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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters offset one jetsetter friend's yearly carbon emissions, it'll have the effect of planting 3,538,462 trees.
COCKTAIL FACT
The ultimate globetrotter is the Arctic tern bird, which undertakes the world's longest annual migration - a 21,750-mi annual journey spanning nearly from pole to pole.
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home › tip library › Gifts for Travelers
What do you get for the person who can't seem to stay put?
The Bite
Something to make their travels a little less painful. We can't get rid of the kid kicking the back of your fave jetsetter's seat, but our travel accessory picks will give them one more reason to sit back, relax, and enjoy the eco-friendly skies.The Benefits
- Less eco-baggage. Per mile, plane travel creates more pollution than driving; opting for eco-travel essentials is a good way to help offset this.
- Healthier globetrotters. The FDA doesn't regulate the ingredients of most personal-care products, so keep even travel-size chems off your giftee's body.
- Flying with class. Just because they don't get complimentary champagne and lux seats in first class doesn't mean they can't travel in style.
Personally Speaking
Jen's ideal vacation is spending time at home on the range with her horse, but since she has to travel for work, the Ideal Bite team is stuffing her stocking with plenty of carbon offsets.Wanna Try?
- TerraPass and Native Energy - carbon-offset a jetsetter's flights for a year ($37-$1,750).
- Solio - affix this solar charger to your plane window to charge mp3 players, cell phones, and other small electronic devices; in four colors ($100).
- Vy and Elle Kit Bag - toiletry bag made from recycled billboards ($33).
- Bucky Fuzzy Wuzzy Travel Pillow - keeps the crick out; made from recycled materials; machine-washable. Also: 40 Blinks Eye Mask ($10-$24).
- Burt's Bees Travel Shower Kit - body and hair care must-haves from Burt's in travel-size bottles, so you can carry them on ($13).
- Lonely Planet Code Green - travel guide with 82 eco-trips, printed on recycled paper ($10).
Dec 04,2007
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Pack Light, Pack Well
Baggage. We've all got some...the curious thing is so many people take incredible pains to take it with them wherever they go, literally. Behold, the weekender who couldn't decide which pair of shoes to take, so packed four pair instead of one. Who feel the need for a full-size salon-to-go, with hair dryers, brushes, and curling irons. Who has two days in Paris, but instead of tearing out the guide-book pages that apply, packs the entire book, full of detailed information about places they won't have a millisecond to consider.
What's the D? I admit that it's a perhaps sad point of pride that I can pack a month's necessities in a day pack and tidy carry on while maintaining a certain element of luxury and comfort in transit. But the fact is that less stuff, better stuff is an important aspect of living a greener life, and it absolutely translates to travel gear, whether you consider yourself jet-set or not. Bring clothes and shoes that go everywhere, a few hair pins to wrangle errant locks of hair, and figure out how to access travel info you need online at your hotel.
You'll suddenly have room for all kinds of little items that will truly ease the stress of your journey - a 2-oz lavender-geranium beeswax travel candle, for example.
Have any personal travel essentials you want to share? Tell us in the blog - and safe holiday travels!
-Jenifer Morgan...off to avoid claiming my baggage in public...
What's the D? I admit that it's a perhaps sad point of pride that I can pack a month's necessities in a day pack and tidy carry on while maintaining a certain element of luxury and comfort in transit. But the fact is that less stuff, better stuff is an important aspect of living a greener life, and it absolutely translates to travel gear, whether you consider yourself jet-set or not. Bring clothes and shoes that go everywhere, a few hair pins to wrangle errant locks of hair, and figure out how to access travel info you need online at your hotel.
You'll suddenly have room for all kinds of little items that will truly ease the stress of your journey - a 2-oz lavender-geranium beeswax travel candle, for example.
Have any personal travel essentials you want to share? Tell us in the blog - and safe holiday travels!
-Jenifer Morgan...off to avoid claiming my baggage in public...
Biter Comments...
I'm pondering buying a Solio - has anyone used one? And what is the advantage of buying the Classic rather than the 1000 (a 30$ price difference)? Thanks!
Great tip, but humans must make a serious effort to reduce air travel. Consolidate business trips, videoconference for nonessential trips, and take one long vacation per year instead of several long weekends. Carbon offsets offer a false promise and merely assuage the conscience; they do virtually nothing to reduce the ever-growing impact of air travel on the planet.
Ditto to Jennifer above. "Per mile, plane travel creates more pollution than driving; opting for eco-travel essentials is a good way to help offset this." Sorry guys, but this is the most ridiculous thing you've said since promoting Reynolds-owned American Spirits as the "eco-friendly" tobacco. To put a figure on it: flying one-way LAX-JFK emits about 2,000 pounds of CO2 (according to nativeenergy.com); following today's tips might offset 100 of them. If you're truly concerned about the environment, you'd beg people not to fly.
For most, I'd bet, flying is not something taken lightly. I don't mind flying, per se, but the expense keeps me from doing so unless it is the only practical option.
Anyway, I'm a pretty frugal packer, but I must have my iPod Nano (for tunes), some Woolite packets (to launder & reuse clothes on the go), & some moisturizer (because the recirculated airplane air makes my face feel as dried out as an old saltine cracker).
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Annie | December 04, 2007 at 05:24 AM