trip’s carbon footprint: Reykjavik, for example, runs entirely on geothermal and hydroelectric power, and has busses powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Other green cities include Stockholm, which has reduced emissions by 25% over 20 years and runs all trains and inner-city busses on renewable fuels, and Vancouver, where 90% of power is drawn from renewable resources.

(Credit: Christensen)

2) Get there without flying

Commercial flights use up huge amounts of fuel during take-off and landing. Avoid adding the tonnes to your carbon footprint by travelling by train or coach for short-haul journeys: watching the land and architecture slowly change as you cross borders makes the getting-there part of the magic. Also, you’re likely to arrive at the city’s central station, rather than at an outskirts airport – saving you time and reducing extra transport emissions incurred getting to the city centre.

(Credit: Curtis Perry)

3) Stretch your legs

Once you arrive, you’ll be raring to explore! Walking or cycling from sight to sight means you’ll be able to get far more of a ‘feel’ for your city destination, and it’s obviously a 100% green way to get about. Some cities do cycling better than others, though – Copenhagen has well-established cycling routes and Paris’s Velib’ scheme makes biking round the city easy. If you’re not cycling, using busses and metro systems is preferable to taxi rides – and your wallet will thank you later, as well as your eco-conscience.

(Credit: Gael Martin)

4) Stay at an eco hotel

Hotels are getting greener – do your research and you’ll be able to bag yourself an eco-friendly place to stay that won’t break the bank. Look out for hotels that take a responsible approach to every area of their operation, from providing refillable pumps for bathroom products (instead of producing mini plastic toiletry bottles), to employing local staff on a fair living wage. Other things eco hotels can do include recycling waste, introducing low-flow taps and grey water recycling systems, using energy-efficient lighting, going on a green energy tariff (a la City Lights City Centre Deluxe in New York) and powering water heaters with rooftop solar panels (like Mellow Eco Hostel Barcelona).

Saturday morning farmer's market in Pennington. (Credit: Nosha)

5) Support local businesses

Shop at farmers’ markets and independently-run stores, eat at restaurants that source produce from local suppliers and support the regional arts and heritage scene by attending concerts and exhibitions, as well as visiting galleries showing local artists. These all give a boost to the local economy and support the people and ways of life that make the city what it is.

Ready to travel greener? See the AnyTrip Blog for more eco travel tips.

Isabel Clift is a travel writer and blogger for AnyTrip.com, a travel company based in the UK. She lives in London, loves vintage fairs and organic food, and tries her best to balance a love for travel with an eco-conscience!

A view of Jordan Pond in the Acadia National Park of Maine, USA

By Maria Rainier

In the spirit of giving this holiday season, don’t just consider minimizing your carbon footprint during an eco-tour.  Consider what more you can do to give back.  Many tours and travel experiences that encourage you to volunteer—voluntourism, as it were—are much more affordable than their lounging-on-the-beach varieties.  With a carefully planned eco-tour of your own or hopping on the bandwagon with like-minded do-gooders, you can face the new year with your wallet intact, a cleaner conscience, and a cleaner planet.

Cactus at Big Bend National Park in Texas

Stay Local to Mind Your Carbon Footprint

Not only do air fares skyrocket during the holiday season, we leave a hefty carbon footprint every time we step on a plane.  Instead, consider riding a train or even cycling to your eco-destination, depending on your location.  If you call North America home, consider the Big Bend National Park in Texas.  It’s got 800 acres of America’s biggest national park and it’s open year-round, although it may close on Christmas Day.  Rather than driving around and pitter-pattering carbon footprints across the park, get out and enjoy the outdoors and camp in one of the three campgrounds, $14.00 a night after a $10 seven-day pass per individual.

If you’re on the east coast, consider the Highland Lake Inn in Flat Rock, North Carolina, where you can bring the whole family (even the dog) and go hiking and fishing, and relax after a day spent outdoors at its gourmet restaurant with its own two acre organic garden.  During the summer and fall, guests can learn how to grow, harvest, and cook assorted veggies, herbs, and flowers you might find in such a garden.  A room costs $89.00 a night.  If you’re planning a holiday vacation here, consider the Christmas Day Buffet Celebration Weekend Package or the Christmas Eve 4-Course Dinner Weekend Package.

