Many people love triping to vineyards on vacation or just as a weekend getaway. The good news is that sustainable vineyards abound throughout the world, so it’s totally within easy reach to plan green trip that includes days of wine and bliss. However, before looking at any one vineyard in particular, I thought we should look at some common terms associated with eco-vineyards.

Vineyard: This is the general catch-all term for a plantation of grapevines used to make wine. Although, it’s not uncommon for vineyards to exist to be used for producing table grapes, raisins, and non-alcoholic grape juices. A vineyard may sit on land that also features orchards, other gardens, lodging, restaurants, and more attractions. The actual science, practice and study of vineyard production and farming is called viticulture. While many vineyards are amazing to visit and unique in their own way, not all are sustainable.

Organic vineyards and wines: Organic wines are made without synthetic or toxic pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides and the wines won’t have added sulfites. Organic wine can be made on a non-organic vineyard - i.e. part of the land is set aside for organics, or it can be made at a vineyard dedicated to total organics. Obviously, if you’re aiming for a green trip experience, a full-on organic vineyard is the best place to visit.

Vegan wines: Vegan wines are made with no animal derived products (which are sometimes used in the last processes of wine making).

Biodynamic vineyards: These vineyards employ a holistic approach to wine making. They practice ethical farming and place importance on animal selection, soil choices, compost, and more issues that may naturally enhance and regulate plant (or in this case vine) growth. This is a tricky term - learn more about biodynamics.

Salmon safe vineyards: These are a big deal where I live in the Pacific Northwest. These vineyards protect and restore salmon habitats. They grow cover crops to control run-off, use natural or organic methods to control pests and weeds, and plant trees on streams.

Learn more about sustainable wine and vineyards:

• The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance
• LIVE: Low Input Viticulture & Enology, Inc
• Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine
• EU Organic Legislation
• Canadian Vintners Association
• Organic Wine Journal
• The carbon footprint of wine

[image via stock.xchng]

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places are mentioned in this post!

1. Nebraska City
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Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure is a green minded, nature charged, fun trip that’s perfect for the entire family.

What is Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure?:

This fun family adventure is full of tree sights, tree sounds, and tree knowledge. It’s an action packed tree event. For example, you can climb a 50 foot tree house and once at the top hang out in the Nature Explore Club where “nature challenges” await for you to solve. From camouflage insects to owl pellets, the cabin showcases the awesome diversity of nature.

The special summer exhibit going on right now through the end of October is Artisan Woods, a cool walk in the woods among nature inspired works of art created by regional artists. Works of art include an amazing 60 ft woven wood tunnel, a birds eye view on life in a human sized nest, and more.

You can discover nature’s wonders on a one-hour journey through woodland trails across the 260-acre Arbor Day Farm. A Discovery Ride tractor fueled on Soy Biodiesel trips along as an expert guides share stories of Morton’s family and tree planting on the prairie. The ride goes through Preservation Orchard as well as a commercial orchard and vineyards. You’ll see plenty of natural habitat from flower gardens to apple trees, to wildlife and you’ll explore conservation and forestry demonstrations.

There’s tons more to see and do too; wine tasting for the adults, hiking on the tree house trail, a movie all about trees, the arbor day tree greenhouse, and so much more.

Location:

Admission:

• Children 2 and under FREE
• Children aged 3–12 $4.50
• Adults $6.50

Your paid admission includes your own tree seedling grown at Arbor Day Farm and your choice of a tree identification guide or children’s activity guide. Special group rates, tour times, and lunches are available.

Hours:

[images via Arbor Day Farm Tree Adventure]

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1. Palawan
2. Philippines

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The Cacao Pearl, Palawan was just announced a couple of days ago and if it lives up to the hype it should be pretty darn cool - well, if you happen to be rich and possibly very well-known. The new resort was designed exclusively for Cacao Resorts by former film art director, Antonio Calvo (“Love Actually,” “Alexander”, “Pride & Prejudice”.) and is basically 60 off-plan private residences await “discriminating investors,” who want to own a chic eco-home with a conscience and investment-grade security with an option to buy, re-sell or rent.

Basics:

The Cacao Pearl will be the very first first non-profit and luxury eco-resort community to commit 100 per cent of operating profits to environmental protection and social improvements. The resort is being built on a 124 acre private island in the Calamianes archipelago, at the northernmost tip of the Palawan Biosphere Reserve in the Philippines.

