Go Green Travel Green

The 25 Days to Green Travel Series is now complete. We hope you enjoyed reading the series as much as we enjoyed writing it. For those who want the series in an easy reference format, here it is:
Intro: 25 Days to Green Travel: Intro to the Series

31 Reasons to Travel Green: In Pictures
Defining [...]

Tell them what was easy about being a responsible traveler and tell them what was challenging about sustainable traveling…. Tell them what a challenge it was to get from one side of the town to the other via public transportation, but in the end it was worth it because of the kind locals you met.

You’ve dined on native food, sampled local wine, and explored more museums and parks that you can count. Now your trip is over and it’s time to head home, but your job as a green traveler isn’t quite finished.
As you pack your bags and map your route, here are 6 things to remember to make [...]

Now we’re moving into the homestretch of our 25 Days to Green Travel series with tips for traveling green on the way home.
At the end of my study abroad trip to Russia, I found myself scrambling to find souvenirs for family and friends back home. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a market and found awesome locally-made [...]

Being a green traveler means more than just taking public transportation, sleeping in a eco hotel, and using a water bottle; it also means being respectful and responsible when taking pictures.
Every traveler who takes photos and every photographer who travels needs to be sensitive to the local culture. Here are some tips to help [...]

As a lover of nature, especially animals, I set out to learn everything I could about being respectful while watching wildlife.
You know what I found out?
Everything I need to know about watching wildlife I learned in kindergarten.
Keep your hands to yourself. Don’t touch animals, their nests, babies, etc.

photo credit: Chalky Lives
Don’t feed the animals. [...]

Yesterday, in Volunteering Abroad: 10 Things to Know Before You Go we discussed everything you should think about before you sign up. Today we’ll cover why you should volunteer abroad and 21 resources for finding a good program.
5 Reasons to Volunteer Abroad
Help Others. Whether you’re cleaning up a polluted river or volunteering in a [...]

Volunteering abroad can be an incredibly rewarding experience. You get to spend a few weeks or months saving the rain forest or building houses for people who can’t afford them. Every program is not a good fit for everyone. But there are so many different places and types of work to choose from, you’ll definitely [...]

The great thing about traveling is once you’re at your destination, it’s much easier to be green. Most of your carbon consumption comes from the actual travel itself. That’s not to say that if you’ve done your best to be a green traveler getting there (who says you can’t bike around the world?) [...]

[A] person who rides public transportation instead of driving reduces his or her carbon dioxide output, a harmful greenhouse gas, by more than 20 lbs a day and 4,800 lbs annually. That saves more than weatherizing a home, adjusting a thermostat, switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs and replacing older appliances with higher efficiency models, [...]

[A] person who rides public transportation instead of driving reduces his or her carbon dioxide output, a harmful greenhouse gas, by more than 20 lbs a day and 4,800 lbs annually. That saves more than weatherizing a home, adjusting a thermostat, switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs and replacing older appliances with higher efficiency models, [...]

Let’s face it, as much as we love camping, hostels, and eco-lodges sometimes a hotel is the most reasonable option. Luckily, even when staying at the least environmentally-friendly hotel you have a lot of control over your environmental impact. Here are 11 of our favorite tips and tricks for being a little friendlier [...]

Don’t worry - I’m not going to get all PETA on you and condemn you for torturing baby cows by eating meat. I’ve been an on-again off-again vegan/vegetarian (currently in an on-again phase) for the past 8 years, so I’m obviously not one to talk about permanently committing to being meat and dairy-free.
That said, with [...]

Bottled water destroys the earth, but I might be drinking someone else’s leftover Viagra in my tap water? If recent news of hormone disrupting BPA in water bottles, pharmaceuticals in U.S. tap water, and the environmental impact of bottled water has got you down, you’re not alone.
In the U.S., drinking filtered tap water is the [...]

We’ve concluded the Before You Go section of 25 Days to Green Travel so now we can get into the really fun stuff: When You’re There. Whether you’re currently traveling, planning a trip, or just day-dreaming at your desk, the rest posts in the series will be about how to be a green traveler once [...]

As our last post in the “before you go” section of 25 Days to Green Travel, we’ve chosen to write about finding green accommodations. As greenwashing becomes ever more popular, it’s critical that we are cautious when searching for environmentally-friendly lodging. There are 5 basic types of accommodations to consider when you are looking to [...]

I was skeptical when I first heard about carbon offsets, just as I would be about anything where you merely check a box, cough up a few dollars, and miraculously save the Rain Forest.
As I navigated the world of carbon offsets, I began to think that maybe it would have been easier to [...]

The key to traveling green is consuming less. But when you’re packing for your next trip, there are some things you should buy new - either because they’re hard to find used (safe water bottles) or you wouldn’t want to buy them used (underwear). In the end the investment will pay off.
Microfiber Towel
If you’ve ever [...]

To be a green traveler there is one true “must”: You must pack light.
A while back we posted the Ultimate Guide to Packing Light: 45 Tips to Lighten Your Load. Some of you might have found that post a little long and detailed, so for our 25 Days to Green Travel series we’re [...]

I’m a bit of an airfare search engine geek. I love searching websites and flight aggregators to try to find the cheapest plane ticket possible. As I’ve become more conscious of my environmental impact, this also means searching for nonstop flights. Unfortunately, I’ve found that many websites don’t make this easy.
As a green [...]

Riding a bus or train in a foreign country can be daunting, especially for Americans (like us) who have limited non-car ground transportation options at home.
But I hope my post yesterday convinced you that you should at least consider alternatives to flying for your next trip. Buses and trains are obviously the more environmentally-friendly options, [...]

Thousands of websites have launched carbon emissions calculators, but often these sites only lead to more questions like: How do you choose the most eco-friendly route? Does a bus, plane, train, boat/ship, or car emit less carbon? And why do some sites say that flying produces fewer carbon emissions than driving?
These are all valid [...]

We hopped on the bus to Tallinn, Estonia with nothing but our passports, wallets, and nearly-empty backpacks. We had planned to buy tickets for the next day, but they were sold out. It was either go now or don’t go. We opted for the former.
Europe on a Shoestring didn’t do us much good sitting in [...]

Now that we’ve laid out the why, what, and where of green travel, we’re going to discuss the how. For the rest of the 25 Days to Green Travel series we’ll talk about how to travel green in 3 parts: Before You Go, While You’re There, and Going Home. To kick off Before [...]

Traveling green isn’t just about packing light, shopping local, or sticking to direct flights. It’s also about choosing destinations that are already taking steps to be more sustainable, and supporting the economy in those communities. And it’s about giving back to the community (and the earth) by volunteering.
There’s a green travel destination on every continent [...]

To be a green traveler, you need understand exactly what you’re aiming to do and what green travel is. There are many definitions of green travel, but here’s what we believe green travel is really about.
The Environment
When most people think about green travel they immediately think of the environment and making choices that will minimize [...]

Every green traveler has those days where she just wants to give up. Pollution, global warming, bad environmental policy decisions - how much of a difference can one person really make?
We’re launching our 25 Days to Green Travel series with photos that remind us why traveling green - and living green - matters. We’re going [...]

In honor of our first Earth Day here at Go Green Travel Green, we’re launching our 25 Days to Green Travel series. We’ll start with the basics - who, what, when, where, and why - and kick off today with 31 Reasons to Travel Green: In Pictures. This compilation of photos, mostly by amateur photographers, [...]