Photo by Flickr User mdid

Eco-conscious travelers venturing to New Zealand can now take advantage of an entirely green voyage with the help of Organic Explorer. OE does all the hard work of seeking coveted locales like organic cafes or artisan retreats near farmers’ markets; all the eager explorer has to do is visit OE’s website and begin searching by region or type of establishment. Search bar selections range from organic wineries, to farmstays and other types of eco-lodging, to broader searches like nature tourism. There are over “600 places to eat and shop, to stay,” according to the site.

Husband and wife team Leonie Johnsen and Dr. Tony Ward first created Organic Explorer in 2007 as a guidebook for the eco inclined. Now, the website stretches this original idea to provide knowledge of the New Zealand landscape to more people across the globe who might be planning their next big trip. Organic Explorer plays a more active role in educating travelers about the realities our environment is faced with at the present time while simultaneously providing a nice game plan for the New Zealand bound.

For explorers wanting the organic experience even down to New Zealand’s culture, Organic Explorer also features Maori culture tours, a native people that gives New Zealand part of its original flavor. For example, one of the many sustainable tours of Maori culture, Kaikoura, brings eco tourists into a realm where plants are used as food and medicine and stories are told of Maori people dating back 800 years. Additionally, tourists can rest easy knowing the Kaikoura area uses environmentally-friendly practices including composting, limiting carbon emissions, and wildlife conservation. Organic Explorer also offers information on the non-profit Leave No Trace, the center for outdoor ethics teaching an “environmental care code for low impact adventures,” to keep up the sustainable ethos after the vacation is over.

Those travelers who may want a more plan-as-you-go experience can pocket the Organic Explorer’s eco-tourism book to plan adventures on the fly. On top of insider’s views of where to go when green trailblazing, the 3rd edition manual also provides a critical eye, featuring articles discussing New Zealand conservation issues and threats, so tourists can keep abreast of new advancements or things to lookout for, things like tourism’s role in farming, wilderness mining or deep sea oil exploration. No worries, though, the manual guide is produced locally and uses “sustainable forestry sourced paper.” It is also “printed with vegetable inks” rather than other commercial ones.

Even those who may not be able to get out to New Zealand any time soon can still learn about sustainable tourism and dream about the beautiful organic landscape awaiting them across the map.

Photo by Flickr user usadifranci

It’s no surprise that gas prices are impinging on summer travel plans. However, given the right planning you can still take that summer Memorial Day vacation without dwindling your bank account or harming the environment. Here are ten tips for planning an environmentally-friendly, low-cost summer vacation.

1. Find destinations close to you. The act of traveling to or from the destination is often the most costly and environmentally-taxing part of a trip. Therefore, rather than fly your family across the country to a theme park or a National Park, find attractions that are maybe just a few hours away. You might discover a little hidden treasure right in your own backyard!

2. If driving, improve your miles per gallon. Turn off the air conditioning and enjoy the fresh air by opening the windows. Avoid accelerating quickly and pack light.

3. Remember to turn off the air conditioning in your house before you leave. You can also turn off the water heater and close the drapes so it stays cool inside while you are away.

4. Bike, walk and use public transportation rather than renting a car or using taxis. Many cities have bike share programs or allow tourists to rent a bike for a day. Take advantage of these options.

5. Travel light. Every extra pound in your car means you will use more gas. Bring only the essentials to ensure you are packing light.

6. Flying by air is worse than driving. According to some estimates, one cross-Atlantic flight produces carbon emissions equal to all of the passengers’ driving for a year. If it is feasible to drive, drive. If flying by air, consider offsetting your carbon emissions or flying with an airline that is committed to building fuel-efficient jets.

Yellowstone - By flickr user DirectDish

7. Camp in the great outdoors rather than staying in hotels. Not only will you save on cash and energy, but it will help your kids to foster an appreciation for nature.

8. If your idea of a vacation is jetting off to another country, look into eco-tourist spots that promise to take you out into nature without “leaving a footprint”.