Already “eco” sounds fishy because the The Cacao Pearl will, in a sense be taking over the entire island, which is an eco-nightmare in itself unless proper building and land management methods are used. It’s easy to destroy habitats once people arrive on the scene. However, according to the announcement here are some of the perks:

• The island is full of lush rainforest and towering coconut trees plus over a mile of clean beaches.
• The area will be a stunning eco preservation area within sailing distance of two UNESCO World heritage sites & four marine reserves.
• Decor and style will be eco-chic and low-impact.
• Sustainable development will be used.
• The resort will also offer a designer homes for buyers with a zero carbon cost, 5 stars service, an infinity pool, wreck & reef diving, a secluded destination spa, organic gardens & bar, restaurant, and private media rooms.
• 100% of the resort’s net operating profits will be used to support local environmental and social programs.

Joel Cere, CEO of Cacao Resorts sums it up with this,“Forget old luxury, welcome green luxury… Cacao Resorts is offering eco-aware urban escapees the luxury of private island home ownership with the launch of a truly guilt-free investment… In a world of homogenous, over-developed concrete destinations, disinterested developers, fake themes and over-priced mini-bars, token green gestures and disenfranchised communities, Cacao Resorts provide an authentic experience for the grown-up backpacker, a guilt-free option for the triper with conscience, a breath of fresh tropical air for sophisticated urban escapees.”

Cacao Resorts is being developed with partners Barefoot Investments and Abode Management. You can read much more about it in their pdf briefing.

[image via Cacao Pearl]

We find out why than a million British and Irish tourists flock to Brittany each year.

The other day we looked at some big green camping gear, but if you trip green anywhere, there are some little items you should have with you to maximize your trip’s green potential.

A refillable water bottle: Plastic water bottles cost the environment dearly, and that cost doesn’t go away just because you go out of town. You have to get a refillable, reusable water bottle. PLUS if you’re hiking or trekking around site-seeing and trying new foods, and not drinking plenty of water you’re setting yourself up to get sick. I love my Klean Kanteen Water Bottle but SIGG Water Bottles are also good. If you’re looking for something that’s not only reusable but highly attractive check out EarthLust water bottles (drool-worthy!). If you need a refillable bottle with a built in filter try this Purifying Water Bottle.

Safe bug spray: Many bug sprays contain DEET, and in major bug areas this may be the only choice for protection (I’m talking swarms of bugs). However, DEET is a poison and it’s not safe for your body, so if you’re not triping in a crazy bug infested area, a less toxic bug spray will do. Burt’s Bees Herbal Insect Repellent and Bug Bite Relief work great and won’t poison your body or the planet.

Non-toxic sunscreen: Sunscreen is an everyday necessity, but is even more important when triping because it’s likely (hopeful) that you’ll be outdoors more often. Most sunscreens contain nasty non-eco-friendly chemicals that can harm your body and also harm the environment when washed down the drain into the water supply. Furthermore it’s really hard to find a totally safe, organic sunscreen, that works as it should. The FDA has failed to establish regulations for sunscreens and marketers just make the problem worse. Read: top ten false and misleading claims to be wary of when buying sunscreen. If you want to find a natural, safe, and effective sunscreen your best bet is to check out Skin Deep’s list of best sunscreens and don’t forget non-toxic lip balm with spf.

A reusable shopping bag: At home I like my recycled cotton reusable shopping bags, but on the go, something a little more water proof and compact is better. Flip & Tumble is your best bet for an economical, water proof reusable bag. I don’t like they’re not made with an eco-friendly material (they make them with ripstop nylon) BUT this material has a long life, and cloth is bad for trip because once it’s wet, you’re sunk. Hemp bags are a good more water proof choice, but they cost a lot more than these nylon bags plus aren’t so compact. Flip & Tumble bags are large enough to hold 3 half gallons of milk and then some, plus are strong enough to hold a couple of bowling balls, but fold up into a ball the size of a peach - perfect for trip. There’s a felt patch that keeps the bag on your shoulder as well. The cost is great at $9-12 per bag. Lastly they come in all sorts of nice colors and they also offer some great new designs.

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1. California

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The HALL St. Helena has now become the first winery in California to hit the Gold LEED landmark. Not bad, and the perfect winery to visit if you like both wine and green.

LEED is the internationally recognized certification system for measuring the eco-friendly aspects of a building or a community’s performance across various environmental metrics including energy savings, water efficiency, CO₂ emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.

Rick Fedrizzi, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council, notes, “The certification of HALL Wines not only marks a momentous occasion for the wine industry of California, but demonstrates how all industries can choose to be solvers of our collective environmental challenges… The HALL Wines project efficiently uses natural resources, makes an immediate positive impact on our planet and as a business leader, can expect to reap financial benefits over the lifecycle of the building.”