Meanwhile, up north awaits the Acadia National Park, from where you can see the Atlantic coastline and the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse.  You can camp for between $14 and $20 a night depending on the site.

Raspberry bushes at a small WWOOF participant farm in Wattamolla Valley, near Berry, NSW, Australia

Give Back to Save Greens

If you’re feeling more industrious and a little bit like pinching pennies this holiday season or in the coming year, consider bartering your way through an eco-tour.  Sierra Club’s Outings program has countless trips ranging from $400 in the U.S. to over $5,000 trips to safaris in Botswana and boat tours in Antarctica.  Be prepared to volunteer your time and your muscle, however, as is the nature of true voluntourism.  Similar programs include Ecovolunteer, which allows you to participate in efforts to protect nature and its inhabitants through local conservation organizations.  Coral Cay Conservation is in the same vein and is also worth a look.

Perhaps the most rewarding and budget-friendly experience is World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), which welcomes travelers across America to participate in their daily goings-on.  The cost ranges between a $20 and $50 registration fee and transportation fees to the farm—that’s it.

WWOOF has counterparts in other countries; you can go to Tuscan wine country and pick grapes for weeks and not only enjoy some of the most beautiful countryside you’ll ever see in your life, but make good friends, eat good foods, and even pick up a little Italian, too.  In this way, you can make this season and 2012 a year of win-wins—for the planet and your wallet.

Bio: Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education performing research surrounding online universities and their various program offerings. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.

The Bird Island Nature Reserve in Lambert's Bay Western Cape, South Africa

By Louise Baker

Eco-Tourism is thriving and ever growing trend that has the benefits of a vacation combined with the experience of working with or studying the wonders of the world at the same time. Depending on a student’s course of study, certain locations may lend themselves better than others, and some destinations may not be suitable at all. Fortunately, there are some valuable resources like the International Eco-Tourism Society that make researching and choosing the right destination fairly easy. In addition to private tour providers, many colleges and universities sponsor or fund eco-tours as part of their curriculum; these programs are a great way to see some the most fascinating sights on the planet while also helping to preserve and protect them.

Africa

Africa is host to range of eco-destinations covering aspects including humanitarian aid like assisting local villagers with wells, irrigation, disease control, and more, to technological ventures and wildlife management strategies. There are current eco-tours that include counting populations of wildlife, re-introduction of species, and preserving endangered species that allow college students to obtain priceless knowledge firsthand while making a difference in the world at the same time.

Steam at Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park and Yosemite National Park

Yellowstone and Yosemite both have a wide variety of biological and geological features that make them totally unique in terms of geological history and diversity. Many endangered and re-introduced species in these two parks are the direct result of conservation projects that are now open to students and even the public to participate in. Yosemite is a lure for studying the movement of glaciers, rock formation, and even climate and weather phenomena, while the super-volcano that is suspected to be lurking underneath Yellowstone has kept biologists, geologists, and chemists busy for decades with extreme conditions and extreme life forms living in them.

Galapagos Islands

Possibly the most famous eco destination in the world is the renowned Galapagos Islands; the majority of this fame in the eco-tourism arena comes from the sea turtle conservation programs that, over the years, have become increasingly popular. Aside from collecting and counting sea turtle eggs and releasing the young turtles, the Galapagos Islands are also home many other wildlife conservation efforts, and with many of the species native to this area only being found here, it is no wonder why.

Sunrise in Machu Picchu

South America

The South American continent is one of the most popular eco destinations in the world, second only to the famed Galapagos Islands. South America has been hosting tours and trips along the Inca Trail and through the ruins of Machu Picchu for many years, and this area of the world still holds fascinating secrets that waiting to be uncovered. Lush jungles and thick rainforest are home to most of the animal and plant species on the planet, and with threats like climate change and poaching progressing, many South American governments have stepped up efforts to promote eco-tourism and preserve eco destinations.

