It seems that eco-tourism is becoming the latest and greatest traveling fad in the news, and we can’t argue that. There are packages out there that provide eco-vacations across the globe in which you can be almost 100% eco-friendly, while also providing for a sustainable future at your travel destinations with programs that help save the ocean or national parks. The question is, however: how do we make eco-traveling a part of every future vacation?

You have many opportunties to make your vacation greener, including options to reduce your carbon footprint. You can reduce your footprint in the following ways: by using carbon offsetting programs, by taking a direct flight, by reducing the amount of luggage you carry, by using public transportation, or by renting a hybrid or smaller car.

In addition to reducing fuel, you want to look for a green hotel. Green hotels may have the following characteristics: low energy use, use of non-toxic detergents, portions of their proceeds are donated to environmental funds, natural renewable sources of energy are used, and they have an Energy Star rating.

Other reminders that we should remember when traveling that we already should be doing in our every day lives include: buying local and recycling! Also, your vacation should not only include environmentally supportive activities, but also socially supportive actions. Make sure the people who live year round in your vacation destination are enjoying the vacation as much as you are! To achieve sustainability, social and environmental actions are required.

Now, since we know what to look for in an eco-friendly vacation, we shall look at how to find one! Since we are bargain hunters and usually use a traveling website such as Kayak.com, Hotwire.com, Priceline.com, etc. to plan our vacations, we decided to search our options for an eco-vacation using these popular sites. What we found was that Orbitz and Expedia offer searches for green/eco-friendly vacations, while the remaining sites only offer tips and articles. With this knowledge, we decided to futher explore Orbitz and Expedia. We learned that Orbitz provides users searches for Energy Star rated hotels, a carbon offset program with Carbon Fund, Hybrid rentals, eco-traveling tips, and packages around the world to help save national parks and various oceans. Expedia provides users searches for green hotels, carbon offseting packages through TerraPass, responsible travel tips, hybrid car rentals, and programs through World Heritage. Our suggestion: utilize both sites when looking for options to increase the possibilities!

Finally, we would like to address how to make a vacation more eco-friendly, even if it appears not to be. Recently, we took a family vacation to Disney World in Florida. With the amount of people and property that Disney World has, one can imagine that much energy is used and much waste is created. However, against all of these odds, we noticed there are many ways you can improve your green footprint, even in Disney World. In Disney, there are recycling bins next to almost every trash bin. The resorts use Compact Flourescent Lighting (CFLs) in their guest rooms and Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights in many of the signs. There are signs in every guest room suggesting that each guest reuse their towel as often as possible before replacement to save water, and there are Energy Star appliances throughout the resorts and parks. Even in Disney World you can be green. We hope this example shows you that every vacation can be made greener.

For your next vacation, whether you plan to be surrounded by nature, giving a helping hand to our environment or people of the world, or simply have fun in a big city, make eco-tourism a part of your vacation. Travel green!

Tags: carbon offsetting, Disney World, eco-tourism, Expedia, Orbitz, travel