To meet the requirements to become Gold LEED certified, HALL included many sustainable design elements and practices including:

• Radiant Floors Allowing for Precision Winemaking and Maximum Energy Efficiency
• Solar Energy – The sun provides more than 35 percent of the energy needed to power HALL St. Helena. An impressive 42,000 square feet of solar panels span the St. Helena winery roofs.
• Local Building Materials were used to build the winery.
• Recycled Building Materials were also used in the building process.
• Water Conservation on various levels.

If you visit:

HALL St. Helena is located at 401 St. Helena Highway South, St. Helena, CA 94574 and runs daily from 10 am until 5:30 pm for public visits and tastings. Features include a redesigned visitor center and tasting room and guests of course can sample the portfolio of HALL wines, or relax in arbor-covered courtyards, and see unique original works of modern art and sculpture from the Halls’ personal collection.

NOTES: For groups of 8 or more, reservations are required at least 48 hours in advance. Production tours and rare barrel tastings of future bottlings are also available by appointment.

Some green camping gear is easier to come by than others - for example, green tents don’t rule, but there are plenty of solar powered tools (think shower or radio) available on the market. If you’re heading into the woods this August make sure you’ve got as much eco-camping gear vs. conventional gear as possible.

NEMO’s Nano OZ Backpacking Tent - made almost entirely of recycled materials picked for their durability, longevity, and functionality. There’s also an integrated vestibule that saves weight by eliminating attachment hardware and rolls out of the way when not needed. Nano OZ comes with GREEN anodized DAC aluminum poles, which can also be recycled. This tent is the bling tent of green, if you’re looking for something a little less expensive, but not as rugged, try the

Eco-Thermo Bamboo Sleeping Pads have a bamboo outer and insulated pad that packs up light and small plus, keeps you warm even on snow (go winter camping) and this cool pad won Backpacker’s Editor’s Choice and Outdoor magazine’s Green Gear of the Year awards in 2007. Comes in large and medium.

There are many solar ovens on the market but the Hybrid Solar Oven is unique and seriously drool worthy. Cooks no matter what the weather due to its rugged onepiece reflector panel combined with a double- paned window, double rubber seals and included booster panels to cook at temperatures up to 300°. You can also plug it into a 120V outlet to cook which yeah uses power, but overall uses 75% less power than a conventional oven. Good idea for RVs looking to save on power or even your too hot to cook summer kitchen. Comes with a tough clamshell suitcase for easy carrying, instant set-up, and compact storage. Includes four cooking pans, oven mitt, oven thermometer, 6′ power cord, and instructional CD.

Depending on how into the wild you go, you’ll either need a light and easy going backpack or super charged sturdy backpack. Luckily there are eco options for either. Try a Ecogear Genus Bag for short and simple camping trips or the REI Traverse 30 Pack for longer more trek-like excursions.

Marmot EcoPro +30 Sleeping Bag - 100% UpCycle PET shell and lining fabric is made from recycled plastic bottles and treated for water resistance. Plus this bag is Insulated with 80% UpCycle single-denier, continuous filament fibers. Plenty of other perks too that ensure stay warm comfort on chilly nights.

Coming up soon some DIY green camping gear plus some little green extras you’ll need.

Learn to live like a Goddess on this sunny isle.

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places are mentioned in this post!

1. Grand Teton National Park
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2. Yellowstone
3. San Juan Island, Washington 98250

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Backroads is an eco-friendly trip agency with plenty of perks. An excellent new feature for families at Backroads is the Family Trip Advisor. The advisor walks you through some super fast questions about your family - ages of kiddos, when you want to go, if your family is moderately or super active, and so on. Then they calculate a few perfect ideas for your circumstances.

I used the family advisor tonight to see what trips might pop up and mine were:

• The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone - Good! I love the Tetons. In fact - that’s me in the above picture, at said Tetons. Pretty! (The mountains I mean)
• Canadian Rockies - I haven’t been here but dang the video looks amazing.I sure want to go now.
• San Juan Islands, Washington - This is a beautiful and fun area - a bit less explored and peaceful.

All these places are actually very good choices for me. I’m not the biggest fan of Yellowstone in particular, but the other places I would love to visit (or visit again). I was surprised they offered trips that do fit the sorts of things I like to do. The advisor is interactive in that a speaker tells you about each place - which was cool, and the video itself had beautiful images of each area.

