Go Green With Green Travel

Traveling green (that is, eco friendly traveling) has different dimensions and can mean different things to different people. Here are some ways to make your own traveling experience eco friendly ...

Traveling green (that is, eco friendly travelling) has different dimensions and can mean different things to different people. You can make your own travel experience eco friendly, however, by doing or using the following:

1. Green Transportation

Your green travel starts with how you choose to get to your destination. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases responsible for causing undesirable climate change on the earth as a result of human activities. As a lot of carbon dioxide is released into the air by the burning of fuel through the normal transport methods we use, we would therefore need to reduce our level of fuel consumption to reduce the level of these gases in the atmosphere. You can play your own part too when you travel by using green transportation.

Some of the options you may have is to simply go walking. If you are only going on a short break within your city or your destination is not that far, you could just walk to it. Alternatively you could use a bicycle or even row a boat (that is if your final destination is reachable by water), to get to where you are going. These are some of the best eco friendly ways of moving around, at least for short distances.

Another option is to take public transportation instead of driving your own car. This has the advantage of reducing the number of vehicles on the road, thereby reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.

2. Eco Tourism

Eco tourism allows you to understand the effect of human activities on the environment and to better appreciate the need to preserve natural settings while exploring nature. Through green tourism you will do your travels with the aim of contributing and participating in the local communities of your destination, conserving and sustaining their environment, learning/appreciating their culture and getting hands-on experience on ways of being green.

Eco tourism is not just nature tourism, it is responsible tourism that involves leaving/preserving the environmental settings/resources of your destination as they are, for others to use too. To get a true eco tourism experience you will need to pick the right travel company and ask plenty of question to ensure you get a true eco tourism excursion. You may want to explore eco tourism as another type of green travel.

Some of the world's greatest eco tourism destinations include:

• Belize City, Belize - Belize is deeply committed to eco-tourism and is home to the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, as well as boasting a number of cayes, some of which have been turned into eco-resorts, while ensuring that others remain pristine homes for local birds, lizards and marine life.
• Lebanon - Lebanon is among the 25 top countries in terms of biodiversity and has a fledgling ecotourism business that provides visitors with access to wildlife, stunning natural landscapes and many other exotic treasures.
• Dubai - The ecotourism industry in Dubai helps to protect the desert habitat and the species that live in it, like the exotic Arabian oryx, a large white antelope that was once close to extinction.
• Daintree Rainforest, Australia - The oldest continually surviving rainforest in the world, with an intricate ecosystem that supports species found nowhere else on the planet.
• Luan Prabang, Laos - Luang Prabang's ecotourism industry has been growing since 2003 and aims to draw enough tourists to the area to help support and maintain it. Some of the places not only offer green travel accommodation, but also allow visitors the opportunity to experience local activities like fishing, rice planting and harvesting.
• Loango National Park, Gabon - A mostly unspoiled area of Africa, and home to free roaming large mammals like elephants, gorillas, hippopotamus and forest buffalo.
• Madre De Dios, Peru - Rainforest conservation groups promote ecotourism to the area in the hope of creating an economy that depends upon the rainforest remaining healthy and intact.
• Kenya - Kenya is not only home to some of the world's most sought after safari destinations, it is also full of virgin rainforests, mountains, lakes and pristine white sand beaches.
• Desert Rhino Camp, Namibia - Namibia, the second most sparsely populated country in the world, is increasingly becoming one of the world's most popular up-and-coming ecotourism destinations.
• Costa Rica - Costa Rica is one of the world's most sought-after eco-travel destinations, with hundreds of companies that specialize in providing sustainable services.
• Great Bear Forest In British Columbia, Canada - A global ecological treasure, this coastal forest extends for 250 miles and is home to rare and exotic bird species.
• New Zealand - One of the most beautiful places on earth, this isolated island country draws ecotourists in droves and engages in environmentally and culturally sensitive tourism strategies and practices at local community, private business and government levels.
• The Galapagos Islands - Visitors to the Galapagos are accompanied at all times by an accredited park ranger to ensure that you enjoy the natural beauty of the islands and the threatened wildlife that inhabits these without causing damage to their environment.
• Madidi National Park In Bolivia - Bolivia's diverse landscape offers a variety of different ecosystems to explore, from the Altiplano - a high mountain plateau where Andean civilization first flourished - to dense Amazonian rainforests like the jungles of Madidi National Park.

(source: WebEcoist)

3. Eco Retreats

Where you will stay while travelling can be green too. In an effort to encourage others to be eco friendly, you may want to frequent eco retreats; these are lodging establishments employing eco friendly practices.

There are many green/eco retreats you could choose to stay at, yet, there are varying degrees of being green amongst them, however. Some of the kinds of things you should expect to see or get from them are organic foods, use of renewable electricity like solar power, chemical-free pools, innovative eco flooring and furniture, green waste disposal like composting, etc. Some of them may even provide you with bicycles to move around or low-energy car pools saving on energy and lowering carbon emissions.

All of these are possible ways you can go green on your travels. They are easy to do and you may not have to spend more on your travels to use them..

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