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| Around the world and closer to home, hotels and resorts are re-fitting and re-fashioning in environmentally kinder ways. Our editors offer highlights of destinations that prove you don’t have to be an intrepid traveler to go green. |
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Green Desert
| With the only LEED-certified visitor center
in the United States, an 8200 square foot building that uses 40
percent less energy than building codes require, Palm Springs, CA
is one of the America’s most eco-friendly travel destinations.
Seven-passenger electric Courtesy Carts ferry shoppers to Tiffany,
Saks and Oilily along El Paseo, and golfers tee up in the environmentally
sound Desert Willow golf course. Hikers and bikers enjoy 40-50 miles
of trails. The Living Desert, a 450-acre museum, zoo, nature preserve
and botanical garden teachers helps visitors learn about City of Palm Desert |
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| Ergo Green | With its own 2007 hydro-electric power plant (replacing the original built by the owners in 1927), picturesque chalet hotel Rosa Alpina supplies not only its own green power, but half the electricity of San Cassiano village. A mountain water source, insulating wood construction, and local ingredients in the cuisine and spa products are other environmentally harmonious aspects of the third-generation hostelry in Italy’s Ladino-speaking dramatic Dolomite region. Hotel and spa Rosa Alpina
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Homes Away From Home
| As a lodging alternative, travelers are
booking space in private homes via Roomorama.com. Facilitating communication
between renters and lodgers, Roomorama provides a reliable, online
method of searching rooms and confirming availability. Website maps
help pinpoint lodging locations. Visitors provide feedback which
helps certify host accommodations and user profiles help provide
references. A small booking fee is |
| Outdoors Can Do | Once a victim of sardine overfishing, California’s restored historic Cannery Row is newly reclaiming the region’s other natural resources offering visitors a variety of outdoor activities. Bicyclists can try out the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreational Trail, and the calm, shallow waters of San Carlos Beach provide a good venue for beginning scuba divers. Adventures by the Sea takes visitors in kayaks to explore the kelp forests and marine life – sea otters and harbor seals. Cannery Row |
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| © 2006 Verdant Magazine. All rights reserved. |
