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Vacations come in all shapes, sizes and destinations—from lazily sipping cocktails on a sweltering sandy beach to vigorously scaling an icy mountain precipice. No matter how you picture yours, have you considered its environmental impact? By making just a few minor adjustments to your travel plans, you can minimize your carbon footprint without decreasing your enjoyment one iota.

Home Sweet Home
They say charity begins at home, but so does eco-friendly travel. Using the lights, heat or air conditioning is wasteful if your house will be unoccupied. Instead of leaving a few lamps on to make the home look occupied for security, set window or hall lights on a timer. Before you leave, set your thermostat so the furnace and air-conditioning won’t run. Unplug all appliances and electronics and turn off all power strips. Also, if you contact your mail delivery service to put a hold on your correspondence while you are gone, ask that your carrier delivery your held mail upon your return, rather than driving to the post office to pick it up.

Hitch a Ride
Some states have carpool services like Ohio Rideshare, which helps people in northeastern Ohio find riding partners. Eastgate Regional Council of Governments is responsible for many federal, state and local programs such as this one, and Senior Manager Kathy Zook says that those using this service “save money, help save the environment and reduce the amount of congestion.” Zook’s family decreased its gasoline consumption by 50 percent through its participation. The service is primarily for those people looking for shared rides to work, but carpooling is also a good idea for road trips. However, if your destination is more than a few hours away, it’s more cost-effective and eco-friendly to fly.

Alternatives to ride-sharing and flying include trains, buses and taxis. And if you have to resort to a taxi, don’t sweat the small trips as long as you offset your carbon emissions later. Read on to find out how.

Carbon Offset Programs
Airlines and airports offer ways to decrease your carbon footprint. For example, Northwest Airlines (NWA) launched an “EarthCares” program and donated $1 million to the Nature Conservancy. Your contributions to this organization support forest conservation, tree planting and other projects that counter carbon-dioxide pollution.

Soon the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) will have kiosks where fliers can buy carbon offset credits. Carbon offsets help lessen your carbon footprint from air travel and energy use by supporting emissions-reducing projects such as solar power and wind farms. And SFO already has a Green Rental Car Program, which provides a $15 discount to people who rent hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid.

In the rush of packing and planning, if you neglect to check into the above programs and many others like them, purchase a TerraPass carbon offset when you return. Use their carbon calculator to determine your exact travel emissions, or generously purchase one year’s worth of flying carbon offsets for $50.60.

Work It Out
When touring a new city, ask the hotel desk about public transportation, low- or zero-emission cabs and bicycle rentals. And there’s no harm in exercising on your vacation, so consider sightseeing on foot, often the best way to truly experience a place. If walking and public transport aren’t options, then take advantage of hybrid car rentals but limit your usage. Cities like New York also have pedicabs, which are like first-class bike riding.

Asking at the hotel desk or concierge and conversing with locals can be good ways to find eco-conscious shops and restaurants within walking distance. Taking and sending digital photographs, rather than chemical ones, is your best bet for preserving your memories and sharing them with family and friends in an environmentally friendly way. And make sure to use rechargeable batteries for iPods, cellphones and cameras.

When the Party’s Over
Saying farewell to the sunny shorelines or snow-capped mountains may be bittersweet, but preserve these vacation spots for the future by also reducing pollution on your way home.

When everything is unpacked, reuse or recycle plastic shopping bags, empty bottles, etc. Wash dirty clothes in larger loads and hang items to air dry. And continue your earth-loving ways while at home—including unplugging electrical appliances, or the power strips to which they are connected, when not in use.

If your experience as an eco-tourist was successful, share it with the world by writing a guest blog for EcoHearth or commenting below on this article. Raising awareness will encourage others to tread lighter on the planet. After all, Mother Earth deserves a vacation from our abuse—hopefully, one day soon, a permanent one.

Additional resources:
Step Lightly: How to Minimize Your Carbon Footprint When Traveling for Business or Pleasure

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