Category Archives: Green Travel

5 Under-the-Radar Natural Getaways in New England

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Saco Heath 5 Under the Radar Natural Getaways in New England

Boardwalk on the Saco Heath. CC Image by Brent Danley (Flickr).

By JOHN EGAN

If you live in Boston, New Haven, or even Providence, finding an escape from the cycle of urban and suburban life can seem difficult. Although each city in New England has its charms, drawing tourists for their culture, food and arts, there’s something to be said for getting out of the concrete jungle and discovering a region’s true, natural character.

Public land isn’t as easy to come by on the east coast as out west. We’ve built interstates every hundred miles in New England, packing towns, suburbs and neighborhoods between them.

Fortunately, there are still plenty of amazing, pristine areas where it’s possible to get away — you just have to know where to find them. The Nature Conservancy keeps a running list of their preserves around the country. Nowhere do they maintain more of these natural gems than in New England.

For your next day trip, weekend or vacation, consider discovering a few of these places. Here are five favorites, each within a short drive of a major metropolitan area:

Saco Heath, Maine

Just south of Portland, this 1,223 acre preserve includes the rare chance to walk across a massive peat moss bog. A boardwalk crosses the expanse, where it’s easy to spot carnivorous plants. In the spring, look for tiny bright pink and lavender flowers illuminating the ground like magic all around you.

Williams Woods, Vermont

There are few things that get children more excited about nature than turning over a rock and discovering that they’ve uncovered the home of a salamander or tree frog. At the Williams Woods Natural Area near Burlington, families can explore an intact oak and hickory forest in the Lake Champlain Valley before scouring the damp ground for its rich abundance of amphibians.

Black Pond Bog, Massachusetts

A short hop from Boston, escape into this protected paradise that includes a pond, swamp, white cedar forest, and its namesake bog. Formed by a glacier that carved a bowl into the ground, the sphagnum moss bog and accompanying meadow are a perfect place to unwind from the busy pace of Beantown, without having to drive all the way to the Cape.

Burnham Brook, Connecticut

Consisting of 1,122 acres, the Burnham Brook Preserve protects the headwaters of Connecticut’s Eightmile River. One of the most intact Atlantic salmon habitats left on the east coast, the site includes trails where visitors can trek into moss-laden forests of oak, beech, and maple.

Lime Rock, Rhode Island

Natural dolomitic marble is the attraction that draws both geologists and regular visitors to Lime Rock Preserve, ten minutes from downtown Providence, but the wildflowers and rich ferns that grow in the calcium-rich soil are equally worth the excursion. Surrounded by suburbs and development, Lime Rock is a refuge for wildlife and a year-round haven for locals and travelers.

Wherever you travel, it’s always rewarding to discover pristine, natural spots that are favorites for locals but often overlooked by guidebooks and tourist websites. Especially in a place like New England, it’s worth a short drive to get off the beaten track and find serenity amidst nature’s bounty.

John Egan is managing editor of Car Insurance Quotes, a leading online provider of car insurance news.

Travel Green and Save Big

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train travel Travel Green and Save Big

By ESSENTIAL TRAVEL

Going green has never been more important or more relevant. But for many us, finding an affordable way of crossing over is often not as easy, especially when it comes to making our travels more environmentally friendly. To help make the switch easier, we’ve discovered some great tips on how to reduce your carbon foot print and your travel bills.

How You Get There

Often overlooked, air travel has grown to become a significant and ever-increasing contributor to global carbon emissions, which is not surprising if you consider that there are over 90,000 flights worldwide per day. Now add to that the 1 tonne of carbon gas the average aeroplane dumps into our atmosphere every 4,000 miles, and the problem becomes quite serious.

The Solution:
Take the train in stead of short haul flights. It might take you slightly longer, but this is a major money saver and, at the same time, possibly the most environmentally friendly way to travel. Trains run on electricity which means no carbon emissions. In fact, substituting a London to Paris flight for a train ride reduces the carbon emissions over 90%.

Where You Live

Hotels are springing up everywhere to cater to the ever expanding global tourism market. What most people don’t realise is that they require a lot of energy and water to run. Laundry is a huge expense for most of them, as bedding gets washed everyday to ensure guests have clean sheets every night they nod off. Now when you consider that globally we’ve already surpassed our freshwater supply, it becomes quite the problem.

The Solution:
In stead of a hotel, get yourself into self-catering accommodation. Not only will this be much friendlier on your wallet, but you’ll have more control over how much power and water gets used compared to living in a hotel. And to really give your carbon footprint the axe (and your budget a rest), why not try camping on your next holiday?

How You Get Around

It’s no surprise that along with industry, the car is one of the leading sources of global carbon emissions. In fact, the average car is responsible for more than 2.5 tonnes of carbon gas per year, and with over 600 million of them worldwide, that amount becomes staggering.

