A Greener Vacation

By Rachel Tanis

As the warm days of summer approach, my mind always turns to travel. I can’t wait to plan my next summer vacation and look forward to lounging away my time in some tropical locale. This year, I’m going to put a little more thought into my adventures and be sure to make the entire experience greener. That means that my green vacation starts before I ever leave home.

Before leaving home be sure to…

…turn off the air conditioning or heat if possible. If not, adjust to temperatures that will protect your plants, animals and plumbing, though this shouldn’t be the same comfortable temperature you’d want if you were actually home.

…turn your water heater to “vacation” or its lowest temperature setting. This means that the water sitting in your hot water heater will not be continually heated again and again when no one is using it.

…unplug appliances that won’t be used while you’re away so that they are not drawing a charge, unnecessarily.

…stop newspaper and mail delivery. You may be able to donate your newspapers to a shelter, nursing home or school while you are away. If you really want the papers, most companies will hold them for you. Stopping your delivery services means that you won’t come home to soggy mail or newspapers, in the event that it rains at home while you’re away enjoying the sunshine.

When planning your trip…

…check out travel books from the library rather than buying new ones. You’ll not only save money, but trees as well!

…plan your trip to include public transportation whenever available. Check for a website created by the municipality that you’ll be visiting for a link to their department of transportation which can usually provide you with maps, schedules and pricing for public transportation like buses, shuttles, subways and trains.

…take advantage of green technology like e-tickets offered by most airlines. A big plus of an e-ticket is that picking up your ticket at the airport makes it harder to lose or forget!