Go Green: Eco Travel 101

Andros Island, the least-developed and largest of the 700 islands and cays that make up the Bahamas, is just a 10-minute plane ride away from the mega-resorts, golf courses and party vibe of tourist-oriented New Providence Island. Andros supplies fresh water and workers to its high-profile neighbor, but has retained most of its natural resources and beauty.

Bill Adams’ tractor goes putt, putt, putt. It’s a 1957 John Deere, the last of the two-cylinder models, and just one of the many venerable pieces of agricultural equipment around the Adams Farm in southern Vermont, which has been under one family’s ownership since 1865. Adams’ tractor has been used for maple sugaring, for sheep […]

One of the first distributors of Segway Human Transporters (HTs), Amelia’s Wheels at Amelia Island Plantation Resort in Florida has offered guided tours and rentals since 2004. The option to rent Segways is relatively new for the resort, but a tradition of environmental integrity is not. Development of the property was restricted in 1971. Now, the site has been transformed into a destination that has harmony with nature in mind.

Finding Respite–and a Real Meal–While on Vacation For a growing number of travelers, the Sweet Onion Inn is a sweet site indeed. The white-shingled structure nestles along Route 100 in Hancock, Vermont, a rustic spot between unbroken expanses of Green Mountain forest and winding White River. The front walk of the inn rustles with fallen […]

In the Year of the Reef, Bonaire Offers Great Diving and Protected Coral In stark contrast to the runaway American-style construction on neighboring Aruba (McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, a water-intensive golf course and numerous American hotel chains), the island of Bonaire, in the Netherlands Antilles off the coast of Venezuela, remains a quiet getaway and […]

Ecuadoran Ecotourism Tries to Protect an Ancient Land Threading down the Capahuari River in an eight-passenger motorized canoe, tourists stare in awe at the dreadlock vines dipping into dung-colored waters along the river’s edge. Electric blue butterflies tickle the air and turtles slip from mottled logs. The only break in the wall of green comes […]

This year, ski areas were issued a challenge: Could they reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and help to undo some of the global warming damage that would inevitably be their downfall? They didn’t have to go it alone. The National Ski Area Association’s Sustainable Slopes program teamed up with Clif Bar & Company, the Natural […]

It is peaceful on Nonsuch Island, a 14-acre nature preserve at the eastern entrance to Bermuda’s Castle Harbor. Migratory songbirds flit through canopy trees, their calls disturbed only by the distant and distinctly incongruous whine from a motorcycle track on the mainland. With its Bermuda palmetto, olivewood and cedar forests, scuttling Sally Lightfoot crabs and nesting Bermuda petrel seabirds just offshore, the island represents a rare opportunity to experience Bermuda as its first visitors saw it.

There are still many ways to immerse yourself in unspoiled beauty in Florida, and there are many people working hard to preserve what’s left of this lush paradise.

Environmentalists, thankfully, aren’t couch potatoes, and eco-travel is becoming more and more popular every year. This new column will explore not only travel destinations but trends in environmental travel and operating standards that this fledging industry is attempting to meet.

When the first European travelers saw Hawaii, they thought they’d found paradise. But the 50th state, Hawaii is no longer so Edenic. Waikiki Beach has become a high-rise hell, and Honolulu, on the main island of Oahu, is America’s 11th largest urban center (though it remains the only U.S. city with a rainforest).

Imagine a South Pacific paradise, steeped in the 18th century history of Captain James Cook and William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. You can almost smell fragrant frangipani blossoms, taste sweet papayas and feel cool breezes. Now add to that vision: blue starfish, a sparrow-size-bird threatened by extinction and a tree-climbing senior citizen.

The late spring and early fall "off season" are lovely times to visit Cape Cod, whether you stay at a large hotel, a bed and breakfast, or one of the many (but pricey) rental properties.