As conscious citizens & travelers, we must always be concerned about our dear Mother Earth. If you think about it, you travel across her face, and She is the host to your journey; without Her, we could not find the unfolding adventures that attract and feed our souls.

We have found some valuable resources for you to use and publicize, all of which are dedicated to responsible travel and care of our environment.

Responsible and Sustainable Travel Resources

Books

Sustainable Travel: The essential guide to positive impact adventures (Sustainable Living Series) Pre-order

By: Holly Tuppen

This book offers sustainable and attainable advice for those who want to make a difference in the way we experience the world, be a force for good through traveling. Also, 2% of the revenue generated from the book’s sales will be donated to the World Land Trust. 

Lonely Planet Code Green: Trips of a Lifetime That Won’t Cost The Earth

By:  Kelly Lorimer- Lonely Planet Publications

The first “green travel” book to be published by Lonely Planet includes dozens of “responsible travel experiences” and provides traveler information on responsible and eco-travel. Lonely Planet also runs a discussion board on responsible travel at http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com

The Sustainable Travel Handbook

By: Lonely Planet

The latest in Lonely Planet’s handbook series is the practical and inspiring guide that you are looking for. It is packed with easy-to-digest advice from culture, wildlife, luxury, adventure, wellness, and more from known travel destinations to off-the-map regions of the world.

Websites

Earth Day Educational Resource Library

www.earthday.org/education-resource-library/ 

EARTHDAY.ORG is an organization that aims to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. This organization has different resources from organizing events, providing toolkits, timelines, lesson plans, online quizzes, and many more resources to expand your knowledge in restoring Mother Earth. 

Goodwings

www.goodwings.com

Goodwings aims to spread knowledge and educate people with traveling Net-Zero. They discuss CO2 emissions compensation and removal. And they advocate the importance of planting trees as the most cost-effective way of removing carbon from our planet. 

Impact Travel Alliance

www.impacttravelalliance.org/ 

An organization that aims to promote travel in a way that empowers local communities and has the power to protect and improve our Earth. Impact Travel Alliance believes sustainability should be applied in a traveler’s journey, no matter the budget, style, and destination visited. 

International Ecotourism Society

www.ecotourism.org

A well-established nonprofit group that conducts research, publishes articles, provides consumer information, and has a directory of members around the world. With Rainforest Alliance, it recently started an ecotourism certification standards program.

Sustainable Travel International

www.sustainabletravelinternational.org 

Formed three years ago to bridge the gap between research and consumer information and to promote sustainable development and eco-friendly travel. Offers a carbon offset program and last month started an eco-certification program that will follow standards laid out by the International Ecotourism Society.

Responsible Travel Handbook

www.travelearning.com 

Created this year for the Educational Travel Conference meeting, this lengthy guide has a wealth of contributors and information. (Click on responsible tourism to download).

Better World Club

www.betterworldclub.com 

The environmentally conscious alternative to the American Automobile Association, offering auto and bicycle road assistance, has resources on hybrid car rentals, green lodging, and carbon offsets.

Let us join and use these groups when planning our trips. By raising our level of consciousness and employing ‘green’ tactics and travel itineraries we will, each in our own small way, be contributing to a healthier world where we act as stewards to the environment while discovering the rich and breathtaking rewards of travel.

I hope you explore the above resources as well as share them with your network for a better world.

I know it’s early, but Happy Earth Day!

Let’s save these “dying” destinations.

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