Green Vacations

Green travels around the world

Five Spectacular, Sustainable Italian Farmstays

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Italy is home to a very special kind of tourism.  Known locally as agriturismo, it’s what happens when the worlds of agriculture and tourism come together to create completely unique accommodation experiences.  Essentially, an agriturismo is a hotel located on a farm.  Agriturismos are dotted across Italy, from the vineyards of Tuscany to the olive groves of Sicily, and offer their guests the opportunity to learn about traditional ways of living, working and eating in Italy.  Agriturismo providers must be certified by the government before being allowed to use the title, so their visitors know that they are genuine, working farms that incorporate their products into the food they serve to guests.

Recently, some agriturismo operators have sought to differentiate themselves from their competitors by incorporating sustainable practices into their farming and accommodations.  These agriturismos are perfect for travelers who want to reduce the ecological footprint of their adventures.  Plus, they offer a more memorable travel experience than a standard hotel, and are often much less expensive.  We checked out five of the best agriturismos across the country that are committed to environmentally-friendly hospitality.

Agriturismo Poderaccio
Incisa Valdarno, Tuscany.

Located only twenty kilometers away from Florence, Agriturismo Poderaccio consists of an eighteenth-century farmhouse that has been divided into four private apartments.  The adjoining family-run farm produces extra-virgin olive oil and organic fruits and vegetables.  Agriturismo Poderaccio has won awards for its complete package of sustainable practices, including wood and solar heating, waste reduction and recycling, and water conservation in farming.  It is particularly well-suited to travelers who arrive from Florence via bicycle, as they offer secure bike storage and repair tools.

Agriturismo La Fontaccia
Rufina, Tuscany

Also close to Florence, Agriturismo La Fontaccia has three rooms and two full apartments in a traditional Tuscan farmhouse.  The surrounding farms and orchards grow olives, apples, cherries, persimmons and nuts, all of which are served according to the season in the on-site restaurant.  Solar panels provide all of the energy needed on the farm and in the farmhouse, and crops are irrigated using collected rainwater.  Inside the guestrooms, the majority of the furnishings are original or restored antiques, while any new fixtures were crafted by members of a program designed to provide employment to vulnerable people from the local community.

Agriturismo il Cavicchio
Rastignano di Pianoro, Emilia-Romagna

Agriturismo il Cavicchio’s farm is run by Federico (an Italian farmer) and his family, while the accommodation and its grounds are cared for by Latifa, a recent immigrant from Morocco. They offer five rooms and two apartments, as well as a communal living area and a swimming pool, only fifteen minutes away from the city of Bologna.  The accommodations were retrofitted to be energy efficient, with new insulation, double-glazed windows and a vented roof.  The family’s farm is certified organic and avoids the use of even natural pesticides.

Fattoria Mosè
Agrigento, Sicily

Fattoria Mosè has been welcoming guests to its family-run agriturismo for more than twenty years.  The current operators are the fifth generation of their family to have worked the surrounding fields, and some parts of the building date back to the middle ages.  They have six apartments with full kitchens available, as well as four traditional private hotel-style rooms.  Each day, a breakfast made from local ingredients is served, followed by a family-style dinner.  In addition to housing a fully-organic farm, Fattoria Mosè is committed to teaching its guests about sustainable practices.  Children who stay at the agriturismo are invited to participate in caring for the farm animals, while adults can sign up for cooking classes based on local, seasonal and organic ingredients.

Agriturismo Sant’Egle
Sorano, Tuscany

Agriturismo Sant’Egle is a unique agriturismo located beside the centuries-old thermal baths of Sorano.  The guesthouse was built in the sixteenth century, and today the surrounding farms grow distinctive organic crops including spirulina, saffron and stevia using biodynamic farming methods.  The “biopool” was constructed from natural, cement-free materials and uses a chlorine-free, salt-based system to naturally filter the pool’s water.  The nearby hot tub is heated naturally with local firewood.  Recently, an innovative underground multipurpose space was constructed from local materials like straw, clay and wood, so that guests can hold sustainable meetings and special events onsite.

