Helpful Guide to Greener Summer Travel

Photo: cogdogblog

If you’re trying to shrink the carbon footprint of your summer vacation plans this year, you’ve probably run headlong into a number of tricky transportation issues. Drive or fly? Bus or train? Economy or first class? It’s enough to make a person want to take a trip to the nearest coal-fired power plant. Alone. In a Chinese-made Hummer.

Or you could download the new “Getting There Greener” guide released by the nonprofit Union of Concerned Scientists, which tackles many of the questions plaguing would-be ethical travelers. You can even download a handy spreadsheet that ranks various transportation choices from best to worst, depending on how many travelers are going and how far a distance they plan to cover.

To get you started, here are five tips for greener travel:

1. Go Direct: Detours and stopovers use a lot of extra energy, so plan shorter, more direct routes.

2. Stay Out of the Hot Seat: Flying economy averages half the carbon footprint of a seat in first or business class.

3. Fly Solo: For single travelers and couples, a nonstop coach flight will usually burn less carbon than driving.

4. Bus is Best: Travel by bus or motor coach is almost always greener than either driving (even a hybrid) or flying.

5. Get a Trade-in: If the vehicle you own is a carbon hog, try renting a more efficient one for your journey.

What have you done to make your travel more green? Reply in our comments section, and take our travel poll.