Lesson 11 | How to Go on Vacation and help the planet by Andrea J. Lee

I hope you enjoyed last week's lesson on how to have a green Halloween. As the spooky day draws near, three of you have written in to say you're preparing green costumes and have made donations to nearby bat colonies. That's THRILLING! The biggest of kudos to you. And if you haven't decided yet how you're going to make it a green Halloween this year, do click here and get yourself going!

Thank you all for your desire to help the planet. This is a great community that does the heart good, isn't it?

And now, welcome to today's lesson. It's a timely one for many, on the topic of:

I know, I know, when you're going on a vacation, the last thing you want to think about is how to be green, right? That would feel too much like *work* and you just want to relax, after all!

Well hang on just a minute! As surprising as it may seem, some of the most relaxing and deeply restful vacations are also...you guessed it, the greenest. Today's issue of Joy to the Planet aims to show you exactly how that is, and help you plan your next vacation so that it's not only truly enjoyable, but helpful to the planet too.

Let me start with a little story. Some Joy to the Planet readers know my friend Susan Austin, who I've worked with for the last two years at CoachVille. A brilliant and hilarious woman, Susan was able to take a well-earned vacation recently, and, well...I'll let her tell you the story. I think you might recognize a little of yourself in her experience...

"It's funny, I didn't set out to have a 'green' holiday. In fact, I've always been someone who so rarely takes a holiday I never give them the full consideration they deserve. But when I got invited recently to 3 days at a beach house on the Gulf of Mexico I learned that it's not only easy but fun.

To start with, the 4 bedroom house we stayed at was run on solar power (See the photo of me on the roof in front of the panels.) As a result, we were told to leave our hair dryers, curling irons, laptops, palm pilots, and cell phones all at home. We dined by candlelight and washed and dried our dished by hand.

To get there, we piled six of us into 1 car instead of 2. And after arriving, in the absence of technology, we found new (old?) ways to spend our days. Combing for sand dollars and seashells instead of checking email and voicemail. Watching in awe as a pod of dolphins played up the coast instead of renting RV's or Jet Ski's...

On our way back, we recycled our garbage and collected $17.50 back in bottle deposits...which we then donated to a local charity for school children in the area. Hey if this is a green holiday, it's not so bad!

I guess I've always been pretty selfish about my holidays. They were such a rare treat for me, I wanted to be selfish about them. It wasn't until I actually went on a green holiday that I realized...to take a holiday that honored mother earth was in fact exactly that...selfish. And good for me to boot. Unplugging and having a green vacation was exactly what the doctor ordered."

Ahhhh...doesn't just imagining what Susan's holiday was like make you want to take one yourself? <g> Well, you're not alone. In fact, statistics show that the most popular months for a vacation of some sort are between October and February. I wonder how many of those vacations will be green ones? Hmmm.

Well, you can be one of them! How would you like to take a page out of Susan's book and try an environmentally friendly vacation this year? It doesn't have to be hard at all, and can, like Susan's break, be in fact a lot more enjoyable than a regular trip.

Here are a few tips on how to go about making your next holiday a little more green:

1. Try leaving your house in a 'dormant' state.

No matter where you go for your vacation, you can leave your house in a green or dormant state with just three easy steps: (1) turn off all the lights, leaving some on timers for security (2) turn your water heater down, and (3) lower or turn off the heat or air conditioning. Pretty simple right? And yep, it's greener too. Not to mention you'll have lower utility bills next month. That's bound to put a smile on your face and you haven't even left home yet!

2. Try vacationing closer to home.

Simple and easy, have a look within driving distance to see what you've been missing out. Driving, taking the train or going by bus is a MUCH greener alternative than flying, especially if you have a few people in the car, and it's cheaper too. Have you missed some great vacation opportunities in your own back yard? For one thing, you'll get there faster and can start unwinding faster, a good thing! And, funnily enough, I bet if you think about it, you'll realize that people from distant places enjoy vacations in your neck of the woods every day.

3. Try a completely alternative eco-vacation.
Going farther afield, there are many ways to take an off-the-beaten-track 'green' vacation, see new and wonderful things, and help the planet at the same time. Whether it be by staying in a solar powered home or hotel, or a going on a completely organic jungle trek, here are just a few websites to get you started:

http://www.manaca.com
Manaca uses one of the most stringent eco-assessments available for its listings of places to visit and places to stay. Do the lodges use water and power responsibly? Does it build its shelters ecologically? Also home to a great resource on how to rent a green car, neat stuff.

http://www.ecotravel.com

Some unique tours available at the EcoTravel site, including a variety of green African Safaris for the very adventurous. Again, only responsible choices here, including park rangers who undergo environmental training to pass along to you. A free email newsletter is also available.

http://www.ecosummer.com
Ecosummer is a highly reputed environmentally friendly trip planning site, for the more active traveler. Many trips involve kayaking. All destinations are in the Western hemisphere.

4. Try a green hotel.
As far as accommodation goes, it's getting easier and easier to find a green hotel in almost every corner of the world...very cool stuff. Now if you're lucky, and get the chance to stay in a solar home like Susan or a straw bale home like Mike and I did a couple summers ago, grab it...it's sure to be cool and something you'll end up talking up years later. (We'll likely build a straw bale home as a result of that trip!)

Or, if you don't get that chance, you can also make use of the online directory of green hotels at http://www.greenhotels.com to find yourself a spot to rest your head. These hotels do simple things like not changing your towels every day, and when multiplied by thousands of rooms in green hotels around the world, this adds up to a huge impact on the planet.

With that, I hope you've enjoyed this issue of Joy to the Planet, on the topic of How to Go on Vacation and help the planet at the same time. Like Susan, maybe you'll discover that although you aren't quite there yet in terms of green living every day of the year, at least when it comes to taking a vacation, you can go green and have a great time. I'm rooting for you! <g>

What will you do on your next holiday to experience just that...? As always, my 'door' is open. If you have questions about today's issue, or other topics that I can help with, just drop me a line at andrea@joytotheplanet.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Until next week, I'm signing off to enjoy life and help the planet...what about you?