Lower Impact Travel

Travel itself isn't a green activity (planes use a *lot* of jet fuel), but boy I love to experience new places, new food, new cultures... so the next best thing is to make some good choices on the journey. 

Here's how I start most trips:

1) Take Uber Green to the airport. It's just a ride type selection in the app, and costs the same as Uber X. When you select Uber Green, you'll be guaranteefld a hybrid or electric vehicle. Today, we rode in a Tesla!

2) Bring an (empty) reusable water bottle. Many airports now have the water bottle fill stations or at least water fountains. Compare to $3.10 at the Hudson for a 20oz plastic water bottle and you could save a lot over the course of your trip. Compare to the $7 for a bottle at a resort and you're doing even better!

I love this insulated stainless mug because it keeps my water cool all. day. long. You definitely want to stay hydrated when flying.

3) Bring a reusable shopping bag. It can be a larger purse or tote, or I love a lightweight bag like this that folds into its own pocket. You can use the carabiner to clip to your belt, or it's small and light enough to toss into any purse. Chico Bag (Amazon affiliate link). You can use this bag for days when you're out all day and may need to take on/off a sweatshirt, and of course as a shopping bag for your souvenirs, with no need to acquire disposable shopping bags.

Now, go enjoy your vacation!

Conscious Travel with Carbon Offsets

After 15 1/2 months of COVID, I am *ready*. Ready to start returning to normal, which includes things like travel. We finally booked our first flight since this whole thing started (Vegas here we come!), and I couldn't be more excited. 

Now, air travel is pretty horrible from an environmental perspective, accounting for about 2.5% of CO2 emissions and 5% of global warming (due to other non-CO2 factors). While air travel is becoming more energy efficient, it can't keep up with increasing demand. Folks, this is horrible news! 

If you are able, train travel is a great alternative, especially if you live somewhere with high speed rail, like much of Europe. 

If trains aren't a viable option for you, consider carbon offsets. I was pleasantly surprised to see this option presented to me upon checkout with Alaska Airlines. For the low cost of $0.01 per mile ($17.32 for our trip), we can "pay back" our impact by contributing to projects that make a difference. 

What exactly are carbon offsets? Are we sure it's not just green-washing? There are multiple types of offsets, and multiple companies offering them. You will need to look at the particular company to see if it meets your priorities. For example, your funds could go towards planting trees, or R&D for alternative energy and technologies, or installing alternative energy devices, upgrading air travel itself, investing in carbon recapture devices, and more. 

This particular group, The Good Traveler, was founded by the San Diego International Airport in 2015, and partners with 20 other airports and airlines to offer offsets. They use your purchase to fund a variety of projects. Here are just a couple examples: HFC Reclaim is a project in Illinois to recapture and resell HFC refrigerants, prevented use of and emissions from virgin refrigerants. Ball State University has a project in Indiana to install a campus-wide closed loop heating and cooling system that upgrades them from coal. Massachusetts Tri-City Improved Forest Management project was able to protect 17000 acres of forest land. 

Pretty cool all the projects a small upgrade to your travel can fund. A small cost to mitigate the impacts of air travel.

Sustainable Suites

T and I finally made a trip to Spokane after more than a year. Typically we'd go a few times a year to visit his mom, but alas, COVID. His mom finally got her first vaccine, so we headed for a visit and to do some honey-dos. 

To reduce our time together, we opted for a hotel, which is how we ended up at the Downtown Spokane Oxford Suites, a great mid-level hotel on the riverfront. They seemed to have a bicycle theme throughout the hotel, quite appropriate given the location. In the lobby, they incorporated upcycled wheels and tires into their bike-themed decor. Why, hello, Spokane!

 And here, multiple wheels create an abstract pattern above the lobby check-in desk.

Do these give you ideas for reusing and materials for home decor? Ranging from modern to shabby chic, it gets the imagination going for how you could make some interesting DIY art on any theme.

Beyond the lobby art, there were some sustainable features in the room itself. LED bulbs in all the lamps: 

These ecosmart bulbs are 9W LEDs with a 60W equivalent brightness.