With so many eco-destinations available, it is now possible to actually travel to remote destinations and touch, see, and feel the actual subject matter with one’s own senses, use the knowledge you have to build more and preserve the planet and its inhabitants for future generations.

Louise Baker is a freelance writer and blogger who usually does car insurance comparisons over at CarinsuranceComparison.Org. She recently wrote about finding cheap car insurance quotes.

Siesta Key, Sarasota, FL

Love your beaches

On Monday, June 10, we celebrated World Ocean Day 2010.

On June 26, you can head to your local beach and join hands to oppose offshore drilling and endorse renewable energy. Look up Hands Across the Sand events near you or email everyone in your area and start one up in your community! And don’t worry if you’re not in the U.S. — the event is taking place across the globe!

Read more about the event here.

Be sure to travel green

Remember to do your part and be eco-friendly, whether at the beach or anywhere you travel.

Going on a road trip? Read this.

And if you’re planning to get married, remember that coastal weddings are a no-no!

Further, if you’re looking for lodging, make sure you choose an eco hotel. Learn about eco hotel certifications here.

And finally –

The top 10 U.S. beaches

For the past 20 years, a coastal scholar known as Dr. Beach has compiled a list of the best beaches in the country. Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman is the director of the Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University.

He uses 50 criteria to evaluate the nation’s beaches, including water and sand quality, beach width and environmental management, according to CNN.

Cape Florida Lighthouse at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Florida.

Here’s the list:

1. Coopers Beach in Southampton, New York

2. Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida

3. Coronado Beach in San Diego, California

4. Cape Hatteras in the Outer Banks of North Carolina

5. Main Beach in East Hampton, New York

6. Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

7. Coast Guard Beach in Cape Cod, Massachusetts

8. Beachwalker Park in Kiawah Island, South Carolina

9. Hamoa Beach in Maui, Hawaii

10. Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne, Florida

By the way, I have been to Siesta Beach (#2) and I can attest that it is amazing! It’s got sand like flour and warm, luscious waters. Hopefully it will remain unscathed by the oil spill currently taking over the Gulf of Mexico…

If spring is coming up for you (and you’re not near the Gulf) enjoy the beach!

Peter and Amanda are WWOOF hosts in the UK

Do you enjoy organic farming and other activities that further sustainability?

There are organic farms all over the globe that you can volunteer at in exchange for free lodging and free meals, plus learning about organic farming and related lifestyles. Some farms have just a couple of hosts while others have entire families or small communities you would stay and hang out with.

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) was founded in 1971 in the UK. The organizations involved with this project connect people who wish to volunteer, aka “WWOOFers” (awesome), with those who wish to receive help and impart their knowledge and skills to others. You can usually even do it if you don’t speak the local language! These hosts are cool folk, apparently.

WWOOFing in Australia with alpacas

Volunteers: What you need to know

On the WWOOF website you can find lists of organic farms, smallholdings, and gardeners. Some of them only request/accept help during certain months or seasons, while others are open all year long. Additionally, tasks vary per farm and, of course, geographical location.

You can visit the list of farms/hosts, choose the ones you’d like to visit, and contact them directly to make arrangements. WWOOFers usually live as part of the family, so the environment tends to be cozy and friendly (I assume, as I’ve never volunteered for WWOOF).

If you volunteer, you will not have to pay (and you won’t get paid) except for a “small fee” to WWOOF, which hosts must pay also. The fee helps maintain and grow the project.

The hosts

All hosts grow their food organically, are in conversion, or use environmentally friendly techniques on their farms and so on. Volunteers get hands-on experience growing organic crops and, where possible, by performing other tasks, such as feeding cattle.

There are WWOOF farms you can volunteer at in all five continents. The countries include the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, the Caribbean, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, the European Union, Turkey, Israel, Cameroon, Uganda, South Africa, Australia, India, Japan, and others (keep checking the website).

