Green Honeymoon Ideas

With increased awareness of environmental issues, many people are putting more of an effort into choosing green lifestyle options; this includes where to go and what to do on honeymoon.

It’s no longer popular to lie basking in the sun being waited on hand and foot, although plenty still class that as the ultimate luxury. Now honeymooners, keen to leave less impact on the planet and have more of an experience on their trip, are looking at various ecotourism projects, resorts or lodges in which to consummate their union… or just have a nice wee break if the union’s long been consummated! Well, it’s the rules of getting married isn’t it? Get married, have honeymoon. It’s the only reason people go through with it, right?

Eco-friendly Honeymoons Ideas

1. Put some thought into the destination – do you really need to travel to the other side of the world when you haven’t explored what’s on your doorstep yet? There are ecotourism options practically everywhere so check out your own backyard (not literally) before booking a trip further afield. You may get an unexpected surprise.
2. Make a list of all the places you’d like to go and then investigate them thoroughly. Maybe you could do a two centre holiday? Some people like to get involved in a community ecotourism project for one week and chill the next. Choose something that suits you both and book through a good eco travel company.

3. Many popular honeymoon destinations have questionable practices. They build without any regard to the environment, pay pittance wages and treat staff with little respect yet they still manage to provide 5 star treatment to holidaymakers. So give a little something back by venturing out of your holiday haven and spending money in local communities rather than ploughing it all into an already wealthy resort.

4. Book tours through locals when you get to your destination, not through your holiday rep. That way you know the local community will benefit directly from the money and you won’t have to sit on a bus with 50 other touros singing round choruses of Una Paloma Blanca when all you want to do is experience things first-hand.

5. Use local transport to get around and use a local guide to explore; after all they will know the area better than someone employed through a company back home. If you do have a wonderful guide, spread the word about their services, leave info on websites for other honeymooners looking for similar experiences, that way you’ll be generating more work for your guide and potentially other guides too.

6. Eco doesn’t always mean hippy, there are a number of luxurious eco escapes worldwide that have been built sustainably and employ responsible tourism principles so you can have your cake and eat it.

7. As with any eco-friendly holiday, check the hotel or resort’s green credentials. It’s sometimes difficult to know whether the vacation you fancy is genuinely green or tainted with greenwashing tactics, so read up a few tips from Ecotourism Logue before you book.

8. Dare to be different!

Article excerpted from www.ecotourismlogue.com

31 Reasons to Travel Green: In Pictures

Every green traveler has those days where she just wants to give up. Pollution, global warming, bad environmental policy decisions – how much of a difference can one person really make?

We’re launching our 25 Days to Green Travel series with photos that remind us why traveling green – and living green – matters. We’re going with the “a picture is worth a thousand words” concept. All of these images except one are from Flickr, many from amateur photographers. No matter what shade of green traveler you are, I hope these photos motivate you to keep traveling green. As I searched for these photos, I was reminded over and over that our travel decisions don’t just affect us; they affect people and wildlife across the world, and they will for generations to come.

The post wraps up with some truly amazing photos of beautiful places, people, and creatures around the world, so stick through the depressing photos to the end and you’ll be rewarded.

The Bad

Destruction of Wildlife

Oiled bird from Black Sea oil spill. photo credit: marinephotobank

Polar bear on melted ice near Barents Island, Norway. © Arne Naevra

Dead fish in a polluted riverbed, Buenos Aires, Argentina. photo credit: blmurch

Global Warming

Exposed coral reef in Gili Meno, Indonesia. photo credit: yeowatzup

Fragment of a melted iceberg. photo credit: nick_russill

Floating iceberg chunk in Patagonia. photo credit: lrargerich

Melting icebergs in Jökulsárlón, Iceland. photo credit: csproete

Water Pollution

Polluted river in Cambodia. photo credit: davilla

Man finding plastic bags in River Yamuna in Delhi, India. photo credit: Koshyk

Metal barrel in a green river. photo credit: jantik

Air Pollution

Taj Mahal choking in early morning smog. photo credit: mshandro

Beijing smog. photo credit: diggingforfire

ir pollution in Nova Scotia. photo credit: ojbyrne

Car pollution in Cremona, Italy. photo credit: Simone Ramella

Mexico City smog. photo credit: arndw

Los Angeles, California smog. photo credit: cwsteeds

Santiago, Chile smog. photo credit: philliecasablanca

One way to avoid breathing polluted air in Tehran. photo credit: kamshots

Plane pollution, Anywhere. photo credit: mshades

Forest Destruction

Deforestation in Guatemala. photo credit: Pati’s Moment in Time

Deforestation in the Amazon. photo credit: dgidsicki

Deforestation in Wakayama, Japan. photo credit: T.Hagihara

Waste

Electronics waste in China from the Western World. photo credit: art_es_anna

Chinese baby surround by electronics parts from the Western World. photo credit: art_es_anna

The Good

Preserve the Sites and Wildlife

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland. photo credit: atomicpuppy68

Mountains in Brienz, Switzerland. photo credit: pilou

Elephants in Kenya. photo credit: wildcat_dunny

Moose in Alaska. photo credit: Paul Resh

Support the Local Economy and Way of Life

Fish vendor in Seoul, South Korea. photo credit: neaners

Indian street vendor. photo credit: utpal.

