The family is ready. The time off from your job has been taken. All the new clothes are bought. The suitcases are packed. This is the trip you have been waiting for, that relaxing time with your family that we all wait for, even if it only comes once a year. We plan forever. Where will we go? What do we want to see? How do we want to spend that precious “week of freedom” from all the things we have to do all year? You ask the kids where they want to vacation. You and your spouse consider all the possibilities. You check your budget to make sure you can afford the type of vacation you would like to take.

In all of your planning, have you taken the time to consider the type of travel that is best for the environment as well? You save plastic bags, put out the glass and plastic for recycling, bundle the papers and save the can tabs. You try to carpool when you can, and you purchase products with the recycle symbol on them to insure that you are doing your part to ensure the future of our planet. Good for you.

You can carry that same diligence to your vacation. Plan a trip that involves a destination that is just as concerned as you are about going green. There are plenty of them out there. Make sure your type of transportation is the most environmentally safe. If you are taking your car, make sure that it is working properly and has the right fluids in it that will make the car the safest for the environment. A vacation taking your hybrid car is just as fun as one burning the planet’s fuel at an alarming rate.

If everyone vacationed this way, just think of the positive effect this would have on the planet for our children and generations to come.