Conclusion, so to speak

This sounds like a totally sweet deal for the adventurous, outdoorsy types who also want to make our world a better place (corny but true, huh? That’s okay.). Also, those of you free enough to get around, of course (the especially lucky among us!).

If you have experience with WWOOF, please share your thoughts and impressions! It sounds great, but there are always two sides to every story (at least).

One of the 7 cabins at San Miguel Del Bala's eco lodge

The indigenous Tacanas of the Amazon are betting on ecotourism to protect their territory, increase their income, and improve their quality of life.

This population of 235 inhabitants has built an eco lodge in the village of San Miguel del Bala on the banks of the Beni River in northwestern Bolivia with the help of NGOs.

The eco lodge’s 7 cabins are scattered throughout the rainforest and were constructed with local dry palm leaves and wood. It recycles waste and uses a wastewater treatment system.

San Miguel del Bala

To get an idea of the remoteness of San Miguel del Bala, let’s just say you must take a 40-minute boat ride to get there, all the way from the town of Rurrenbaque.

The village consists of 44 families mainly made up of fishers and farmers. It is not surprising, then, that they lack electricity and health care, although they do have potable water and a school for the local children, according to the community leader, Biter Supa.

Guests can take excursions with native guides to learn of ancient hunting methods and medicinal plants and visit natural pools, waterfalls, and a salitral cave. They can even visit some Tacana families’ homes, which are built of palm leaves and bamboo.

Madidi National Park, San Miguel del Bala

The Madidi National Park – 4.5 million acres of land of rich biodiversity – hosts 1,000 species of fauna and 6,000 of flora. You might want to get a malaria shot, by the way.

Peru’s government has designated sections of the park, areas called Tierras Comunitarias de Origen (TCOs), reservations for the indigenous populations. This is fantastic; we’ve already had an obscene excess of what one of my college professors called the “white men with guns” phenomenon, where, well, white men with guns come and kill/enslave/brutalize indigenous communities to rape the land (and the people).

This way the native population will be able to benefit from the nascent ecotourism industry. In fact, the community members manage their collectively owned territory and promote the participation and representation of members of all ages and sexes.

Hell yeah.

Also, if you’re staying for at least 10 days, you can join their Volunteer Program and stay at the eco lodge for a special rate by working just 4 hours daily. Super sweet.

Closed off "Turtle nesting site" in the ruins of Tulum

This is a double post! (Are you excited? Woooo, you should be!)

Sometimes it’s the little things that matter. This is one of those times. Whether you consider yourself an eco expert or a newbie, skim this list in case there’s something new in there for you! And please feel free to add to it in the comments section.

• Stick to the rules that ask you to refrain from tresspassing into spots such as sea turtle nesting areas. The ruins in Tulum, for example, display a few signs with this message.
• Go ahead and pick up some trash and toss it in the garbage bin when other people have been inconsiderate. Help undo the harm with your kindness and compassion for life and the environment.
• Bring your own aluminum bottle to refill rather than wasting money and resource to buy and toss glass and plastic drinking bottles and cans (even if you can afterward recycle them, it’s better to reduce your use of resources to begin with :)). Why aluminum? Because plastic is toxic – and its carcinogenic, or cancer-causing, chemicals leech into water and food and enter your body (here is a plastic buying guide). Stay safe by recycling your water and nalgene bottles and switching to aluminum. Be sure to check whether the tap water in your area is safe to drink! The water in Tulum, for example, is not.
• Rent and ride a bike/walk/rollerblade/etc rather than drive when possible.
• Remain quiet in biodiversity areas – even the beach! And especially at night, when many animals venture out to nest, spawn, feed, and so on. Even whispering and small amounts of light have been found to disrupt the mating and normal behavior of wild birds and other animals.
• Do not feed birds, reptiles, and other wild animals.
• Be kind to the stray dogs that dot the areas where you’re spending your time – they’ve done nothing wrong. Consider buying them some food, at least giving them your leftovers, and setting out a bowl with water for them, particularly in hot weather. We all just want love and have the same basic needs, including food and water.
• Do not remove coral, rock, etc. when diving, snorkeling, and so on. Any removals can upset ecosystem balance – no matter how much you want that object as a souvenir!
• Support eco establishments and products!
• And speaking of eco products… remember that all toiletries and cleaners can be toxic (and usually are). For example, sodium laureth sulfate, which is in everything, has been found to cause cancer. Look it up here. Try switching to mindful brands for your body and the planet. Yes – they can be expensive. Cheap alternatives include using baking soda as shampoo and toothpaste, baking soda or cornstarch as deodorant, coconut oil to style your hair and as personal lubricant,honey or organic cold-pressed oils to cleanse your skin (this is excellent even for acne-prone skin), and so on. Find a deodorant recipe here plus more ideas here and here.