 

Staying at an Italian agriturismo can be an enlightening experience.  Because these are actual working farms, there are some things you can do to make your stay more enjoyable.  Ensure that you have confirmed your arrival and departure times with your host in advance, as they may need to adjust their farming schedule to accommodate you.  If you have any dietary restrictions, inform your hosts in advance so that they gather and prepare foods that you will enjoy.  Finally, maintain an open mind.  Staying on an organic farm is different than staying in a chain hotel, and what it may lack in amenities or services, it will more than make up for in authentic Italian culture.

Flying with Biofuels

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The environmental impact of air travel is staggering.  According to the David Suzuki Foundation, recreational air travel could be responsible for nearly ten percent of the climate change caused by human activity, and air travel has the greatest per-traveler environmental impact of any form of transportation, at every distance.  With the number of people traveling by plane rising every year, it’s clear that the airline industry needs to explore alternate ways of fueling their flights.  One airline that is taking the lead in this area is Alaska Airlines.

In November 2016, Alaska Airlines flew the world’s very first commercial flight powered in part by forest residuals biofuels.  The flight traveled from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., and twenty percent of its fuel was a brand-new, sustainable biofuel.  This new biofuel was manufactured by Gevo, Inc., a Colorado-based biofuel company that has worked with both military and commercial airlines.  It manufactured its biofuel blend for Alaska Airlines from sustainable Pacific Northwest forest residuals, or the parts of trees that are left after environmentally-friendly logging occurs.  The forest residuals were shared by Indigenous communities who have a long history of using every plant and animal to its fullest.

Sustainable biofuels are the most useful tool that airlines have in their arsenal to reduce the environmental impact of mass consumer airline travel.  Alaska Airlines notes that the flight that was powered by their twenty percent biofuel blend emitted almost seventy percent less carbon dioxide than it would have if it had been powered entirely by standard jet fuel.  Gevo Inc. believes that if the aviation industry commits to powering flights with biofuels, they could reach their goal of cutting carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2050.  If Alaska Airlines could replace only one fifth of the fuel it uses at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with similar biofuels, it would have the same positive impact as taking 30,000 cars off the road for a year.  Unfortunately, biofuels are currently much more expensive than traditional jet fuels, so the industry will rely need further innovation and regulation to make biofuel standard on all commercial flights.

If you would like to see airlines using more biofuels, start by writing letters to your favorite airlines and to your local lawmakers.  In the meantime, you can reduce the ecological footprint of your air travel in a few different ways.  First, choose direct flights instead of flights with stopovers, as planes use most of their fuel during take-off and landing.  Then, book seats in economy class or on budget airlines, as this allows more passengers to fit on a single flight.  Finally, pack as light as possible, because less onboard weight means less fuel can be used.  To really make a difference, though, consider traveling by bus or train, because they both have a much smaller carbon footprint than air travel.

Best Sustainable American Architecture

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One of the most significant developments of the modern green movement is the rise in sustainable and eco-friendly architecture. While the building industry in the past has been responsible for some pretty serious environmental damage – whether that’s through detrimental construction practices or through the creation of energy inefficient buildings – new concerns in the industry have given rise to a whole new generation in the last few decades.

Organizations like the American Institute of Architects and the United States Green Building Council (to name just a few) have established standards and best practices for green building. For example, the USGBC has created the standards for LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the premier classification for eco-friendly structures that indicates important things about the building, like their reduction of greenhouse emissions, water conservation, and energy efficiency. LEED certification is highly sought after in the industry, and is often the marker of the best eco-friendly buildings.

For those interested in further exploring the world of eco-friendly architecture, this list of the best sustainable American architecture is a good place to start. Plan a vacation around visiting these marvels of modern ingenuity, or find one close to your chosen destination. If you’re looking to expand the list even further, try searching for LEED-certified buildings in your area.

Compiled using data and evaluations from the American Institute of Architecture’s COTE (Committee on the Environment), this list is in no particular order but reflects ten of the most sustainable projects from the last few years.

