If staying home isn't an option, here are three things you can do to start traveling in a more environmentally responsible way.
l Erase the impact of your trip through carbon offsetting. That means you'll help reduce carbon emissions somewhere in the world in proportion to the damage caused by your travels. At http://www.climatecare.org, you can calculate the amount of carbon your flights will emit by keying in your departure point and destination. The formula includes a suggested payment to Climate Care, a British environmental organization.
Climate Care uses the money for projects like building wind farms in India; installing energy-efficient lighting in South Africa; and providing energy-efficient stoves in Madagascar, where unique habitats face deforestation.
Flying round-trip from Chicago to Australia's Great Barrier Reef? For a $65 payment to Climate Care, you can travel with a lighter conscience.
The Lonely Planet guidebook publisher now has its entire staff tracking air miles with Climate Care in order to offset the collective impact of the company's travels.
''We pay them every six months,'' said Jason Shugg, Lonely Planet's global product marketing manager in Melbourne, Australia, ''and they use that money for sustainable energy projects.''
http://www.wi-ei.org/ (click on ''Travel Green Wisconsin").
Even some major hotels and resorts are developing environmentally friendly policies. Vail Resorts Inc. announced in August that its company would offset 100 percent of its energy use by purchasing nearly 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy for its five mountain resorts, retail stores and other lodging properties. Vail Resorts is also offering a free one-day ski-lift ticket to anyone who purchases wind power for a family residence for one year with an energy company called Renewable Choice; details at http://www.snow. com.
Subscribe to the newsletter (digital version, of course!) of the International Ecotourism Society at http://www.ecotourism.org.
Get ideas for your next trip from Lonely Planet's Code Green. The book offers advice ranging from taking your used batteries home when you travel in developing countries, to vacationing on a windjammer in Maine - http://www.sailmainecoast.com/contact.htm. These historic wind-powered schooners only use their back-up engines when coming in and out of harbors; a few have no engines and rely on small motorboats to tug them along.
Or join the Google Groups discussion on green travel by clicking on ''Share your green experiences'' at http://maps.google.com/green. The same Web site also profiles ''green'' attractions in five cities - Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando and San Francisco - such as L.A.'s Audubon Center at Debs Park, which is considered one of the country's most environmentally friendly buildings - http://www.audubon-ca.org/debs park.htm.
