Go Green: Use Bicycles & Public Transportation

One of the best ways to go green is to change your modes of transportation. Driving a car creates pollution, supports the toxic petroleum industry, congests roads, and all in all adds to the environmental problems of the world.

Here are some of the many benefits of going green with your transportation, along with a few tips for making the transition:

1. Decreased Congestion Means Less Gas

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The more cars we take off the road, the less congested the roads will be. The less congested the roads are, the less gas each individual car will consume.

Not only are you lowering your gas consumption by not driving a car, you're also making other cars on the road more fuel efficient by not driving.

2. Voting with Your Wallet

It's one thing to say you support environmentalism. It's another thing to vote with your wallet.

When you stop spending money on gas-guzzling vehicles, you take your vote out of the automobile industry. You're also increasing the amount of money public transit is earning, which in time translates to better, more fuel efficient public transportation systems.

3. Get Exercise without Trying

A lot of people have a hard time regularly scheduling exercise into their daily routines.

Getting in the habit of riding a bicycle or walking to take public transportation makes it easy to get your exercise in every day. You're either walking more or cycling or both.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

4. Save a Lot of Money

Driving a car costs a lot of money. You have your gas costs, which can add up to hundreds of dollars a month. In addition you have automotive repair and maintenance, which can also add up to a lot of money every year.

That's not even taking into account the actual cost of the car. Generally you're spending several hundred dollars a month on a car loan or lease. If you're buying a car outright, you're often tying up tens of thousands of dollars of your net worth.

All in all, not owning a car can save you buckets of money.

Tips for Making the Transition

The most important thing for making the transition smoothly is to plan how you need to get to the various places in your daily life before you make the switch.

If you already know how to get everywhere you want to get and how long it'll take, that'll take a lot of the difficulty out of the picture.

Learn to use Google Maps or a smartphone app to check bus routes and public transportation routes for areas that you're not familiar with traveling to.

For the first couple weeks, leave a little earlier than you think you need to so you can get used to the system while still being on time.

Going green with your transportation allows you to save money, reduce the world's pollution, help improve public transportation and even get some exercise - it's a win-win for everyone!

14 Sustainable Summer Travel Tips

Summer is the time for vacation travel, as families head for the coast, the mountains, or the beach for summer vacation. But for eco-conscious folks, travel can pose a dilemma. What about all those emissions? Does traveling mean you're destroying the environment? You'll be happy to know that the depleted ozone layer doesn't mean you have to stop traveling. You can still see the world without killing the planet.

Here are 14 green travel tips which will make your next trip more enjoyable - and guilt-free!

 (Photo credit: raffacama)

1. If at all possible, avoid flying. Flying is very carbon-intensive and bad for the environment. Taking a bus or train is not only cheaper, but also better for the environment. Plus, you really get to see aspects of the country you haven't seen before. It can be a fun adventure, even if it takes longer to get there. Family road trips can be fun - just make sure you leave plenty of time to stop and see the sights on the way, so you don't feel rushed to get to your destination.

2. If flying is unavoidable, then try to find non-stop flights. That will of course not only reduce your travel time, but also your carbon footprint.

3. Paper tickets are becoming a thing of the past. Use electronic tickets whenever and wherever possible and save a tree.

4. Pack light. The more weighted down your mode of transportation is, the more fuel it will use. So if you pack light, you'll keep more carbon from getting into the environment and it's also a time saver. Time spent packing and unpacking bags or waiting at baggage claim to receive your bags will be shorter if you have fewer bags.

5. Use a reusable water bottle. (Glass or stainless steel are good - be sure to avoid plastics containing BPA.)

6. Don't forget about what you can do in your own home while you're gone. There's no need to have the heating and cooling systems running as usual if you're not home. So reset the thermostat. Stop your newspaper delivery as well; not only is it better for the environment, but you won't have newspapers piling up in front of your home letting people know you're away. Unplug the TV, DVD player, coffee pot, toaster, microwave, washer, and dryer. These all will continue to pull electricity while plugged in even if they're not being used.

Country Lodge Hotel, Nairobi is Eco-Friendly (Photo credit: Wayan Vota)

7. Stay in hotels with environmental certification like Green Seal, Green Leaf, or the Green Hotels Association - these make an effort to use ecologically friendly practices.

8. When you leave the hotel room, turn off the lights or turn down the air conditioning.

9. Reuse your towels and sheets during your stay. Just let the hotel staff that they don't need to give you fresh linens every day.

10. Leave the complimentary toiletries for the next guest unless you're absolutely sure you'll use them. The less waste, the greener you'll be.

11. Check out electronically if the hotel will allow it. Less paper is better.

12. Rely on public transportation or the hotel's van service to get where you need to go. Walking or renting a bike to get around also might be an enjoyable way to explore this new place.

13. If you can't get by with public transportation and walking everywhere, then rent a hybrid or fuel efficient vehicle.

14. Buy local goods and foods. Local products have less of an environmental impact - and you'll be supporting the local economy where you're vacationing - which they will appreciate as well!

Using these travel tips will help you enjoy your vacation without worrying about what you are doing to the environment. Best of all, you can even save yourself money by following many of these tips. So go out and have yourself a great vacation this summer, and keep the planet safe at the same time.