9. Pack your own healthy food to avoid eating out too much or buying heavily processed and packaged foods in airports.

10. Visit a national park! They can be found all over the US, and the entry fee goes to help preserve the parks.

Traveling as a vegan, vegetarian or eco-conscious individual can present its own unique set of challenges. As a vegan, you may need to do some research on how to say “dairy” or “eggs” in another language. As an environmentalist, you may be concerned about your environmental footprint as the result of a trip and seek out ways to minimize it.

Many “green” and vegetarian travelers enjoy being in a group with similar-minded people. Green Earth Travel, LLC., founded in 1997 as the nation’s premier vegetarian/vegan/eco travel agency, seeks to reduce these challenges by organizing travel trips for the environmentalist or vegetarian/vegan traveler.

Recently, Green Earth Travel has announced “trips that make a difference” vacations. These trips, scheduled for the later part of 2011, enable animal lovers to care for orphaned animals at an animal sanctuary for a few days before camping at the Grand Canyon or staying at an eco spa resort in Zion National Park.

“We are proud to once again offer these unusual trips for animal lovers around the country,” comments Donna Zeigfinger, Green Earth Travel President. “Guests will enjoy high quality time at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary caring for furred and feathered residents of their choice and learning about Best Friends’ tradition of service. Following two days of dedicated service to rescued animals, participants enjoy the dramatic beauty of our desert southwest.”

The August trip to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and the Grand Canyon is scheduled from August 8th to 13th, 2011. Animal behaviorist, naturalist and author Jonathan Balbombe – author of the best-selling book Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good – will join this particular excursion.

Marie Oser, best-selling author, host/producer at VegTV and Managing Editor at ecomii.com will join the October trip, scheduled for October 10th to 15th, 2011.

In addition to these animal-lover volunteer trips, Green Earth Travel offers green trips across the globe. Yoga retreats in Hawaii, vegetarian tours of South America, Monarch bike tours and vegan New York tours, to name a few, are available. Costa Rica trips are always popular, and prices vary depending on the trip.

Green Earth Travel and founder Donna Zeigfinger have been featured in numerous publications including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Veg News, Vegetarian Times, Travel Life and Travel Age.

Finally! Google has an interface that is specific to cars, buses, pedestrians and now…..you guessed it….BIKERS! This huge and exciting announcement has taken the sustainable and pedaling community by storm, as now this new feature allows you to plot the best (and flattest) ride from one point to another on the map. The requests in the past few years have been overwhelming. Now that Google has decided to launch it, people are ecstatic. From petitions (over 50,000 signatures strong) to letters bike advocates around the nation have been pushing and asking for an application that is specific to them, as bike riding is one of the most sustainable and healthy ways to navigate around town.

Bikers in cities such as New York, San Francisco, Portland, and Minneapolis have bike-specific mapping sites. Having an application that supports this kind of sustainable transportation is going to further already bike crazed individuals and spark the interest of would be bikers due to its simple and convenient nature.

If you are a potential biker or a current bike advocate check out Google’s step by step video on how to navigate around their new site.

Bike directions will take advantage of bike paths and other bike facilities. There are specific colored lines to indicate one way streets, bike only streets and bike friendly streets, among a whole slough of other features.

Whether you’re just curious or an avid biker, check it out! Help yourself while you help the environment, one pedal at a time.

Take a beaten down, old 1957 Greyhound bus, hundreds of pounds of food and restaurateur Kai Schoenhals and what do you get? Diamond Lil—the refurbished and shaped up moving restaurant. Diamond Lil is a tasty moving eatery that will travel around the region to its guests granting them savory pleasure and convenient locations.

The operation was inspired by the Napa Wine Train, a two engine 3 kitchen fitted train that serves a 25 mile stretch in Napa Valley. They provide convenience, a seasonal menu and a nationally known executive chef, Kelly Macdonald on board.

San Francisco residents Schoenhals and partner Daniel Isberg run a sustainable operation on the road. Although this moving food venture may seem pricey and anything but sustainable, Diamond Lil cuts her own costs and carbon footprint by using left over cooking oil used in her gasoline tank—allowing her to cook her way across the country. The bus, named after a great aunt of Schoenhals is refit entirely with recycled materials, a recyclable herself and not to mention is the house for a warm and delicious menu.

Local Californians that are lucky enough to dine on Diamond Lil can look forward to not only a wonderful menu but a responsible outfit that has considered its customers and the environment.