Green Girl Blog

Summer is the time when most of us try to get out and travel. Something about that warm sunshine that instinctively provokes a craving to get outside try something other than the mundane clockwork of the typical day or work week. School is out, making it easier for families and college buddies to take trips they have been waiting for all year. Traveling is positive in various ways like stimulating mental well being by trying new things, learning about yourself, other cultures and environments, and so much more. When we travel we are taking away from our everyday reality, this can pose a problem. Traveling is positively correlated with increased consumerism, which is correlated to increased energy use and increased waste. It seems that people forget about the importance of being a conscious consumer while traveling. The effects that the traveling industry has on this planet are not so pleasant, but eco-conscious traveling is possible and not too hard.
Before you leave your house for your vacation make sure that everything is unplugged and your thermostat is modified to safe energy, which will save you money as well. When traveling to and from your destination try to travel with as many people as possible, the less cars on the road the better also better for your wallet as well. If traveling on an airline, go for the e-ticket option, helping to eliminate the waste of paper.
If possible try eco-friendly travel and hotels. Eco-friendly travel encourages activities that revolve around the local culture and environment. This makes a trip so much more genuine. Personally, nothing bothers me more than franchises and mainstream corporations when I am trying to engage in the authenticity of my destination. Eco-travel also helps to boost the economy of that particular destination, rather than fork out money to a rich CEO removed. Eco-friendly hotels are becoming more popular in a wider reach of cities. Check out what your destination has to offer, but if there isn’t an eco-friendly hotel consider a locally owned boutique hotel or bed and breakfast. Where ever you choice to stay be conscious of turning off the appliances and lights whenever you leave the room.
Another option is camping. I love camping. Something about sleeping outside and being closer to nature that makes me feel so alive. Camping is very eco-friendly for obvious reasons, so try it. It is a great way to really come in contact with the natural environment of your destination. While camping try adventurous activities like surfing, hiking, biking, kayaking, whitewater river rafting. Engaging in these activities develops a deeper respect and understanding of nature.

Here are some other tips for your travels:
-If renting a car go for a hybrid
-when taking pictures to capture memories of your trip, use a digital camera, the chemicals used to process the film are high impact
- buy souvenirs from local artist, store owners and manufacturers, help boost the local economy
-bring your own reusable travel containers of any toiletries (one 300 room hotel in Las Vegas goes through 150,000 plastic bottles of shampoo a year)
-travel and volunteer with groups that conduct scientific field research in order to improve the environment and the climate change ( www.earthwatch.org )

Becoming aware of the impacts of your actions in the first step, often times the most important, in creating change. It is possible for traveling to be just as fun as it always has been while embracing the eco-conscious lifestyle. Check out informative websites such as www.gogreentravelgreen.com . Most travel websites are developing a green traveling section, which is refreshing. Just be informed : )

Lots of love,

Natalie McGuire

I, like all environmentalists, bring my own reusable canvas bags whenever I go shopping. I actually leave them in the trunk of my car so I never have an excuse. I never accept shopping bags anywhere I go, which used to apply strictly to plastic but now the same goes for paper. Why waste or kill trees just because I have to buy food. The bigger question is why isn’t everyone using reusable bags when they shop?
If everyone stopped using plastic bags it would be an average of six bags per person a week, that’s twenty-four bags a month and two hundred and eighty-eight a year. That is 22,176 plastic bags in an average lifetime. If even only 1 in 5 people in our country did this we would save 1,330,560,000,000 over our lifetime (MSNBC.com). So what’s the hold up? Are we really that attached to those ugly plastic bags? Are people that stuck in their ways that they can’t change? Maybe people just don’t understand that besides taking up space in that cupboard, you can never fit anything else into, that these plastic bags are not only killing our wildlife but taking money out o our pockets.
Plastic bags account for over 10% of the debris that wash up on our coastline. Either animals mistaken them for food and ingest them or they are eventually broken down into microscopic particles and enter the food chain. This has direct affects on humans. There is no way a living thing can break down or digest plastic or the chemicals that make them up. So our genetics are changed forever.
That’s not even mentioning the cost of these bags. It takes $4,000 to recycle and reproduce 1 ton of used plastic bags, which are then sold for $32 (Jared Blumenfeld). I don’t know about you but there doesn’t seem to be any incentive to use these bags any more. There are many countries that are banning free plastic bags; China, Rwanda, Israel, Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, Western India, Kenya, South Africa and Bangladesh have banned plastic bags. Ireland took the lead in Europe in 2002 by taxing plastic bags and has lowered plastic bag consumption by 90% (BBC News). On March 27th, 2007 San Francisco became the first city in the U.S. to ban plastic bags. Now Boston and Oakland are considering it. What could be so hard why aren’t we all doing this?
Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, a thermoplastic that comes from oil (CNN). If we reduce plastic bags it will decrease our dependency on foreign oil, and then there will be less demand for oil and then the prices will begin to lower. Who doesn’t want to see that?
Even if you aren’t an environmentalist, you can still understand why it is a benefit for everyone to ban plastic bags. Not only will pollution be improved upon but also, our oceans, seas, rivers and streams will be cleaner, which can only mean that the wildlife inhabiting these waters will be healthier. We will also lessen our dependency on foreign oil. Besides, you will look way cuter carrying an eco friendly canvas bag knowing that you are doing your part to save the planet.

Love ,

Collette McGuire