Article excerpted from www.gogreentravelgreen.com

All the pictures above have speak a thousand words. The pollution will getting worst if we still haven’t aware of it and no action is taken.  Let’s do our part when we travel to other countries so that others can enjoy the amazing view as well.

Go Green or Go Home: Tips for Being Eco-Friendly on the Road

This is a post by contributing author Lauren Fritsky of TheLifeThatBroke.com (@LaurenFritsky).

Using eco-friendly products, recycling and eating locally-grown food can be easy — at home. Yet if you’re on a RTW trip backpacking in Thailand, Sydney or Vancouver, you might find it difficult to keep up with your environmentally-conscious lifestyle. To help you stay green while backpacking around the world, we asked some globetrotters for their tips on staying green on the road.

Check out these green travel tips from some travelers in the know…

Creative Commons: MikeBehnken

Christine Amorose of C’est Christine

“I try to minimize my carbon footprint by limiting my use of plastic whenever I can. Instead of using plastic shopping bags at markets or shops, I use my Chico Bag. It’s lightweight and small enough to fit in my purse every day — and doubles as a beach bag or picnic basket when necessary. Instead of constantly purchasing plastic bottled water, I just fill up my stainless steel Klean Kanteen with cold tap water.”

Lara Dunston of Gran Tourismo

“When my husband and I travel, we will always choose a holiday rental over a hotel if we can — and primarily for ‘green’ reasons. By staying in an everyday house/apartment, we’re using an existing resource and one that uses a lot less energy than a hotel, so we’re leaving a smaller environmental footprint. We will recycle if we can, re-use our towels, and not waste food — all things that hotels make difficult to do!

We’re also contributing to a local community, shopping at local markets and using local businesses, and we’ll always buy local, seasonal produce rather than imported products, so all in all it’s a much more sustainable and responsible way to travel.”

Creative Commons: The Wandering Angel

Caroline Eubanks of Caroline in the City

“I’ve been using the same knockoff Nalgene water bottle for the last probably five years. It’s good to refill before a flight instead of spending $5 on one you will throw away. I’ve also stored my toothbrush inside so it doesn’t get dirty, as well as filling it with boiling water to keep my bed warm. Multi-purpose!”

Ben Lancaster of Amateurs in Africa

“Pay a little more. It’s not much difference in price, but using accredited local tour guides makes a huge difference to the sustainability of the local tourism industry and the local communities you’re visiting. The guides are also way better and funnier. Fact.

Unfortunately with limited infrastructure for processing waste, packaging from Western manufactured products is an issue [in Africa]. As such, you’ll often see rubbish being thrown into the streets due to a lack of knowledge and understanding — lead by example and hold on to your waste until you find a bin. Also, ask companies what they are doing to help combat the issue in communities from which they are profiting.”

Lindsey Tramuta from Lost in Cheeseland

“I think one of the best ways to maintain a green lifestyle during travel, aside from choosing means of transportation that will keep your carbon footprint to a minimum (trains, public buses, hybrid vehicles, etc.), is to immediately seek out local recycling centers upon arrival at your destination. If necessary, ask locals where you can recycle plastics, glass, paper and other products to not only maintain the eco-habits you practice at home but to respect the environment you are visiting.”

Nicole Schwab of Chasingwonderlust

“When I travel, I would say that the most ‘green’ thing I usually do is take public transportation and/or walk most places I go. I usually try to see most places on foot for a number of reasons. First of all, I think that’s the best way to get to know a place & discover things you might otherwise miss. Also, it gives me a bit of exercise to work off all the calories I typically eat when I’m on holiday!”

Article excerpted from www.backpackingmatt.com

Tips for Finding Green Hotels

How do you know if a hotel’s program is truly environmentally friendly—and not all smoke and mirrors?T+L’s Andrea Bennett separates fact from fiction. By Andrea Bennett

As I write this, I’m in a hotel room on the Vegas Strip, looking out my window at the construction site of what will be the largest green hotel in the world, set within MGM Mirage’s $7.4 billion City Center. The hotel is pursuing certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System, which sets standards for environmentally sustainable construction. Among the measures it’s taking: recycling 80 percent of construction waste and building a monorail to the Bellagio. But if you check in when the hotel opens in 2009, you might not notice it’s green the property’s casino (not LEED certified) allows smoking.

What Does “Green” Mean?

