As the world gets wise to warming and brave new travelers embrace low impact lifestyles, green travel has become one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry.
Despite its rap as a collection of chic spas for wealthy, guilt-addled liberals who shell out $4,000 to commune with gorillas, green travel isn’t about giving a tour operator a month’s salary for some Disney-like attraction or consumer experience.
Traveling green is about finding and supporting destinations that have seen the light, and are already working to green-up their tourist offerings.
Seeking out green places to travel isn’t all that hard. Even New York City offers the possibility of an ecologically responsible vacation. Many travelers can get to New York by train, removing the need for a high-impact airplane ride. A tiny hotel room in SoHo uses less electricity than a deluxe suite in Aspen.
Plus, New York is a city built for walking, with solid public transport to boot. Time Out recently named New York the perfect place to “be green without doing crap.”
Here are 5 more eco-friendly destinations to put on your travel radar:
Mjølfjell, Norway
Norway is so eco-conscious it balks when a marketer calls a Prius or Tesla green.
While other European countries have aimed to cut their carbon emissions by 20% by 2020, Norway has upped the ante to 30%. Norway is also helping China come up with ways to combat climate change.
Get out of Oslo and head into the mountains and you’ll see a lot of sustainable housing, including the Mjolfjell Inn and Youth Hostel .
A destination in and of itself, the inn offers the standard outdoor fare (skiing, horseback riding, even a wildlife survival course) and also produces its own electricity.
Not bad for the world’s #5 oil exporter.
Luang Prabang, Laos
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has made it their mission to bring this Southeast Asian country (which is landlocked by Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand) to the forefront of tourism. It’s working - Laos was #1 on the New York Times’ list of places to go in 2008.
However, the Lao government is aiming to increase tourism sustainably so as to protect their native wildlife, lush land and clean rivers, and preserve their two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Ancient City of Luang Prabang and pre-Angkorian Vat Phou Temple Complex. Another Heritage Site-to-be is the Plain of Jars in the highlands of north-central Laos.
The Lao National Tourism Administration has a dozen award-winning eco-tourism projects currently in development, spreading country wide to encourage smaller provinces to set up sustainable tourism, help protect over-exposed areas, and begin programs such as homestays, eco-treks, and local art exhibitions.
What’s Lao for “rocking it?”
Belize City, Belize
Home to the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, Belize is deeply committed to eco-tourism. Offshore, Belize boasts a number of cayes, some of which have been turned into eco-resorts, but others that remain pristine homes for birds, lizards and marine life.
Whale watching is a popular attraction here, as is mountain biking, horseback riding, and cave tubing. Go outside of the sandy city into the Mountain Pine Ridge Area and Maya Mountains, which have amazingly-preserved Mayan ruins. You’ll also find plenty of local artists and artisans to support in town.
While the Caribbean and Latin America are full of eco-tours and spas, you can also appreciate their beauty and natural preservation by traveling independently. Be sure to check out the preservations in Tobago (Trinidad’s less commercialized sister), the diverse terrain of Guadeloupe, and the stunning rainforests of Costa Rica.
Zurich, Switzerland
Voted the city with the highest quality of life in the world, Zurich was also recently ranked by Forbes as number 8 on their list of Top 10 Cleanest Cities.
Voted the city with the highest quality of life in the world, Zurich was also recently ranked by Forbes as number 8 on their list of Top 10 Cleanest Cities.
The city’s public transportation works like clockwork (no pun intended) to the point where very few residents own cars. There is also a large local foods industry, including cheeses that will make your deli’s Swiss cheese taste like plastic.
The world’s first four chocolate makers were also all Swiss, so you can take comfort in knowing you’re supporting local growers with those truffles and hot chocolates.
I single out Zurich here, but the rest of Switzerland is great for those who want to reduce their carbon footprint while still traveling Europe. Not only do you get the Alps and clean living, you can explore areas heavily influenced by the Germans, French, and Italians.
Thenmala, India
Surprised?
Even though India has some of the most polluted cities in the world, there are some areas that are working to green their environment. While other regions try to slap an “eco-tourism” label on what is really just nature tourism (”Over there is a rare flower,” “Look up there at the tree,” “Check out the elephant,” and back on the bus), Thenmala is taking green travel to heart.
The local Thenmala government, tourism office, and irrigation department are teaming up with residents to to make green tourism a coordinated effort. The best part? You’ll not only get to visit the Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary (part rainforest, part deciduous forest), but the tour guides are local youths who are trained in sustainable tourism. Now that’s something to feel good about.
Of course, there’s more than just this Fab Five. In fact, you can find plenty of eco-friendly destinations (from the transportation to lodgings to the cocktail hour) on every continent.
Check out the green guide series at the the traveler’s notebook for more cool destination ideas!
This is the second of a three-part piece on Green Travel for Brave New Traveler; now that you have the basics, take the next steps: travel to eco-friendly locales, and give some more thought to making the jump from air travel to rail and sea travel.
Leaf photo by Ryan Libre. Check out Ryan’s new photo essay, China Mobile.
