Stay at locally owned and run hotels. This is where you’ll find the best information and you can see for yourself how electricity and water are used, conserved and wasted. You won’t see how the real world works from a four star hotel. The two to three star range is fine.

Skip the car! In most cases, it makes more sense to use the local public transportation. The subways, buses and trains are a better way to experience a new place than a private car or taxi. Save the car rental for the parts of your trip that require it. If you’re American, you’re in for a shocker – whether its Europe or South America, every part of the world seems to have a modern train and/or modern (ie, dvd’s played and bathrooms onboard) bus system.

Hikes and sports are green and healthy. Break a sweat while traveling and you’ll never forget it. Go for a hike, rent a bicycle – be active on the road. I love theme parks but there’s nothing like an interesting walk or ride in exotic places. The companies that offer tourists walking tours and other activities are usually small and locally owned. Keep an eye out for how they use and conserve energy. What are the challenges that they face in keeping things green?

Pack light! Smart travelers know they can get most things on the road. A week’s clothes is more than enough (there are laundromats even in Bolivia). You can buy drinks, cheap beach towels, snacks and whatever else as you need. Fight the instinct to overpack! The less weight you carry around, the better – for the airline and your back!

Enjoy the culture in the places you visit. Music, dance, theater – whatever it is you’re into, experience it on your trip. The perfect day is a day of hiking or exploring a city followed by an evening of live “world music” and then sleeping in a hotel that cares about the environment and energy conservation.

Hopefully you’ll blast your senses with ideas about green living and you’ll return with a few that will help you at home and the office!

Eco-Traven can be fun!

In order ensure its environmental certification, Aqualuz Troy had to successfully perform a set of requirements across six environmental areas. These included: energy management, water consumption, waste management, safety, licensing and environmental compliance.

To meet these requirements, Aqualuz Troy executed a series of changes to improve the environmental performance of its three hotel units – Troiamar, and Troiario Troialagoa. Each of these had a particular emphasis on the processes of optimization of energy consumption and emergency management.

In the first eight months of 2010, the Aqualuz Troy hotel and Aqualuz Troiamar Troiario registered a 27% reduction in energy consumption per overnight stay in the units. The energy reduction rate reached 37% in the Aqualuz Troialagoa hotel. This reduction is a comparison with the same period last year.

Eco-Hotel Certification was developed in 2005 by TÜV Rheinland Group and is assigned to units in the hotel sector which are distinguished by the best practices on safety and environmental quality.

Apart from hotels and apartment hotels, this certification is also possible for resorts and businesses in the hospitality industry.

Aqualuz Troy, an Eco Hotel in Portugal

For many people summer means traveling. And many of these weekenders and vacationers will end up in hotels whether they’re hitting the road or flying abroad. Hotels are often needlessly wasteful, and they add significantly to the already hefty toll traveling takes on the environment. But if guests do their research and ask a few questions before deciding where to post up for the night, they’ll find a wide selection of hotels that cater to customers who want environmentally sustainable accommodations. CAP has the story in this cross-post.

Hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and motels can adopt a host of practices to green themselves. Washing towels and linens after every single use, for example, wastes water and increases energy costs. But hotels that allow their guests to reuse such items multiple times before washing them are cutting down on water and energy consumption. Hotels can further cut their water usage by installing low-flow showers and toilets, and they can slash energy costs by using compact fluorescent light bulbs in all rooms or timers or sensors for lights. They can also store soap, shampoo, and other hygienic amenities in bulk dispensers rather than tiny, individualized bottles in order to cut down on the huge amount of packaging waste involved in lodging. And they can adopt recycling or composting programs to reduce waste or serve locally sourced food to cut transportation costs.

There’s no silver bullet for a making a hotel “green,” but many guides exist to help the eco-conscious lodger find what they’re looking for. The Green Hotels Association promotes and facilitates environmentally friendly practices at hotels throughout the United States and beyond. Their website has a handy member hotels section for finding green accommodations wherever you’re traveling.