This planet is yours, mine, and everyone else’s – this includes non-human animals. It is not anyone’s to tras. It is our home. Let’s humbly bow and thank our Mother Earth for sustaining us, and offer our efforts to be sustainable in return. Join in the cycle of life, not destruction.

The beach in Tulum, with a hotel or two off to the side

We first arrived at Cancun Airport, got stood up by the shuttle service we had already paid for, freaked out, threw an exhausting tantrum, had a couple of cocktails, and finally found a solution to our dilemma.

But on to the fun stuff.

I am sorry to inform that the only way to reach Tulum from Cancun is via the use of vehicles that run on gasoline, and there is no airport in Tulum (yet). The trip can take between 1.5 and 3+ hours, depending on much you choose to spend (about USD 30 for a 3+ hour ride with transfers or USD 100+ for a comfy drive with AC just 1.5 hrs long).

You can also rent a car – and maybe find a hybrid one! It’s worth finding out if that’s what you would rather do.

Riding a bike would take so long you’d probably collapse from the heat and dehydration before getting anywhere. If it gets unbearable just standing beneath the morning sun, imagine what it would be like riding a bike with luggage on your back and for hours on end. And it’s not like the road between Cancun and Tulum is picturesque either – it’s very green, but nothing to write home about.

On to the green, largely sustainable hotel -

We finally arrived at our eco hotel, which did not provide us with any electricity except a fan in our room during the day and wi-fi (you could charge your computer, just not in your room, as there are no outlets – but believe me when I say that spending the vast majority of my day away from the computer was 100% liberating and relaxing).

Note: I will tell you why the no-electricity factor is nothing to be apprehensive about in my next post.

A little of the romantic magic in Tulum

We had hot and cold water in our room (but we barely used the hot water at all!). We really did not need AC (it was summer there: late August) and must have used the fan once, if that. The ocean breeze was spectacular and all you really need to feel refreshed.

Okay – our hotel was on the coast. If you stay in the town of Tulum, which is 6 km. away from the beach, the breeze will be less potent. All the hotels I could see in the town advertised AC, cable, and so on. But why go there when you can take a break and detox from “civilization”?

Let me tell you: I can’t remember a time I’ve been so intensely relaxed for so many consecutive days.

Tulum is paradise for beach and nature lovers – and history + anthro buffs too, as Mayan ruins abound. And there are activities – plenty of them (more on that in a later post) – but I basically used most of my time sitting by the waves, staring at them for hours, and letting their beauty flow into me as the sound of the crashing waves cleansed me from the inside out.

Alam Sari Keliki Hotel, the boutique eco-hotel in the hills in Keliki, north of Ubud in Bali

Oy. I read that some hotels tout themselves as eco solely because they offer their guests the opportunity to not wash their laundry daily. Ridiculous? Indeed!

To help remedy the situation and separate the farce from the truth, there are now as many as 100 green travel certifications all over the world, all of which help potential guests learn whether a hotel’s eco claims are for real. Sixty of these are in Europe, and only 7 are global, including Green Globe and ECOTEL; some countries have their own particular certification program.

[Right now most certifications only apply to hotels and lodges, but increasingly others are cropping up to deal with tour operators, beaches, parks, golf courses (a green golf course?!), and boats.]