Photo: Ryan Heshka

Unless you stay in an eco-lodge, you’re not always likely to see a property’s efforts to reduce its impact on the environment. Sure, you might be asked to recycle towels and use a key card that controls your room’s lights and climate. But subtler measures, such as building with recycled materials and landscaping to use less water, aren’t so apparent.

You can look for some proof of certification, but dozens of countries, several U.S. states, and a number of industries have their own labeling programs with varying standards, so it’s difficult to know just how green your hotel really is. (See five of the most reputable programs at right.) To complicate this scenario, many properties are bypassing accreditation in favor of developing their own sustainability plans. The Willard InterContinental in Washington, D.C., for instance, uses renewable wind electricity and purchases organic food whenever possible.

What’s Next?

Eco-construction is a growing phenomenon. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, there are now 118 hotels that have registered for LEED certification. So far, only one hotel—the Gaia Napa Valley—has earned the Gold certificate (the second highest level). Striving to be the next property to get Gold (or perhaps Platinum, the highest LEED certification, which no hotel has yet achieved), the Proximity Hotel, in North Carolina, will use rooftop solar panels, install elevators that generate a portion of their own power, and use an air-exchange system to reduce its energy consumption. And LEED is expanding to international hotels. Easter Island’s Explora Rapa Nui, set to open in December, seeks to obtain Gold status.

What Can You Do?

Every property in T+L’s “Favorite Green Hotels” filled out an eco-questionnaire to ensure that they’re meeting high environmental standards. You can put the same questions to a hotel before booking: What has it done to reduce carbon emissions and waste?How does it conserve energy and water consumption?And does it have programs that support its community?You’ll be doing the environment a favor.

Article excerpted from www.travelandleisure.com

7 Must-Have Phone Apps for Green Travelers

Image: iTunes

Forget the atlas, the train schedule, the guidebook, and the local restaurant guide: All you need to travel green in 2011 is your smartphone — and a few handy apps.

From city guides that let you leave the books behind to calculators that tell you exactly how many offsets you’ll need to buy when you get home, these are the seven apps that green travelers shouldn’t leave home without.

1. Lonely Planet

A solidly researched, well-written guidebook is an indispensable part of international travel — just ask the couple spending one day in Paris who didn’t know that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays — but it can also be a pain to haul around (not to mention the carbon footprint of all that paper and ink).

Lonely Planet apps give you detailed guides to cities all over the world, from Hong Kong and London to Washington D.C. and Barcelona (oh yeah — and Paris).

2. Velo

Image: iTunes

It used to be that international travelers needed a handy guide to cab stands and car rental services, but with Velo all you need is an iPhone and your two feet.

The app is designed to help you find bike sharing locations throughout cities including Paris, Brussels, and Luxembourg; green dots show you where bikes are available for pickup, and red ones show you where you can leave the bike you’re riding. It’s faster and greener than driving, and offers unparalleled ways to see your city.

3. iTrans

Image: iTunes

If you’re traveling within the United States, the iTrans app lets you trade expensive, unreliable cabs for trips on the public transportation systems of major cities — New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago (among others).

The app lets you stay up to date with service outages, timetables, and transfers, and even offers walking directions to get you from where you are to where you want to go.

4. Find Green

Image: 3rd Whale

Formerly 3rd Whale Mobile, the Find Green app has all the same sustainability insights you need when you’re on the road, from the closest organic restaurants to the nearest local brewery. And since many of the businesses are submitted — and rated– by users, you’re really taking advantage of a ton of local knowledge (which is the best kind).

The Live Green tab also includes “crowdsourced sustainable living tips with quantified benefits of how much energy, emissions, water, waste and money you’ll save doing them.” (Though 3rd Whale says the app is available for the iPhone, we couldn’t find it in the iTunes store; however, Find Green did show up in the Android Market.)

5. iLocate Vegan Restuarants

Image: iTunes

Finding a restaurant that offers something more than chain-spot hamburgers, limp salads, and overpriced pie is hard enough — finding a vegan restaurant can be even tougher unless you have iLocate Vegan Restaurants on your side.

You can put in your zip code or find nearby restaurants using your GPS — and then sit back and tuck in for a meat-free meal complete with maps and directions.

6. Locavore

Image: iTunes

You may know what’s in season in November in your home state of California, but do you know what you’re looking for when you visit your parents for the holidays? And maybe you’re an East Coaster who thinks citrus is blooming year-round in Florida — is that true?

Locavore helps you see what’s in season wherever you are, and even helps direct you to the nearest farmers market, for those chefs cooking while on vacation.

7. Twavel

Image: iTunes

Keeping track of your carbon footprint while you’re on the road can be tiring — you end up just guesstimating, and then you buy carbon offsets when you get home (or maybe you just forget).

But with Twavel, you can see just how important those individual choices are: The app lets you total up your travel plans as you you go, and then keeps a running total of your carbon footprint that it compares to other users. Plus, the handy community page lets you set up a carpool or find like-minded walkers in your area.

Article excerpted from www.treehugger.com