GreenYour.com

With 800 million travelers on the road, in the skies, or on the high seas each year, the environmental impact of vacationing on local ecosystems, water, air, and wildlife can be significant.[1] Most vacations involve travel by plane, car, or another form of fossil fuel-intensive transportation, producing significant greenhouse gas emissions and contributing to global warming.

Cars

Traveling by car, and particularly a hybrid or other green car, produces fewer CO₂ emissions than plane travel: you could drive for about 12,000 miles, and still release less CO₂ than a single transatlantic flight.[2] Even so, because there are so many vehicles on the road, motor transportation is responsible for about one-third of CO₂ emissions in the US[3] with cars and light trucks accounting for a majority.[4] Together cars, SUVs, and minivans emit more than 300 million tons of carbon each year in the US. This amount is equivalent to the emissions generated by a 50,000-mile-long coal train—which would reach between Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles 17 times.[5] For every gallon of gas a car burns, it emits nearly 20 pounds of CO₂.[6] Thus, a 3,000-mile drive in a vehicle that gets 20 miles per gallon produces 3,000 pounds of CO₂.