The certification measures health and safety standards (whether they are legally required or not), quality and service, and sustainability – which sometimes but not always considers the environmental and social impact of the hotel and its programs on the community.

Green Globe looks at the traditional tourism market. Its certifications reward the cutting down of electricity and water use. They do not set standards on performance (only intent – hello problem!). This one looks at the non-human environment, largely, as social and cultural issues are not addressed. (If you ask me, the environment entails all of us – are we not part of it? Is it not part of us?) P.S. Their user interface is not very intuitive. Good luck surfing their website!

So Green Globe focuses on intent as opposed to performance. Conversely, performance-based achievement certifications set clear environmental and social requirements, such as a specific percentage of local sourcing of employees or food.

ECOTEL is performance-based and more thorough than Green Globe. ECOTEL looks at five inspections:

• Environmental commitment
• Solid waste management
• Energy efficiency
• Water conservation
• Employee education and community involvement

Each of these 5 inspections has a 3-tiered Numerical Scoring System for the meeting of criteria. And all hotels have to satisfy ECOTEL’s primary criteria before even applying for the certification. Sweet. That tells me the certified hotels give a damn. Read more here.

See the ECOTEL-certified hotels here to plan ahead for your next trip!

Not many hotels – or even countries – are listed. Hopefully the eco certification industry will soon burgeon and make it easier for all of us to make ethical choices for our trips and vacations.

And I like STEP: Sustainable Travel International –

STEP is the world’s first and only global sustainable tourism eco-certification program offered by a non-profit organization. […] Due to its comprehensive nature, STEP was recognized as the most comprehensive of any sustainable tourism certification initiative in an independent research analysis commissioned by the United Nations Foundation, helping to establish STEP as the “Gold Standard” in sustainable tourism certification.

Although STEP is globally relevant, it is designed to address unique regional social, cultural, environmental and economic attributes.

STEP offers another advantage: because it is non-profit, it costs less to acquire its label – when you have to pay high prices for certification, it can get complicated no matter how green you already are. Especially if you’re just starting out or if you’re in Mexico, say, and the swine flu has kicked your business in the bum and left you struggling to stay afloat.

So to check out destinations certified by STEP, click here.

Enjoy!

(If you’re sick of the topic, just scroll to the bottom for the important stuff.)

Check it out: Not even the Argentine Minister of Health Juan Manzur (left) or President Cristina Kirchner (right) are wearing a mask.

Yes, again. This time because I am in South America, I am freezing my butt off, and the news keeps scaring the hell out of everybody regarding the damn H1N1 — or piggy flu, as I like to call it.

Did you know that those masks are counterproductive? They make the area of your nose and mouth more hospitable to viruses and bacteria by keeping it warm and moist. You’re definitely better off without one. They’re all sold out anyway because the mainstream media lies through their rotten teeth about what will help you prevent becoming a pandemic statistic. What a joke.

Did you know that at the international airport of Ezeiza  in Buenos Aires passengers getting off the planes are given masks to wear just for photojournalists to photograph? It’s disgusting.

Did you know that most people who contract H1N1 experience mild symptoms that go away on their own? Yes, I already told you that Tamiflu is a ripoff.

So scary!

Wait, wrong mammal.

Here we go:

So cute! Thanks for the photo, USDA.

Some eco love

So go ahead and go on your fun South American eco adventure – visit Iguazú, the Patagonia in Argentina/Chile (hey THIS looks pretty sweet and maybe THIS too), marvel at the beauty of Brazilians while gazing at the Atlantic from a mound of warm sand (or while doing one of these activities).

Hey, I wish these places paid me for the advertising. Pfft.

The-important-stuff-at-the-bottom

Here are some crucial and frightening facts that will benefit you if you choose to innoculate yourself in hopes of avoiding an H1N1 infection: Squalene: The Swine Flu Vaccine’s Dirty Little Secret Exposed.

Be safe — but not paranoid! I.E. Don’t watch mainstream news. Stay objective and inform yourself from several disparate sources.