Vacation
Travel by train or bus
Amtrak Acela Express Train (Northeast)
Traveling at speeds up to 150 mph, the Acela Express is Amtrak’s first high-speed train service. It serves Boston, New York, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. Hourly service is offered during peak morning and afternoon rush hours between New York, Washington, DC, and other intermediate cities.Greyhound North America
Greyhound serves more than 3,100 cities with 16,000 daily departures across North America. One Greyhound bus replaces an average of 20 cars and achieves 162 passenger miles per gallon of fuel. Greyhound partners with other bus lines as well as Amtrak train service to help passengers get to their destination.Lux Bus America (Southern California)
Lux Bus America serves passengers traveling between Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, and Las Vegas. The company also offers The Las Vegas Liner, providing daily service to and from Las Vegas.Megabus.com (Midwest and Northeast)
Megabus.com bills itself as a low-cost bus service. A round-trip ticket from Chicago to Detroit runs just $45.50 and takes less than 7 hours. The return trip is less than 5 hours. Purchase tickets to various cities in the Midwest and Northeast online.VIA Rail Canada
VIA Rail Canada transports 4.1 million passengers a year across Canada, serving about 450 communities. The company has an Environmental Policy that states, in part, that the rail line will serve only fair trade coffee, use recycled paper products, and recycle cans, newspapers, and plastic bottles.
Take a sustainable vacation
Adventure Collection
This group of adventure travel companies adheres to the organization’s five principles of responsible travel. Low-impact trips span the globe and include everything from hiking and horseback riding to river kayaking and llama-trekking.Earthfoot
Customize your own low-impact eco-tours and cultural vacations with naturalists, guides, historians, and community activists around the world who offer specialized, non-packaged tours. Search by region and by activity.GAP Adventures
This Canadian company offers small group adventures off the beaten track that help local economies while minimizing the impacts of tourism on natural areas and native cultures.Peregrine Adventures
This Aussie travel outfit promotes small group tours that are ecologically responsible and culturally sensitive.Raven Adventures
Whether it's an African safari or a kayaking trip in Baja, Mexico, a portion of your trip fee goes to conservation and other ecologically oriented projects in the areas where you visit.ResponsibleTravel.com
This UK travel agency offers 1,000s of adventure holidays and eco-tours with green tour companies and hotels around the globe.Wildland Adventures
Selected for Conde Nast Traveler magazine's prestigious "Green List," this travel company is known for its commitment to preserving natural areas and contributing to local cultures worldwide.
Choose a green hotel
Arenas del Mar Beach and Nature Resort (Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica)
Besides using a solar water-heating system and natural bedding, this Costa Rican eco-resort allows only quiet electric cars on the grounds, which just happens to be 70 percent protected rainforest.Asheville Green Cottage (Asheville, NC)
The Asheville Green Cottage offers locally grown organic fruit, Fair Trade coffees and teas, natural latex mattresses, organic cotton sheets and towels, and nontoxic cleaning products.Aurum Lodge (Alberta, Canada)
This lodge near Alberta's Banff and Jasper National Parks offers passive solar design, recessed low-E windows, composting toilets, and a graywater treatment system.Banff Park Lodge Resort Hotel & Conference Centre (Alberta, Canada)
Set in Banff National Park amid snow-covered peaks, it's the first hotel in Canada to receive the EcoLogo certification, one of the oldest eco-labeling initiatives in North America.Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center (Portland, OR)
This Green Seal-certified Doubletree Hotel in Portland, Oregon, uses energy- and water-saving equipment, provides in-room recycling containers, donates uneaten food to a local shelter and composts the rest.El Monte Sagrado (Taos, NM)
This luxury hotel in Taos collects rainwater, reuses all wastewater, and is constructed from “gunash” (recycled power plant ash that looks like adobe).Habitat Suites (Austin, TX)
Austin's Habitat Suites uses ladybugs for natural pest control and relies on shade trees to cool the building. Landscape plants are indigenous, requiring little water.Hotel Basico (Playa del Carmen, Mexico)

Planning to flee south of the border? Check in and chill out at Playa Del Carmen's Hotel Basico. The property takes eco-chic to a sexy, sustainable new level with rooftop pools made of old oil tanks and cabanas crafted from old trucks.Hotel Triton (San Francisco, CA)
All paper products—from toilet paper to room bills—at San Francisco's Hotel Triton are made with recycled content. Rooms also come equipped with water-saving devices and air purifiers.Inn By The Sea (Cape Elizabeth, ME)
The grounds of this Maine retreat are planted with native varieties that require less water and fewer pesticides. Rooms use CLF bulbs and some proceeds are donated to the Rainforest Action Network.Journey Inn (Maiden Rock, WI)
This Wisconsin B&B for weary green feet features floors heated via a solar-powered water system, organic wool and cotton bedding, low-toxicity furniture, and native-plant landscaping.Kandalama Hotel (Dambulla, Sri Lanka)
Besides using a passive solar energy system, native plants to landscape, and locally grown foods, this Sri Lankan hotel has also built an Eco-Park, an environmental education area for employees, guests, and school children.Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort (Australia)
Not only does this luxury outfit employ a number of measures to protect the surrounding Great Barrier Reef, but it also uses low-emission clean burning diesel generators to power its facilities.Los Manos Bed & Breakfast (Buena Vista, CO)
Surrounded by pinon forest and mountain views, this Colorado B&B offers strawbale construction for super insulation, passive solar heating, solar- and wind-generated electricity, and line-fresh towels and sheets.Orchard Garden Hotel (San Francisco, CA)
The Orchard Garden Hotel sports low-emission wallpaper and carpet, plus wood from sustainably harvested forests. Room lights and appliances only work when a keycard is in a wall slot—so they don’t stay on when guests step out.
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