Tips Before Take Off

So I have been thinking that with all of these travel opportunities that I will be informing you about for the next few months, I think now would be the right time to tell you how you can get to.... let's say Costa Rica to surf and save turtles while traveling "greenly."

Obviously to travel internationally on some kind of time schedule, you are going to have to take an airplane. This means that you will be releasing CO2 into the environment. This makes your trip to save the environment a bit counterproductive, so here is what you can do about it.

At http://www.climatecare.org/about/offsets-made-simple/ you can calculate the amount of CO2 emissions you and your plane will be letting out into the air on your journey. For example, if you were to take off from Los Angeles Airport in California and land in Costa Rica, according to the Climate Care site, the total CO2 emissions from your flight would be 1.21 tonnes of CO2. To offset this damage the cost would be $19.00. This money would then be donated to one of many environmental awareness projects. The Kibale Rainforest Restoration project in Uganda is one of these projects that Climate Care is funding in order to restore an important area of the western rainforest that, once fully restored, will be home to about 30 native species of trees that provide a home for endangered primates.

So while you are on the plane flying over oceans, you will be feeling pretty good about offsetting the damage your flight is doing to the environment, so let's keep the trend going by whipping out your eco-friendly travel pillow. This pillow from Earthsake products is called the Pure Grow Wool Travel pillow. It is made with pure organic wool. No chemicals, no synthetics. You can get it for $40.00 at http://www.earthsake.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/pgwpillowlitestd.html.

After your environmentally friendly slumber on your green smart flight, you arrive in a new country ready to protect it's existing surroundings so others can enjoy this experience. Now is the time to find your hotel. May I suggest choosing from a long list of hotels that are currently working with the Green Hotels Association. http://www.greenhotels.com/whatare.htm. These hotels are joining in the effort to save the environment, by saving energy, water, and limiting overall waste. The Green Hotels Association offers it's members advice on how to make their hotels greener. They also have a catalog that hotels can buy items such as towel rack hangers and sheet changing cards to encourage guests to use towels and sheets more than one time. Some hotels currently buying from Green Hotels Association include: Best Western, Double Tree, Holiday Inn, TraveLodge, Amhsa Hotels, Hilton, and many more.

So now you know of some easy steps you can take to keep your journey abroad eco-friendly and you can really focus on the environmental work you will do in a foreign country!