There was a time not long ago when taking a green vacation meant packing your bags and heading to Ireland. These days, of course, the term green vacation is less likely to indicate a jaunt to the Emerald Isle than a trip that embraces the entire planet. As environmental awareness seeps into almost every facet of our lives, conscientious vacationers are madly seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprints. Not all hospitality businesses that preach eco-friendliness are the real deal, however. Fortunately, if you know what to look for, you can still spend time in a place far from home without experiencing pangs of enviro-regret. Here, then, is T&C's primer on the new rules of green travel.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES
Getting there may be half the fun, but transportation is one of the biggest culprits in ratcheting up your environmental impact. Air travel is the bête noire of many hard-core environmentalists: there's no question that taking to the skies pollutes them. A round-trip flight from New York to Los Angeles, for example, generates nearly 2,000 pounds -- almost one ton -- of carbon dioxide per passenger. Add two stops to that trip and you'll contribute nearly 1,000 more pounds of carbon to the atmosphere, because most emissions occur during takeoff and landing. But before you ground your flight, consider this: if you were to cover that same distance by car -- say, in a late-model BMW -- you'd generate more than 8,000 pounds of carbon. Traveling by rail is the real way to take the high road, and it can be wonderful -- if you're in Europe or Japan. But if you're traveling in the United States outside the Boston -- Washington corridor, your options for speedy and efficient routes are slim. Travel by cruise ship is the least green alternative of all, generating an incredibly high carbon footprint per passenger. And then there's the matter of the sewage that some cruise ships discharge into the ocean (though no longer in coastal waters).
So air travel turns out to be the least of all practical transit evils. If booking that ticket still gives you pause, there are several ways you can mitigate your flying footprint, including selecting a carrier that has made a solid environmental commitment. An undisputed leader in this area is Virgin Atlantic (virgin-atlantic.com), which has gone on record with a fifteen-point eco-pledge that is one of the industry's most forward-thinking. Among the impressive vows: chairman Richard Branson's promise to invest all profits in alternative-energy research and projects.
Other ways to fly greener include purchasing carbon offsets (see "Carbon Offsets: Should You Buy Them?"); booking nonstop flights; combining trips when feasible; and, yes, packing lighter. Soon even the type of plane you fly on will matter. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is expected to begin entering fleets early next year, is 20 percent more fuel-efficient than comparable models; it will eventually make its home in the hangars of carriers from Air Canada to Qantas.
GETTING AROUND
If you'll be traveling to a city and don't plan on making any forays out of town, you might consider just hailing taxis or hiring a car to get you from point to point. Can't do without your own set of wheels? Rent a hybrid: all major agencies offer them, and you can rest assured that they perform much like your car at home. The main differences are that the engine will shut down when the car is idling (this is normal) and that there's often a starter button rather than a key-based ignition to turn on the car. After last summer's record-high gas prices, hybrids were in greater demand than ever; they can still be hard to come by, so book well in advance of your trip. One other tip: rent a car with an onboard GPS (or bring a portable one). You'll spend more time enjoying your destination -- and give off fewer emissions in the process -- when you don't have to stop for directions (to say nothing of the time and energy you'll recoup by not driving in circles).
ACCOMMODATIONS
Eco-awareness has gained a comfortable foothold in the world of luxury hotels, as major players such as Four Seasons (800-819-5053; fourseasons.com),Ritz-Carlton (800-542-8680; ritzcarlton.com),Orient-Express (800-237-1236; orient-express.com),Amanresorts (800-477-9180; amanresorts.com) and Raffles (800-768-9009; raffles.com) have rolled out the green carpet. Even independent hotels are getting into the act: in Palm Beach, for instance, the Breakers (888-273-2537; thebreakers.com) reclaims undrinkable, so-called gray water to irrigate its golf course and supplies its restaurants with organic vegetables grown on-site.
Last summer, Starwood (914-640-8100; starwood.com) took the wraps off Element, a new hotel brand comprising LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) buildings that integrate green features throughout; the company expects to open more than twenty in the next two years. Though these will not be five-star properties, Starwood plans to use them as a testing ground for green technologies and amenities that will appear at its other hotels, including St. Regis and W outposts.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (800-257-7544; fairmont.com), whose environmental credentials date back at least two decades, has introduced its own version of eco-luxury with two new suites that embrace sustainability: one at its Nob Hill property in San Francisco; the other in Washington, D.C. The rooms, which were renovated using recycled materials and are decorated with nontoxic furnishings (including organic bedding), are a joint venture with Lexus; guests have exclusive access to a Lexus hybrid vehicle and can follow an eco-friendly itinerary during their stay.
Of course, there's a whole other side to minding Mother Nature that has nothing to do with sleeping on an organic mattress or shopping for recycled furniture. When Four Seasons built its new resort on Bora-Bora, all indigenous trees that were excavated during construction were transplanted to a nursery. In Cambodia, Raffles holds an annual cleanup day on the Siem Reap River. On Grand Cayman and Maui, Ritz-Carlton offers a hands-on experience called Ambassadors of the Environment, overseen by descendants of Jacques Cousteau, which aims to preserve the sanctity of local marine life; similar initiatives will soon be in place at other Ritz properties. Even if you bypass these programs, you can take solace in the fact that your home away from home is giving back to its community in a real way.
SHOPPING AND DINING
Being a green traveler means more than just reducing your footprint. It also entails doing your part for the local economy. When you're staying on a remote island or in an off-the-beaten-trail paradise, bear in mind that your resort's developers most likely made promises that their five-star property would do wonders for the community. To help them fulfill that part of the bargain, wander past the gift shop and into the neighborhood markets and boutiques instead. The same goes for your meals: do as much restaurant-hopping as you can, steering clear of the chains and opting for cuisine that represents the region you're in. When possible, order food that is grown locally and wine that comes from a vineyard nearby. If it's organic, all the better.
YOUR NEXT STEPS
Planning a green vacation does take effort, but by arranging a trip with the earth in mind, you're helping to ensure that generations to come will be able to enjoy the world as much as you do now. For more destination-specific information, see Fodor's Green Travel: The World's Best Eco-Lodges & Earth-Friendly Hotels (Fodor's; $21.95) and the Greenopia guides (Green Media Group; $17.95 each), handy compendiums of planet-friendly stores and restaurants in major U.S. cities. Greenopia also has a comprehensive, user-friendly Web site (greenopia.com) that will help inform and inspire your future green wanderings.
Carbon Offsets: Should You Buy Them?
Considered by some to be the equivalent of the indulgences the Catholic Church sold in the late Middle Ages, carbon offsets have spawned an entire industry built on easing guilt. Eco-sinning is okay, goes the message, as long as you atone for it with an offset. The problem is that there's rarely a way to quantify a real quid pro quo to counterbalance your carbon footprint. Many experts also worry that buying one's way out of a polluting habit actually encourages more freewheeling personal pollution. The Federal Trade Commission is drafting new offset guidelines to allay confusion; in the meantime, you can research options at reputable sites such as terrapass.com, nativeenergy.com and carbonfund.org. Your best bet, though, is to alter your wasteful travel habits. Once you're sure you've done all you can to limit your carbon contribution, only then should you decide whether offsets are a worthwhile additional step.
Remember, April 22 is Earth Day.
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