Today ma ny people are concerned about the environment and the impact they make when they travel. This is why sustainable tourism and eco-tourism are becoming very popular. Traveling can be done responsibly by making travel choices that help the environment. This is what green travel is all about.
If you are looking for a way to lower your carbon footprint and yet still want to use air travel for your vacation, try booking your flight through flygreen.ca, a Canadian website that provides a carbon offset to travelers. They describe a carbon offset occurring when “when an individual or organization emits a given amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) but invests in measures that will pull the equivalent volume of GHG out of the atmosphere or prevent other emissions from taking place at all.” Flygreen makes donations to help finance projects that will reduce CO2 emissions.
You can book flights, packaged holidays, hotels, cruises, eco lodge adventures, and sustainable tours through this website. And the best part, they do not charge any additional booking fees. They also offer green travel tips, to help make your vacation more environmentally friendly.
Want to spend your beach vacation at an eco friendly beach? Then check out the Blue Flag certification for beaches and marinas. A Blue Flag award guarantees your beach will be pristine and properly managed.
The Blue Flag program, operated by the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEE), awards beaches that meet their 29 criteria with an eco friendly blue flag. The beach criteria include aspects of water quality, environmental management, safety, and environmental education and the award must be renewed every year. The program was started in France in 1985. By 1987 it had spread to the rest of Europe and had certified 452 beaches and marinas in 10 countries. Today nearly 3,300 beaches and marinas in 36 countries have been awarded the blue flag. The program encourages beaches and marinas to be environmentally responsible and therefore improving conditions for marina life and people.
Hotels are going green as well. The Green Hotels Association is a group of hotels that have environmentally friendly programs. These include water and energy conservation, and solid waste reduction. Hotels also use environmentally friendly products and encourage guests to be green by not requesting their linen or towels to be replaced daily. By being green hotels are actually saving money and helping the environment. Who says being green has to be more expensive?
The state of the planet is everyone’s responsibility. So next time you travel think green. When you book an airplane flight or any kind of travel, think about doing something to help reduce your carbon footprint. Stay at hotels that are environmentally friendly. Visit beaches that practice responsible caretaking. Do your part to help leave this planet in good shape for future generations. Travel green whenever possible.
For more green travel tips:
http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/gingersnaps/archive/2008/11/13/8-green-travel-tips-a-little-r-amp-r-for-both-you-amp-the-planet.aspx