Can international travel ever really be low-impact? Your thoughts are important. Leave a comment below!
Olivia Giovetti has lived in and explored the better part of Europe on a bohemian budget. Freelance travel writing seemed like the next obvious step and her publishers include EuroCheapo, Paper Magazine, and Classic FM. A former New Yorker, she now lives in Los Angeles.About the Author
Related Posts
12 Comments... join the discussion!
-
-
I had a tough time editing this piece, not because it was badly written - although, ahem, it could have used a little more proof-reading Olivia, ahem,
- but because looking at green travel as just another niche of the travel industry seems to miss the point. Short-term international travel is high, high impact. Jetting to India for a couple of weeks is the equivalent of shitting in the proverbial well. And eco-tourism - for all its improvements over more exploitative types of tourism - is still high impact. It’s like - “Don’t shit in the well anymore, let’s be green and pee in it instead!”
What IS green is slow, meditative, long term travel. But writing about that doesn’t attract much advertising. Now I need to go back to writing guidebook copy. Rant over.
↵ -
If only they could invent some sort of plane that runs on water…or artificial gravity propulsion…come on, where’s the help from more advanced alien races when you need it?
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=3e57926c-bfeb-4ff3-acf6-50c575ee996c
↵ -
Great article! Very timely as well. Tim- great comments, it’s a little strange that Green Travel has become a tourism niche, but in a way perhaps it’s a good thing that will help grow awareness. Of course, not everyone can figure out how to do the long-term travel thing so for those doing short-term travel anyways, it’s good that there are a growing number of Green options…
↵ -
I think when most people hear Eco-Travel/Tourism, they think of some chi-chi spa in the middle of a jungle. But since green is the new black, many cities have become very eco-friendly for travelers. I tried with this article to cover several areas of the globe that can be accessed by methods other than plane. The third part, an interview with Mark Smith (www.seat61.com), goes a little further into this. And after a lovely e-mail exchange with Mark, I’m ready to hop a ferry over to Oslo!
On a personal note, I got my driver’s license last year (New Yorker…late start) as my significant other and I prepped to move to Los Angeles. We drove instead of flying and (combined with a road trip I made up and down Italy and into Munich), I’m a huge fan of driving anything that isn’t an SUV. I don’t think I really “saw” or “got” America until I had thai food in Des Moines, put up with the horrors of Ohio rest stops, got pulled over for not driving fast enough in Indiana, driving through a tornado in the Salt Plains, seeing the sun set in the Nevada desert (seeing a desert in general), or holding my breath along the Pacific Coast Highway. Such a cool experience.
↵ -
I agree with Tim (especially considering the Chuck Thompson interview I read just before this piece- eco-tourism is the new fad, and the multi-billion dollar tourism industry wants to soak it for all they can). Traveling all the way to Laos or India (unless by boat) just to visit a “green destination” is…um, counter-productive? Missing the forest for the trees? Doing more harm than good? (Hey Tim, are we still on schedule with my conflicted piece?).
A great portion of the tourism industry is inherently bad for the environment. And not just “bad”, but when you add up the millions of people flying, it’s a huge chunk of CO2 in the atmosphere. Perhaps a new objective could be truly low-impact travel. Ian, I have a 500 word essay about taking the ferry to Bremerton, or how I’ve only driven 50 miles so far this month, or growing my own sunflower seeds to make biodiesel so I can visit mom next Christmas. Interested? Probably not…
↵ -
That was partially the point of this article and why I aimed for a variation of destinations. The idea of getting on a plane and flying to a remote location in Asia absolutely makes no sense. You’d be greener for traveling to the next state/city from where you currently are. However, if you’re backpacking through Southeast Asia or traveling across Europe these are cities that are worth checking out for their positive contributions back to their environment. It’s by no means a comprehensive list, and if you look at the fabulous guides on Matador it’s clear how easy it is to make 85% of your destinations sustainable destinations.
It’s especially amazing outside of North and South America how much you can see without getting on a plane. And, if the tunnel connecting Alaska to Russia takes shape, we could become a sort of distance Pangaea again.
↵ -
Good thoughts, Chris and Olivia (and yeah, Chris, your piece is on the calendar for mid-February…)
Air travel is extremely high-impact, but if you’re traveling anyway, patronizing a place that makes the effort to be green is important.
↵ -
“but if you’re traveling anyway, patronizing a place that makes the effort to be green is important.”
Absolutely. Especially for governments that are, for the most part, taking a chance (financially speaking) on this.
And, of course, there’s always the Brooklyn Brewery
↵ -
“patronizing a place that makes the effort to be green is important.â€Â
…as an individual this has always been important to me. As a vacation rental owner I’m betting that it is important to other vacationers as well. When renovating our cottage near Lake Michigan we paid special attention to the sustainability of the products we used and continue to strive to be “green”. I think it’s important to try to make that effort whether you are next door or the next continent. http://www.saugatuckgetaway.com
↵ -
I’m really surprised with India on the list. Couldn’t use general impression to neglect their improvements.
↵
