More Hip Than Hippie #99 - Eco-Tourism

Summer is right around the corner, which means it's vacation time! We'll be talking about eco-tourism and giving you great resources for planning an environmentally friendly trip.

Beer and Chocolate:

Beer: ACME IPA from North Coast Brewing in Fort Bragg, CA

Chocolate: Green & Black's Dark & Almond from Elizabeth in Snailwell, England.

Hip News and Finds

Finds:

• Win the war on weeds. Don't be discouraged if weeds start to encroach on your garden. An article from Mother Earth Living suggests using newspaper as mulch to smother weeds.
• Green giggles. Environmental issues are reaching kids through several new cartoons. The Unsustainables is an animated series that highlights the importance of being eco-friendly. The Greens sends a similar message by following an animated, quirky, eco-family.

News:

• California passes hemp farming legislation. The California Assembly has passed legislation giving farmers the right to grow non-psychoactive Industrial Hemp. Next, the bill will make its way to the Senate where it is expected to pass.
• Residue found in Oregon streams. Scientists testing beds of streams around Portland found residue from caffeine, Prozac, Benadryl, and other medicines in the streams. This discovery raises concerns about how the chemicals could affect fish and other life.
• Fly neutral. Silverjet, Britain's exclusively business class carrier and the world's first carbon neutral airline, launched in January of this year. The price for tickets includes a mandatory carbon offset contribution
• Eco-driving slow to catch on in America. Eco-driving, or driving to save gas, has not gotten the same attention in the U.S. as it has in other countries, like Britain. Beginning in 2008 in the UK, new drivers will be required to demonstrate eco-driving skills to save fuel in order to get their drivers license.
• U.S. cars contribution to global warming. A new study by Environmental Defense says U.S. cars are responsible for nearly half of all greenhouse gasses emitted by automobiles globally.

Eco-friendly Travel

It's vacation time! We've got some great resources for you to make sure tread lightly on the planet during your travels this summer. The International Ecotourism Society and SustainableTravelInternational.org great resources for everything you need to know about eco-friendly travel. Check out ResponsibleTravel.com for responsible travel tips.

Are you an EcoTraveler? EcoTravelling.co.uk is a collection of articles written by a team of experts about traveling responsibly. With so many articles to choose from, it was hard to pick a few to feature, but here are some of our favorites:

• Carbon Offsetting
• Eco-Friendly Packing
• Selecting the Right Travel Company

Booking your hotel. How can you tell if your hotel is green? Check out ResponsibleTravel.com's list of 10 ways to tell if your eco-lodge is really an eco-lodge and this article from MSN Travel that tells you what to look for when booking your hotel.

Planes, trains, and automobiles. When you need to get from point A to point B, consider making reservations with one the following companies that offer eco-friendly options:

• EV Rental Cars offers hybrid vehicles exclusively to those traveling in California, Arizona, and Nevada
• Hertz introduced a Green Collection last fall with four models that have an EPA rating of at least 28 miles/gallon
• Avis Portugal is the first rental agency in Europe to offer hybrid cars
• OZOcar is a New York limo company that bills itself as an eco-luxury private car service
• Travelocity is working with The Conservation Fund to provide carbon offsets for a flat fee
• Expedia is working with TerraPass to offer carbon offsets at rates of $5.99 for a short flight and $29.99 for an international flight
• British Airways has partnered with Climate Care to neutralize emissions
• Silverjet is the first carbon neutral airline

Be prepared on your travels. The Green Guide has some great tips for traveling healthy and being prepared for the unexpected when abroad.

The other side of carbon offsetting. Before you purchase carbon offsets for your summer travel, a little due diligence goes a long way. Make sure the company you purchase offsets from is really delivering what they say they will. Another Inconvenient Truth, an article in Business Week, gives you the low down on what to look for when buying offsets.

Listener Emails

Once again, we have a bunch of great listener emails. Keep 'em rolling in at hip@greenfeet.com. And don't forget to post articles, links, and speak your mind at our MHTH forum!

• Beer for all! Thomas in Ontario (eh?) has a suggestion for Wendy in Florida, who can't drink beer because of the migraines she suffers. While listening to another podcast about home brewing beer, Basic Brewing Radio, Thomas found out about gluten-free beer. Gluten is an allergen that may be the cause of the migraines. Thomas recommends that Wendy check out Mr. Goodbeer, a website where you can buy several different brands of gluten-free beer.
• Pet food FYI. A concerned listener with connections to the pet food industry wanted to share some important information with other listeners. Because he FDA has been slow updating the pet food recall list, check out the list from the American Veterinary Medical Association, which seems to be updated more often.
• Disposing of the poo. Laura has a suggestion for Amanda, who was looking for a more eco-friendly way of disposing of kitty litter. She recommends the Doggie Dooley, which works like a mini septic tank to breakdown pet waste.

Email us at hip@greenfeet.com. Don't forget to vote for us at podcastalley.com and podcastpickle.com. Send us a voice message at our Skype address "morehip" or +1 530.554.2605. Don't have Skype? Get it - it's free!