The Green Hotels Association doesn’t list information about what makes their member hotels green, but environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com has pretty exhaustive information on an impressive number of hotels throughout the world. They feature a checklist of green practices adopted by each hotel and rate the hotels on a scale of one to seven green trees—similar to the restaurant five-star system. The site also contains a search function and reviews from travelers who’ve stayed at the hotels. Keep an eye out, too, for hotels that publicize their sustainability credentials such as the Orchard Garden Hotel in San Francisco, which is certified by the San Francisco Green Business Program, U.S. Green Business Council, and was the first California hotel to be LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certified.

Finally, if you’re feeling adventurous you could always ditch the hotel outright. Consider staying at a hostel, where the paired-down accommodations and communal living style cut down on energy consumption and wastefulness. If your destination is sufficiently outdoorsy, camping also makes for a fun alternative to the hotel. And Couchsurfing.org is a nonprofit organization that connects travelers with locals who are willing to let visitors stay in their houses and apartments. Since you’ll be staying in a place in where someone is already living you’ll be creating less demand for new energy and resources.

Searching for lodging in your travels doesn’t have to mean being complicit with wastefulness or environmentally harmful practices. Eco-conscious travelers can find the perfect fit for their green sensibilities with a little bit of education, attention, and research. This is a CAP cross-post.

Clean Energy Solutions

1. Compact fluorescent lamps have never been cheaper and easier to get. They cost more than the old light bulbs, but can save you $30 (in the US, for example) in electricity costs over the lamps life time. The average life span of compact flourescent lamps is 8 to 15 times that of incandescants! Lighting counts for about 9% of household electricity usage in the US. Start by buying a few to get used to the difference in the light (it’s white and not yellow). After a few days, you’ll probably end up prefering your new lights! You’ll definitely see a difference in your electric bill.

2. Have a stereo with fancy disco lights that you only use twice a week? Go unplugged! Same goes for the dvd, microwave and anything else in the house that uses lights while you’re away all day. Also, consider not putting compact flourescent lamps in every fixture. Homes often come with more than you need. Let there be light, but let there not be too much light! Even if you find one fixture that you realize you don’t need, you’re saving energy!

3. A bigger microwave takes more energy to heat last night’s pizza. A bigger refrigerator requires more energy to cool your food. If you don’t need an oversized microwave and fridge, consider buying a small one. You’ll save twice – once when you buy it and again every month on your electric bill. Most of us don’t do major chef cooking on a microwave (who does?!) – the smallest model is the way to go. Those oversized refrigerators will encourage you to buy industrial sized food and you’ll end up with a supersized stomach! A smaller model will gently push you to go shopping twice a week instead of once a month. You’ll save energy and be healthier.

4. Walk to the store, to work and to your friends! If you live in a smart community, then most of your daily needs should be within a 15 minute walk from home. Make use of it! The best way to get back at those evil oil exporting countries is to leave the tin box at home. Plan your week so you need the car less. If you just bought that smaller fridge and you’re going to the supermarket twice a week instead of once a month, take a small backpack and go for a walk. Save energy and burn the best kind of energy – calories!

5. Turn the computer off at night. You’re downloading some amazing filesharing stuff and you want to finish. But consider this – you could be spending that same electricity bill money on buying the cd’s and dvd’s that you’re downloading! Turning the computer off for 7-10 hours a day will make a big difference. If you’re going to be out of the house for over an hour, turn off the computer and save energy! While we’re talking about night time, make a plan for night lights. Go through your house and decide which light you *really* need on at night. There’s usually no reason for more than one – the one between your room and the bathroom. The energy you can save during the time you’re asleep in your bedroom will add up to a lot – it’s 6-8 hours a night of less energy. If you do need one light on, make it a compact flourescent lamp that has a small wattage. Saving at night will give you more money to spend in the day!

Saving energy is the way to go. If we all do our part and lower our energy bills, we can make a big difference. Take a tour of your home – look around and see what *you* can do! Clean energy can be fun if you keep a positive attitude – see these tips as a fun project that will add extra cash to your wallet.

We wish you a lower electric bill!!