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7 Ideas to Be Green on Vacation
By Christopher Pyle | May 2, 2009
I’m sure there are people out there completely fed up with the “Green” movement. Probably more of them every day due to the great bombarding of “green” ads we find on TV, in magazines, online, etc. I’m sure the ultra geeky green heads are just reveling in the coverage and still more of us are somewhere between the two fronts watching and learning. I happen to like the ads and am fascinated by the large corporations moving more “green”. I like the ads, the ways they act like they’ve been “green” all along. I don’t mind though, whatever it takes to move us to a cleaner and safer environment.
I’ll stop right there, for this isn’t a call to arms, a political piece or a lambasting of the corporate structure in the US. This is a short tip-sheet to help those that want to be green vacationers be a little more green on their vacations. This is about whitewater rafting with a lighter environmental footprint.
1. The quickest way to make a smaller carbon footprint is traveling together. Large groups can save significant money as well as reduce their carbon production. Bus lines have special rates for some rafting companies. Bus trips from Southern California or the Bay Area are common, inquire at time of booking your raft trip. For smaller groups, meet centrally and drive up together for day trips. This can save carbon output as well as save you money: share on gas as well as parking fees.
2. Cook with propane. If you have the ability to use a propane barbecue rather than charcoal, do so. Propane burns cleaner. This is a tough one, the taste of charred cooking is so good… There’s talk of the stuff coming off the charcoal not being good for your health either, so, you now have two reasons to reconsidered charcoal.
3. Since you must wear sunblock, look for all natural, organic sunblocks that avoid: PABA, octinoxate, oxybenzone, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and the preservative butylparaben. Studies are showing the sunblock we wear is killing coral reefs in the ocean. While there’s no coral in the river, it can’t be bad to avoid using the stuff, bad is bad, right? One recent study claimed some 6-million gallons of sunblock are washed into our oceans annually!
4. If you love water and all the recreation water can bring, you may want to invest in your own vest. Apparently we can’t call them “life”-vests any longer because there is no guarantee they can save a life and someone somewhere sued. So we in the industry call them, Personal Flotation Devices or PFDs for short. Nonetheless, whatever you call that think that buckles around your mid section and provides you with flotation, there are some choices to be made. If you want to go as green as you can, you might want to check into Astral, they use a completely recyclable foam, easier on the earth, easier to process. Plus, their vests have a good reputation as well.
5. Shop locally, shop organically. Have you gone organic yet? We have at my home. When you do, here’s something you’ll learn very quickly, food spoils far faster. For us, we paused, scratched our heads and asked, what the heck is in the other food that lets it last so darn long? Buying organic for the most part means your foods have traveled less distance to get to you and thus have a smaller carbon footprint. In many cases the products used to grow the foods is far better for the earth, the animals are treated better, raised more closely to life in the wild, etc.
6. Just by whitewater rafting you’re Greener! Getting down a river requires human power, not electric or fuel run engines.
7. Actress Rachel McAdams has a serious Green website, Green Is Sexy, one of the links the site is promoting this week is for a company that sells semi-designer glass bottles, Love Bottle. Employing a reusable water container is a good call, be it metal or glass, make the investment. We know it’s important to get your hydration on, very important. Out of convenience and hygiene many whitewater rafting companies switched to throw away plastic water bottles. Oh, it is convenient too! But, this practice creates a lot of waste in both the number of bottles lost overboard and in the empties that get thrown away. Switching to metal or even glass bottles can be a great compromise. For me, nothing tastes as good as coming out of glass.
Well, that’s it. I hope these quick point were of benefit to you, gave you something to consider. There are many new sites and older sites gaining exposure as this Green explosion is underway. It’s impossible to be carbon neutral all the time but if enough of us make doable strides towards mitigating our negative impact we can make a significant difference. So, while it’s here, don’t hate, try to enjoy the Green race and do what’s comfortable for you.
Don’t forget to give a shout when you’re on the river!
Topics: Travel |
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