Travel Tips – Green Hotels

Traveling green is easier than ever these days as hotels are making great efforts to go green and save energy, water and other resources.  New hotels are building green, too.  Not all hotels are green though, you have to know what to look for and what questions to ask if you plan to travel green.

If you don’t mind spending a bit more money for your green stay, look for newer hotels that were built within the past few years.  Check their websites to see if they advertise as an environmentally friendly hotel.  If not you can give them a call and ask if they are a certified green building.  If a hotel has spent the extra money to build green, then you should be able to assume that they also take measures toward conservation as well, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Some things you will want to ask the hotel is if they conserve energy by using longer lasting, energy saving florescent lighting throughout the hotel.  Do they have a way to encourage guests to turn out the lights, television, air conditioning, etc. when they leave the room?  One hotel in San Francisco is designed so that when you leave the room you have to lock the door from the outside with a keycard.  When you do this the electricity in the room is shut off.  This is a great energy saving concept, but don’t expect any older hotels to use it.

Ask the hotel about how they save water.  Do they allow guests to reuse towels and sheets or do they change them every day regardless of the guest’s wishes?  Do they have water saving showers and low-flush toilets?  Hotels can save millions of gallons of water each year by making some simple changes.

What kind of recycling program does the hotel have in place?  Do they place recycling receptacles in each guest room?  Do they have recycling receptacles in their lobby and restaurant and swimming pool areas?  How do they encourage their staff to recycle?

What kinds of cleaning products do they use and what brands of shampoos and lotions are they offering in the guest rooms?  Are they organic?  Organic cleaning products are now readily available for commercial and home use.  Find out how green your hotel is before you book if you want to travel green this year.

How To Travel Green

So we do all we can at home to save the environment and reduce the carbon offset.  We live green almost every day of the year.  That’s right, almost.  What about those two weeks of the year that you are on vacation?  Are you traveling green?  Here are some tips on how to live green every day of the year, even when you are on vacation.

To and Fro

When going to and from your vacation destination, try to keep it within the same continent so you don’t have to fly.  Driving is a good alternative to flying in order to save on the carbon emissions.  A plane puts out way more emissions than does a car.  How about traveling by train?  There are passenger trains that go to many major cities around almost every country, and you can rent a car when you get there.

Where to Go

There are many destinations that are already coined as eco-destinations that you can choose from.  Eco-destinations are defined as areas where you can truly enjoy nature and the natural resources that it provides.  There won’t be any clubbing or skydiving on your eco-vacation but you can enjoy some hiking and scuba diving.  Independent Traveler has rated the top five eco-destinations as Palau, the island that the 10th season of the popular television series Survivor was filmed, Costa Rica, the Norwegian Fjords, Kerala, India, and Kenya, Africa.  Of course, you can find your own eco-destination by looking for a place where nature is the main attraction.

Where to Stay

Eco-lodging can be found around the world so there is no reason to have to stay anywhere else.  Look online for eco-lodging and you will be amazed at the steps that many hotels are taking to go green.  An eco-friendly hotel might be a new building with a Green Building certification or might be an old building that has made upgrades to be greener.  Some upgrades might include using energy saving fluorescent lighting, water saving technologies, or even using organic cleaning products to clean the rooms with.  If you want to travel green then you should make sure to find an eco-friendly sort of lodging once you reach your destination.

You Can Travel Green By Air, If You Must

Green travel doesn’t mean donning your backpack and hitchhiking across the country, or even driving for four days each way, reducing eight days of your 14 day vacation.  You can still fly and do your part to reduce the carbon footprint.

Flying across the country releases as much carbon from the plane as the typical person releases in a year of driving to and from work.  That’s just the carbon, there are other gases released from an airplane that aren’t even included here.  If you can take your trip by car, do it.  If that is not possible, though, then do your part to travel green by contributing to the carbon offset of the additional carbon you will be causing to be released into the atmosphere.

Sure, it is true that the plane would be making the trip with or without you, but if everyone on the trip was concerned about the environment and did their part then a real difference could be made.  Some travel agents and websites are linking up with non-profit and for profit carbon offsetting groups that will plant trees to reduce the carbon released.  You can add the price of the carbon offsetting in with your plane ticket at around $20 for a round trip, cross country flight.

What can the airlines do to contribute to green travel?  The obvious answer would be to reduce the number of daily flights.  If airlines would actually fill up their planes for each flight, they would be able to reduce their flight schedules by a minimum of one flight per day.  If each airline reduced flights by one per day, then it would certainly have a significant environmental impact.  Perhaps if travelers started requesting almost full flights for every leg of a trip then they could help the airlines to realize that reducing flights will not only save the environment but save them money, too.

Be sure to look for a green hotel or eco-lodge when you get to your destination, and help to conserve water and energy when you are there.  Rent a fuel-friendly car, or a hybrid if they have one available, or better yet use public transportation.  And plan some eco-friendly activities.