Ten Tips for Sustainable Summer Travel

Choose a local over an exotic destination. Consider a local beach, or

at least one that doesn’t involve flying over water, instead. There are many enticing destinations waiting to be discovered right near home. As an alternative to a cruise or a road trip, try a rails-to-trails bicycle trip. Rail-trails have no hills to speak of and go through generally undeveloped country.

Travel to your destination by train or bus. Traveling by air and driving are both major contributors to carbon emissions. Train travel is convenient in many parts of the country and Amtrak serves dozens of fun destinations including San Diego and Miami, Fl. In addition, new bus lines are making bus travel more comfortable and affordable than ever.

Visit compact cities where you don't need a car to get around.

Many cities offer a mix of city life and still provide access to a beach. New York may not be the first place you think of for a summer vacation, but a day trip to the beach is only a short train ride away.

Use Public Transit once you arrive. This saves the

headaches of renting, insuring and returning a car in addition to making your trip footprint smaller. Check out the International Public Transport Timetable Directory at www.timetable.ch before you go.

Rent a bike to get around. If you’re used to riding a bike at

home, there’s no need to go without one during your trip. If don’t normally use a bike, discover how riding one can make exploring a new local fun. Check out http://tinyurl.com/worldbikeshare for a list of world bike-sharing programs.

Stay at a locally-owned hotel to bring additional charm to your

vacation. The owners will be more able to recommend local sites that you can reach without the bother of driving. Manysmaller hotels can be found on by clicking on the Hotel tab at newcolonist.com. Check out www.bedandbreakfast.com to find those accommodations.

Seek out restaurants that use locally-grown ingredients. It may

not seem like the easiest task, but even if every restaurant you choose doesn’t support local food production, just asking could put the bug in their ear.

Ask the hotel not to change your linens daily. Few of us change

our linens daily at home and yet we expect this in a hotel. Help the hotel save some water by asking them not to change the linens. Oh, and when in the restaurant, ask them not to bring water if you’re not going to drink it.

Carry a cloth shopping bag or two when you go shopping. Sure, for some it can be fun to carry a bag with a brand name on it. It conveys a little about who we are. Carrying a cloth bag for the things we pick up in stores also sends a message. If you don’t want to bring a supermarket bag, re-use a brand-name bag you have at home.

Turn off lights, television, heat and air conditioning

when you leave your hotel room. It’s easy not to care as much when you’re not picking up the tab. Turning out the lights, heat, air conditioning and television can go a long way to making your vacation sustainable. Also, close the curtains to keep the sun out and make it easier to cool when you return.