Center for Sustainable Landscapes (Pittsburgh, PA)  

This educational research facility at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is the epitome of green building par excellence. Designed to meet several of the highest green certifications (including LEED Platinum), the CSL is the only structure in the world to achieve this level of sustainable design. An emphasis on the relationship between humans and nature and built environments is also a core focus of the visitor experience at the CSL.

Exploratorium (San Francisco, CA)

While this family-favorite children’s museum has been around for a while, its recent renovations have catapulted it onto this list. It’s located at Pier 15 on the San Francisco Bay, and takes advantage of its natural environment to maximize energy efficiency and to minimize negative environmental impact. For example, the inventive use of the surrounding water to cool and heat the building reduces energy waste, and their massive array of solar panels on the roof provides energy to run the building’s systems. They’re recognized as being a model for museums of the future.

H-E-B at Mueller (Austin, TX)

Because green building comes in all shapes and sizes, it’s a pleasure to see this unique structure make it to the list. H-E-B is a retail store featuring everything from a marketplace to a pharmacy to a fuel station, and it serves as the sustainable centerpiece of the green community in Mueller. Some of the notable green features include solar panels, LED lighting, electric car charging ports, and water reclamation resources. Mixed-use spaces like these really fulfill the human side of sustainable design, which envisions a future in which building efficiency means serving multiple purposes.

Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation (Berkeley, CA)

Part of the University of California, Berkeley campus, the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation practices what it preaches. It’s both a center for developing the future of green design and a building that typifies many of the best sustainable practices in the industry. Designated as an interdisciplinary space where students, researchers, and citizens from around the country come together to create new green technologies, the Jacobs Institute is sure to create buildings that will make future iterations of this list.

Rene Cazenave Apartments (San Francisco, CA)

Sustainable living is just as important as sustainable design in commercial structures, but concerned citizens who aren’t homeowners don’t often have a say in how green their residencies are. Fortunately, buildings like these apartments offer green living to lower-income residents who otherwise couldn’t afford to live in a sustainable environment. With everything from a green roof with solar panels to hydronic heating and reclaimed water, these apartments offer the best in green habitation.

Visual Arts Facility, University of Wyoming (Laramie, WY)

Envisioned as a place where students and teachers from across the university and throughout the community could come to be creative, the Visual Arts Facility is state-of-the-art in more ways than one. With particular strengths in heating technologies, this building offers advanced solar thermal collectors to support hot water, heated floors, and clean ventilation. Their use of captured sunlight to serve the building’s heating needs is unprecedented.

Highland Street Townhouses (Boston, MA)

This residential structure in Boston was conceived as a prototype for energy efficient urban homes, offering all the comforts a family could want alongside the best in sustainable design. Part of Boston’s Energy Plus Green Building Program, these townhouses are LEED Platinum certified and are capable of producing more energy than they use, classifying them as “radically sustainable.” They’ve thought of everything in designing these homes – from advanced solar technology to landscaping designed to minimize water waste. The building materials used were also chosen to be enduring and environmentally friendly, making every facet of this construction a green one.

New Orleans BioInnovation Center (New Orleans, LA)

Located near New Orleans’ historic French Quarter, this green building offers combined lab and office space to local biotech startups. The central idea is to support local businesses and keep them local, offering premier green facilities to the community that can inspire new innovation. Because it’s particularly hard to regulate temperature in a climate like Louisiana’s, this project had the challenge of reducing energy waste on a structure that by its nature was bound to use a tremendous amount of energy. Their success has inspired a revitalization of this area that’s still ongoing.

The Bullitt Center (Seattle, WA) 

This is the office building of the future. Designed to have virtually no carbon footprint, this structure’s sustainability is measured by the balance between energy expenditure and energy collection. Another building that faced significant environmental challenges, this six-story space in urban Seattle needed to find ways to maximize their solar energy potential in a cloudy climate. Extensive testing found the ideal arrangement for solar arrays, skylights, and a curtain wall, and now the building garners 100% of their power from these innovations. The building is also visually evocative of green structures – it’s designed to look and function like a Douglas Fir, capturing and redirecting rainwater for sustainable uses.

