2008 Woodie Awards
Eco-friendly travel tips
Mary Glass
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Earth Day
This summer, will you be traveling green?
Now is the time to take a look at you travel habit as part of marking Earth Day.
Eco-friendly or green travel is travel that acknowledges the importance of protecting the natural and cultural aspects of the places you visit. If you want to become a more eco-friendly traveler, here are three simple steps you can take:
- Use alternative modes of transortation to simply renting a car
- Stay at green hotels
- Use local resources wisely.
Automobiles and airplanes are responsible for up to 10 percent of the carbon emissions in the atmosphere today. Whenever possible, use alternative modes of transportation such as trains, public transportation, or walk. Locally, Denver History Tours offers walking excursions of the Santa Fe art district and a history tour of Capitol Hill, both at around $20 (www.denverhistorytours.com).
When flying to your destination, try to book nonstop flights since airplanes burn the most fuel during lift-off and landing. Chose companies that are green-conscious. Southwest Airlines recycles all cabin waste and was one of the first airlines to offer electronic tickets, eliminating waste from paper tickets (www.southwest.com).
Car companies are also responding to the green trend. Enterprise, National and Alamo offer hybrid cars in most markets.
Enterprise has the largest fleet of fuel-efficient cars in the industry, and has also donated $25 million to the development of renewable fuel (www.enterprise.com). Car sharing is another option (www.carsharing.net). You can use a car for an hour or a week, and there are organizations in Boulder and Aspen that have cars available with membership fees as low as $10 a month and additional charges for hours used and miles driven.
Meanwhile, "green" hotels are environmentally friendly properties that make an effort to conserve water, energy and local culture. The Green Hotel Association (www.greenhotels.com) has listings of green hotels in almost every city.
Now is the time to take a look at you travel habit as part of marking Earth Day.
Eco-friendly or green travel is travel that acknowledges the importance of protecting the natural and cultural aspects of the places you visit. If you want to become a more eco-friendly traveler, here are three simple steps you can take:
- Use alternative modes of transortation to simply renting a car
- Stay at green hotels
- Use local resources wisely.
Automobiles and airplanes are responsible for up to 10 percent of the carbon emissions in the atmosphere today. Whenever possible, use alternative modes of transportation such as trains, public transportation, or walk. Locally, Denver History Tours offers walking excursions of the Santa Fe art district and a history tour of Capitol Hill, both at around $20 (www.denverhistorytours.com).
When flying to your destination, try to book nonstop flights since airplanes burn the most fuel during lift-off and landing. Chose companies that are green-conscious. Southwest Airlines recycles all cabin waste and was one of the first airlines to offer electronic tickets, eliminating waste from paper tickets (www.southwest.com).
Car companies are also responding to the green trend. Enterprise, National and Alamo offer hybrid cars in most markets.
Enterprise has the largest fleet of fuel-efficient cars in the industry, and has also donated $25 million to the development of renewable fuel (www.enterprise.com). Car sharing is another option (www.carsharing.net). You can use a car for an hour or a week, and there are organizations in Boulder and Aspen that have cars available with membership fees as low as $10 a month and additional charges for hours used and miles driven.
Meanwhile, "green" hotels are environmentally friendly properties that make an effort to conserve water, energy and local culture. The Green Hotel Association (www.greenhotels.com) has listings of green hotels in almost every city.
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