Moving into the bathroom, they replaced the mini toiletries with full-sized toiletries, saving on both packaging and product waste:

Now they didn't brag about these amenities or sustainability features on their website; however, they did call out that they have electric car charging (including Tesla) available. Until these features become mainstream, you may need to make a quick call to the hotel or read some reviews to seek out hotels making these smarter choices. 

Large hotel groups are already starting to make the change, including the likes of Marriott, Holiday Inn, and Crowne Plaza. Per Marriott, a global change across their portfolio will "prevent about 500 million tiny bottles annually from going to landfills; that’s about 1.7 million pounds of plastic, a 30 percent annual reduction from current amenity plastic usage."

What can you do? Choose hotels that are committing to these changes, and if you are faced with a hotel that hasn't made the switch, politely leave a comment at guest services. 

Rideshare for Savings

Headed to the airport the other day, I realized I haven't shared one of the EASIEST ways to save a few bucks while making the eco-conscious choice.

If you take taxis, as many of us do, switch to a rideshare app! I won't endorse any one app, but I do want to talk about a great feature: shared or pooled rides.

Prior to rideshare apps, when traveling, I would be standing in the taxi line thinking, "we're all headed from the airport to the the same handful of hotels. Wouldn't it be great if we could double up, save some traffic, and split the fare?" But very rarely could you coordinate a shared ride successfully. Now, apps make it easy.

Here's an example from Lyft. A ride for just myself or my party would be $39.49, but if I'm willing to share a car with others going the same direction, it drops to $31.67 (a 20% savings). If I'm willing to walk a couple blocks to meet at a more convenient pickup point for all, my trip reduces even further to $28.25 (a 28% savings). They also show you the time added to accommodate the extra pickups/dropoffs, and this example is fairly average from my experience: an added 6-8 minutes.

This next example is from Uber. Their standard option for just you/your party is UberX, costing $30.70 for this ride. If you are willing to share the ride, choose Pool for $19.07 (a whopping 38% savings and 12 minute added time).

Keep in mind the available options, savings, and added time are all variable depending on when and to where you are traveling. For the best outcome, I have a couple apps downloaded and compare at the time I'm requesting my ride.

Cons: you need to have a little flexibility for arrival time.

Pros: in addition to saving money, there are all of the eco benefits of carpooling... and the apps take care of all the coordination for you!

The Best Things in Life Are Free

Walking through the Detroit airport, it looks like they are newly installing water bottle refill stations. Way to go, Detroit!

Now, after dumping your liquids before security, you don't need to choose between trying to fill your bottle from a drinking fountain or paying $3+ for a plastic bottle of water. You can also be proud knowing you are part of the solution by not contributing to the 483B (like *billions*) water bottles used in 2019.

(Detroit is also using the stations to call attention to the importance of fresh tap water, and the partnership between Delta and the airport to support youth who are leading a water-testing initiative in Flint. Learn more here.)

Now, if you've been living under a rock like me, you missed that both Sea-Tac airport and Portland airport also have refill stations, and have since late 2012!

While this is particularly convenient when you are limited liquids and hostage to high airport prices, you can also benefit from refill stations in everyday life. Check out these resources to find water near you when you're out and about: 

Tap app Android iOS
In their own words, "Tap’s Refill Station network is partly made up of partnerships with coffee shops and fast-casual restaurants, while also showing you best public places to refill your water bottle around the world."

RefillMyBottle app Android iOS
In their words, "RefillMyBottle is an online map that identifies all the places - be it a cafe, resort, museum or shop - where refillers could walk in and fill up their bottle with clean drinkable water for free or a minimum fee."

Stay hydrated, friends!

Travels, and Gearing Up for Halloween

Hi Friends ~

It's been a whirlwind of a last few weeks, so today, this will be a bit of a digest:

First, I've been getting really prepared for Halloween. Halloween? That's a couple of months away! Yes, but when you want to thrift all your components, sometimes you've got to plan ahead. :)

I'm going to be this Klimpt painting, "Adele Bloch-Bauer I". Of course, no one will know who I am, except for art history nerds, but #worthit to get to wear a gold dress.

