The Refinishing Touch Blog

It often seems that going green requires significant innovation and reimagination. For example commercials would have us believe that the car is being reinvented to improve fuel efficiency, not power. However, the ways that the average person becomes more environmentally friendly are often much more subtle. We can build our homes with sustainable materials, recycle newspapers, plastics and soda cans, and turn off the lights when we leave rooms. Similarly, the way we travel needs no drastic overhaul. A few simple tweaks are all it takes to make 2010 a more environmentally friendly year than the last.

Some eco-friendly moves occur in the methods we travel: walking through cities is an easy way for travelers to stay immersed in their surroundings and keeps fuel emissions low; taking public transportation instead of renting a car is usually cheap and intuitive; and flying non-stop isn’t just easier, but it also saves fuel.

Other improvements require some changes to daily routines. At hotels, we are accustomed to freshly laundered sheets daily (sometimes with the added luxury of candy on the pillow), but choosing to reuse sheets saves time and energy while sacrificing little in comfort, and many hotels often provide a linen-reuse program. Using reusable water bottles can make a difference in preventing plastic bottles from ending up in landfills. Lastly, eating in local restaurants with local ingredients saves travel and energy, and can also improve your experience as you get a taste of the region without falling victim to sham authenticity and familiar chains.

Travelers don’t need to reinvent the vacation wheel. How we move through and experience the world doesn’t require any radical changes in order to become greener. We as travelers simply need to be proactive in making sure our travels are green and realize that even our smallest changes can yield considerable returns.