The Solution:
Where possible, we’d suggest using public transport to explore your surroundings, especially for longer distances. However, if a car is the only viable method of getting around your destination, always hire a smaller car. They use less fuel which makes them more environmentally friendly and easier on the pocket.

Lastly, don’t forget to do all your travel planning online. From your accommodation to your travel insurance and even hiring a small car. You’ll not only save more money doing so, but you’ll be reducing the administration needed, which equals less paper being used. And we all know where paper comes from.

This green guide was brought to you by Essential Travel, the award-winning travel add-ons provider.

How to Travel Responsibly and Make a Positive Contribution

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recycle How to Travel Responsibly and Make a Positive Contribution

By REBECCA TOM

To travel is to broaden your mind, discover new things and try new experiences. It’s about getting to know the world and its people better. You as an individual benefit hugely from that, and the place you visit gains from the money you bring into the area.

That’s the theory, but in reality tourism can sometimes have a negative effect on the environment and local cultures. By following simple guidelines you can make sure you travel responsibly and make a positive contribution to the people of your destination and the environment.

You can start this before you leave by doing things such as recycling or passing on old travel brochures and stocking up on biodegradable toiletries to take with you, removing all unnecessary packaging.

By using ethical tour operators you can also help. Unfortunately there are no universal guidelines for deciding whether a tour operator is ethical or not and there are many bodies offering certification. Ask your chosen company what they do to conserve the environment and how they improve life for local people. Are they accredited or inspected by anyone? Is the accommodation they use locally owned?

Carbon offsetting to minimise the impact of your air travel is something you can easily do to help conserve natural resources. The amount of carbon used up during your flight will do more damage to the environment than any other aspect of your trip. By calculating the amount of carbon emissions you have contributed to, you can donate a recommended amount of money to a carbon reduction project (such as tree planting) to neutralise your footprint. For more information on this, see Carbonfund.org or Climate Care. For relatively short journeys, consider using other transport such as ferries or trains instead.

If you travel to a country that is poorer than your own, consider bringing gifts that will benefit the local community such as pencils and books for a school. It will go down well with the locals and it’s nice to know you are contributing directly.

On location, make sure to shop responsibly by avoiding products made from protected species such as corals and hardwoods or endangered animals. Buying certain products and importing them can lead to fines and prison sentences in your home country. A list of products banned from importation into the UK can be found on the UK CITES Souvenir Alert website. Also, help the local economy by buying local produce and crafts from local people.

Preferably book excursions that protect and respect indigenous cultures and wildlife. You should be able to find some cultural walking tours or wildlife viewing trips that are of interest. Choose your activities carefully and avoid things such as watching dancing bears and cockfights that are cruel to the animals involved.

Be careful with natural resources as they will be precious to the locals. For example, if you are staying in a village that has limited water, don’t have a long shower every day. Help conserve resources by turning off TV’s, lights, air conditioning and heating when not in use and don’t get your linen changed daily if you can manage without.

Walking or hiring a bike where possible avoids using fuel and enables you to explore the locality better. You’ll find you get to see more of a place if you are moving slower because you have time to notice more of your surroundings. For any travels further afield,  consider using public transport.

Don’t drop litter anywhere. Waste disposal is a major expense in poor countries and the facilities for recycling may not be as good either. Re-use bottles and plastic bags and take any used batteries home.

These tips should help point you in the right direction. Responsible tourism is not difficult to achieve and just requires a bit of thought. It promotes understanding and good will and is the best way to ensure that everyone benefits from travel.

Rebecca Tom is from England and loves to travel. Her first trips outside of Europe were to Israel on a school trip and then to Thailand years later with friends. She has since been to Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and The Maldives. Next destination, Morocco.

How to Travel Smarter

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railway track How to Travel Smarter

All travels affect the environment to some degree. We need to learn how to travel smarter and more eco-friendly.

Air Travel

No other type of transport, apart from some ferries, are more harmful to the environment than flying. Over 4,3 billion flights are made each year and the estimation for 2025 is 9 billion flights. The flights of the charter companies are in general a better choice than regular flights since approximately 98% of the seats are occupied on every plane. If you choose a regular flight, book a non-stop flight rather than a route with stop-overs, which take an enormous amount of fuel. Also, consider staing longer when you travel to far-away destinations instead of making shorter trips multiple times a year.

Rail Travel

Train is by far a better alternative than flying but since much of the electricity comes from coal, oil and natural gas, you may make the environment a favor by taking the bus.

Boat Travel

Boats are in general the most harmful means of transport, at least if you see to the letting out of sulfur- and nitrogen oxides. A slow ferry is more environment friendly than a fast one, and shorter trips are obviously better than long boat journeys.

Independent Travel

Choose a car driven by renewable sources of energy, and travel together rather than only two persons in a five seat car.

Living

When you travel to places with shortage of water, avoid resorts with large parks and golf courses as the artificial green take much water from areas that risk turning into desert. Bed and Breakfasts, where the money goes to the local economy, instead of big hotel chains is a good alternative.