My base will be a white maxi dress found at Crossroads ($20), and a gold tablecloth ($5) and gold shower curtain ($4) found at Value Village. I'm most excited about the shower curtain, which will give me the eyeball shapes needed for the middle of Adele's dress.

I'll be sure to post the finished product after Halloween, with a step-by-step on how to create the look.

Last week, I went on a business trip to Luxembourg. If you don't know it, it's a small country sandwiched between Germany, France, and Belgium. One cool thing was seeing closed-loop upcycling of our office paper to toilet paper by a Luxembourg company TechnoGreen. Yes, there were jokes about using our last quarter's reports for our personal functions. :) Does your office do anything cool to manage office waste?

Next month, T and I are taking a much needed vacation. After sweating my way through Luxembourg, I decided to bite the bullet and stock up on some capri pants. Value Village delivered again, and I scored three pairs of pants for $13. The biggest win were the Calvin Klein pair, which run $60 new, and I got for $3. 

Here's to the start of great fall!

Why That's a Fancy Greyhound You Got There!

I'm headed down to Portland for a quick overnight to see one of my dear friends for her birthday. It's a quick drive, just under 3 hours, but when I'm taking a vacation day, I'd rather sit down with a good book than sit behind the wheel. Enter Bolt Bus.

Bolt Bus is a premium class of Greyhound with extra legroom, free wi-fi, cupholders, and outlets at every seat. This makes it fantastic for relaxing or working on your trip.

It's also variable cost, depending on the popularity of the travel time. While I haven't seen many trips at the advertised "as low as $1", I also haven't seen prices much more than $30. This trip for me will be $42 round trip, about half the cost of the comparable trip on Amtrak.

Compared to gas: I live 162 miles from Allison. Round trip that's 324. My car gets 34 mpg, so 9.6 gallons of gas. The average price of gas in my area currently is $3.29 right now, totaling $31.58 in gas.

Alternatively, if we look at the standard mileage deduction rate that incorporates wear and tear on your vehicle, we figure  $0.535/mile x 324 miles = $173.34.

Therefore, this trip saves me $131.34, saves the environment some portion of 9 gallons of gas, and gains me 6 hours of relaxation time. :)

Now, off to go read my book...

Skip the Travel Toiletries

I've previously written about hotel mini toiletries, and how some great hotels are participating in recycling of the minis. Recycling is an ok end solution for waste, but what if we take it a step back and don't create the waste in the first place?

On a business trip last week, I was excited to see the the hotel didn't have minis. Instead, they had refillable standard size bottles with pumps. No packaging waste, and no waste of half-used product.

Additionally, many hotels have signage similar to: "We're interested in saving water. If you are willing to reuse your towel, hang it up in a certain way." Have you found those to be effective? T and I will routinely hang our towels and find them replaced anyway.

This hotel took it a step further: if you refuse housekeeping for the night, they give you a $5.00 credit to use at the hotel. This housekeeping refusal saves the water and energy for the fresh linens, but I also like that the direction is clearer than "hanging your towel a certain way", and the small incentive to encourage guests to participate.

Kudos to Tempe Mission Palms hotel for exploring sustainable programs. What are some cool alternatives you've seen hotels offer?

Visiting Las Vegas: the Container Park

T and I took a much needed long weekend away to one of our favorite adult playgrounds: Las Vegas!

We love almost everything about Vegas: the sun, the food, the shows, the showgirls, the art installations and exhibits, and a wee bit of gambling. ;) One thing I don't love is the significant amount of waste and litter. For example, I'm not sure if they are concerned about drunk people throwing glasses or walking off with them, but anyone who sits on the sidewalk bars get plastic cups.

Ah, well, in the midst of all this crazy gluttony, was a happy find: The Container Park. This is an outdoor shopping center with a mix of boutiques, restaurants, a playground, a stage, and a laser show dome. Most of the boutiques are local small businesses, and it's refreshing to see goods that aren't the standard touristy t-shirts and shot glasses. The Container Park is made of 70 shipping containers, 43 of which are reused/upcycled.

