Sleep Green: Check out this registry of environmentally friendly hotels: http://www.environmentallyfriendlyhotels.com/ before your plan your trip. You can either locate a hotel near your intended destination or use the hotel locations to inspire your vacation’s itinerary. Either way you’ll rest your weary head every night in a hotel that cares as much about the environment as you do.

Hop on the train: The days of coal-burning locomotives are over! Today’s trains still offer the nostalgia of crossing the country by railroad and at the same time they’ve become one of the most eco-friendly ways to see the world. Whether you are taking a train journey across the United States or simply taking a trip 45 minutes away, a train is an enjoyable and eco-friendly way to accomplish your route.

Book Direct Flights: Everybody hates a layover, and now you have an excuse not to book one! Flights with stopovers use much more fuel for multiple take-offs and landings. So help your environment – and your sanity – and try to find a flight to take you directly to your destination.

Hang Up Your Towels: Leaving your towel on the floor is a signal that you want it washed. Each year hotels use up phenomenal amounts of energy by washing towels alone! Do the Earth a favor and use a towel for a couple of days in a row…we promise nobody will notice!

Book Locally: Fall in love with the place you live! One great way to “green” your vacation is to stay close to home. Not only does this cut down on carbon emissions from your travel but you are also likely to save a considerable amount of money. One great rule of thumb is to plan a “one-tank” vacation. In other words, limit your traveling to a distance that will only use one tank of gas.

Local Souvenirs: Let’s face it…you really don’t need another touristy t-shirt in your closet. Instead, opt for a unique souvenir made by local artisans. Not only will they illicit better memories of your trip but they will also leave less of a carbon footprint. When you take into account all the shipping and manufacturing effects your standard plastic toy will cause on the environment this becomes a no-brainer!

Fly Virgin: Virgin Airways chairman, Sir Richard Branson, has gone a long way to attempt to make air travel more environmentally feasible. He has committed all profits from Virgin’s transportation to help discover a renewable energy source. In addition, he’s put up a $25 million dollar prize for a greenhouse gas removal solution. You can fly easy knowing your money is going to such a good cause! Just don’t go to the bathroom on the plane…a single airplane flush is equivalent to wasting six gallons worth of gasoline!

Record your memories digitally: No vacation is complete without a slew of pictures to bring home to friends…but invest in a digital camera. Picture it now: no energy spent developing the film, no hard copies that will be headed to the landfill in a couple of years and no gas wasted driving to the developers. When you take into account the better picture quality, a digital camera is the clear choice to record your family’s trip.

As always, sustainability is not just about hype, it’s about what you do. So when you’re on vacation follow these rules of thumb:

BYOB: Bring Your Own Bottle: To avoid waste and minimize resources, bring your own refillable water bottle on vacation. It will help you save money (often buying food and drink on vacation can be expensive), it can help your health (many plastic products leak toxins into your drink when heated) and it reduces the amount of waste you produce on your green vacation.

Bring a solar charger – charge your electronics with the power of the sun to minimize your energy load on the road. As much as 40% of the power we use on a daily basis can come from polluting sources like coal.

Bring the ‘good’ green habits you may already have at home! The little things you can do to conserve energy and reduce your impact such as re-using hotel towels and sheets Hang up your towels and request that the hospitality staff don’t change the sheets — it saves water and reduces energy and chemical usage. Use water sparingly — it’s very precious in many countries and tourists tend to use far more than local people. Take local transportation. And look for organic food and products.