Backroads has way more perks than this one feature though…

• They support communities in areas where they plan trips for clients.
• They encourage employees to bike to work with a reimbursement program, give credits for carpooling and using public transportation and offer office employees three (paid) “flex days” annually to donate their time to doing community service.
• They participate in tons of eco and non-profit events - Climate Ride and Summer Search to name a couple.
• They have an energy efficient headquarters - 100% of the lighting fixtures at their Berkeley, CA offices have compact fluorescent bulbs, water bottles are recyclable and they use Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper in the majority of their printed marketing materials. Plus they offer a great web portal for guests which replaces excess printed materials with electronic versions.
• All Backroads leaders are trained to minimize impact on the environment, practice Leave No Trace principles on the trail, recycle whenever possible, and donate leftover foods to various community programs.
• They purchase carbon offsets to offset 100% of the fuel used on trips with support vans.
• And more.

About the trip:

Backroads offers the following sorts of trips in various areas and plenty of countries…

• Biking Trips
• Multisport Trips
• Walking Trips
• Insider Trips
• Family Trips
• Singles & Solo Trips
• Private Trips
• Premiere Inn Trips
• Casual Inn Trips
• Deluxe Camping Trips

Their whole motto surrounds active and fun vacations that are as sustainable as possible and also offer the perfect choice for you in particular. These are not cookie cutter vacations. If you know you want to trip responsibly, but aren’t sure where you and your family should go, I’d check out the new Backroads Family Trip Advisor - located on their homepage; it’s fun and useful.

[image via Jennifer Chait]

Planning your eco-vacation…

• Know that where you visit and stay does make a difference. If you choose an eco-friendly hotel or other destination you’re making a statement that this is what matters to consumers.
• Choose an eco-friendly hotel, hostel, or resort.
• Consider a volunteer trip with an eco-organization.
• Plan an eco-friendly all-inclusive bus trip.
• Pick a trip that gets your family out into nature vs. out into an urban setting.
• trip as close to home as possible.

Before you leave…

• Turn your thermostat down if you’re triping in the winter, and up if you’re triping in the winter.
• Unplug everything.
• Cancel the newspaper.
• Lower the temperature of your waterbed heaters by at least ten degrees.
• Turn your water heater to the lowest setting.
• Get e-tickets vs. paper if you’re taking mass transport.
• Make sure all the lights are off when you go.
• Pack lightly to reduce your trip weight. The more your bags weigh the larger the carbon footprint you create when triping.

Once you arrive…

• Once you arrive at your trip destination skip a car and walk or take local transportation like the bus or the subway. Not only is this green, but you get a better taste of your area and the people who live there.
• If you need a car once you arrive at your destination rent a hybrid.
• In many places you can rent bikes for the whole family.
• Take along a small reusable container of eco-friendly, biodegradable laundry detergent. Finding a local laundry mat is easy, finding eco-friendly soap at said mat is not so much.
• Be sure to turn of hotel extras – examples: don’t leave the sauna on, the jet spa on, lights in the exercise room on, or exercise equipment.
• Don’t buy a bunch of plastic souvenirs and other junk. If you do buy something, buy green products when possible.
• Don’t pick up fliers and brochures and area maps everywhere you go. You don’t need a brochure to enjoy an area. You won’t ever look at them again after you get home, and it’s a total waste of paper.
• Take along a reusable water bottle for everyone going - you can also use these to fill up with juice or soda when on the go.
• Carry reusable bags with you so if you shop you have something to carry purchases in.
• Carry an extra small reusable bag in your backpack so if you get a hold of something that needs recycled, you can put it in the bag and save it for recycling later.
• Eat local and organic at green restaurants when possible vs. at fast food chains.
• Don’t use those small plastic bottles of shampoo offered at the hotel – take your own along. IF you use them, recycle them or bring them home and use them for other things.
• If you arrive by plane consider the shuttle or bus to get to your hotel.
• Use a digital camera vs. disposable.
• When staying in a hotel reuse your towel - let the front desk know you won’t be needing daily housekeeping.
• If triping in summer or winter follow the same energy conservation tips in your hotel that you do at home - for example, shut the curtains, dress for the weather, turn down the AC or heater when you leave the room, and so on.
• Avoid room service or carryout food which comes with more disposable trash issues than say, eating at an actual restaurant does.

Extra smart eco-actions…

• If your hotel / motel / spa could be doing something better speak up. People don’t often make green changes without some nudging.
• If staying at a campsite or other wild setting, put out all fires and leave nothing behind out in nature, pack up and carry out trash, extra food, and recyclables.
• Have everyone in the family pick up one piece of litter each day. This is cool to do in urban vacation spots but extra important if you’re triping in outdoor nature areas.
• Get a hotel with a kitchen, dishes, and cookware, and make most of your meals – head to the local farmers markets or natural grocers for new finds!

Now it’s your turn - I can’t cover it all so leave your best green trip tips in the comments.