At the front of the park is a 40' long praying mantis - an art car created for Burning Man on an old retired farm truck (creator Kirk Jellum).

We stopped inside for a lovely charcuterie plate and cocktail. Compostable disposables? Check.

Right next to the compost bin made from recycled milk jugs? Check.

Right next to the cool playground made from shipping containers?

What a cool experience this was, to get a small bit of more relaxing space in Downtown Las Vegas. Definitely aimed more at the locals that the tourists, the Container Park is a great place for a shopping, dining, entertainment, and letting the kids run around.

Visiting Costa Rica

Hi friends! I've been busy the last couple weeks preparing for and then visiting Costa Rica for a work trip. While I was down there, I noted a couple things.

Downtown San Jose has a fair amount of trash accumulation, like any city, but there are signs (sometimes literally!) that there are people trying to make a difference.

This stamp reads "A beach without victims begins with a city without trash."

Sadly/ironically, the storm drain right next to the stamp is filled with trash. Baby steps, I guess, just getting the message out there?

The other experience I had was in the break rooms at the office. I'm not sure if this was due to environmental awareness so much as frugality, but they don't even have paper coffee cups in the break area. Each employee has their reusable mug to refill. Not having the option to use a disposable cup is definitely a way to get you in the right habits!

I'm happy to be back home, and will get back into regular posts. :)

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Animal excursions: turtles and dolphins and more!

Last week, T and I went on an awesome vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. One of the things I love about travelling is seeing the changes in local flora and fauna. Just walking along the sidewalk in PV, I saw all sorts of colorful birds, was surprised by giant birds like pelicans, and even caught glimpses of iguanas up in the trees!

Now let your mind wander to a nice tropical beach vacation. What are some of the activities do you think of doing? Snorkeling? Scuba diving? Swimming with the dolphins or catching a glimpse of a giant sea turtle?

Planning our trip, I stumbled across a couple companies in PV that offered wildlife excursions that were wildlife friendly. What does that mean? Well, if you wanted to swim with dolphins, you are typically going to swim with captive dolphins, where they have limited swimming area and are trained to interact with people. Based on the numerous documentaries, TV specials, and news articles recently, we know that at the best, this isn’t a natural state for marine life, and at the worst, the animals are treated cruelly to be submissive.

With a wildlife-friendly or eco excursion, you are going to interact with free wildlife in a more educated, respectful, and natural setting. Using dolphins again as an example, you would visit an area that is known to have a local pod, and get an opportunity to swim in the same area, but not necessarily hold on for a ride. With eco excursions you are also likely to get some information about the animals, conservation efforts, and be led by experts; our tour guides were marine biologists.

The tour we went on included two parts: First, we went to an estuary. This is a swampy area where the river meets the ocean, and is a rich land for birds, crocodiles, and more. This particular estuary is protected – it was previously 3 times the size, but developers build hotels and condos over it. Our tour was not only educational, beautiful, and a good photo opp for birds, but it also contributes to the saving of this eco-system, which is mostly privately funded. The estuary also included a crocodile hatchery.

This is a conservation project as crocodiles lay their eggs on land and have a lot of natural predators in addition to humans. Bringing the eggs to the estuary allows for a safe and monitored hatching, and gets them out of, for example, the golf club sand pits.

The second part of the tour was to a turtle camp. Similar to the crocodiles, sea turtles need some volunteer assistance to protect their eggs from natural and human predators. At this turtle camp, the volunteers retrieve the eggs from their nests and rebury them in new nests within the camp, where they can be monitored. When the eggs hatch, the volunteers (or tourists if there is a visit planned) point the babies towards the ocean so they can make it to sea. With the protection of the eggs and guidance towards the water, the survival rate of the sea turtles from egg to adulthood has increased from 1:1000 to 1:100.

What can you do to reduce your risk of being a human predator?

• Check before eating any exotic meats or eggs if that species is on any endangered lists.

• Search for eco-friendly tours on vacations. Ours was through www.ecotoursvallarta.com and there are directories like www.ecotourdirectory.com/

• Let experts be your guide, and do not touch wildlife or take selfies until you know more.