University Center at The New School (New York, New York) 

Another entry from university facilities, this multipurpose community center at New York’s New School creates as green building presence in the middle of Manhattan. Combining classroom and administrative space with residential space, this building offers the complete school experience in a small area and reduces the need for additional construction. Given the progressive ethos of The New School, it’s probably no surprise that their most recent addition embodies the ideals of forward thinking and innovation. Specific sustainable features like a green roof and water recycling reduces the building’s impact on New York’s delicate environment and overburdened power grid.

 

 

Go Green in the Black Forest

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Freiburg is a characteristic university town situated in southwest Germany’s Black Forest, near the border with Switzerland and France.  As Germany’s warmest and sunniest city, it has harnessed its pleasant weather to power a blossoming ecotourism industry.  From natural supermarkets that generate more power than they use to eco-friendly hotels, and from organic restaurants to well-preserved natural hiking trails, Freiburg has something that will appeal to every green traveler.

Stay

Freiburg’s most eco-friendly hotel is Green City Hotel (Paula-Modersohn-Platz 5).  This three-star hotel is actually operated as a non-profit organization with a focus on environmental sustainability and community involvement.  The hotel’s furniture was handcrafted by local carpenters using sustainable ash tree, and the hotel avoids using individually-packaged amenities wherever possible.  The hotel serves a daily breakfast based on organic and locally-sourced foods and beverages.  To reach the city center, the hotel has a partnership with a nearby bicycle rental shop, or you can ride the #3 streetcar to Freiburg’s central train station.

Explore

To take in some greenery without leaving the city, head to Schlossberg, the tree-covered hill on the east edge of the historic city center.  You can hike to the top in about thirty minutes, following the path across from the Schwabentor city gate.  From there, you can simply enjoy the views, or head out on one of the longer hiking trails that begin from this hill.

To properly experience The Black Forest, use a local bus to travel to Schauinsland, twenty kilometers south of Freiburg’s city center.  There, you can take Germany’s longest cable car to the top of the 4200-foot Schauinsland peak.  The mountainous recreation area here is ideal for cross-country day hikes at easy and moderate difficulty levels.  The marked Herbal Discovery Trail teachers visitors about the historical medicinal uses of local plants, while the Schniederlihof Museum highlights the history of this part of The Black Forest.

Eat

Before you venture into the forest, make a stop at Alnatura Super Natur Market (Merzhauser 179) to pick up picnic essentials like organic breads, meats, cheeses and wines.  Alnatura is located inside the Sun Ship building, which was designed by Rolf Disch to be one of the world’s first buildings that produces more energy than it uses.  The Sun Ship building keeps energy usage down through ultra-efficient insulation and triple-paned windows, while generating power through a solar-panelled rooftop.

If you’re back in Freiburg in time for dinner, reserve a table at Das Kartoffelhaus (Basler 10).  This humble restaurant celebrates Germany’s favorite vegetable- the potato- in innovative ways.  The chefs work with local and seasonal potato varieties wherever possible, and enhance the rotating menu of potato dishes with other locally-grown vegetables curated from nearly twenty different independent farms.  Das Kartoffelhaus can accommodate vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and lactose-intolerant diners.

Drink

When you’re ready to sample some of Germany’s famous beer, head straight to Hausbrauerie Fierling (Gerberau 46) to sample the house-brewed light beer, which has been made exclusively from certified organic ingredients since 1999.  At times, organic seasonal beers are also available on tap.

If beer isn’t your thing, you may be interested in a visit to the Weingut Landmann shop for a natural wine tasting.  Weingut Landmann is a local organic vineyard that produces red, white and sparkling organic wines from small-harvest grape crops.  Their shop is in the nearby Waltershofen suburb (Umkircher 29).

 

Three Amazing Eco-Lodges in Nicaragua

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With a rugged Pacific coast, aquamarine Caribbean coast, and dense tropical forests surrounding enormous volcanoes in the middle, Nicaragua is a nature lover’s dream.  A new crop of eco-lodges has sprung up to meet the needs of travelers who want to take in the country’s amazing natural landscapes while minimizing their own impact on the delicate ecosystems.  Although these three lodges are hundreds of miles apart, they are each steadfast in their commitment to providing unforgettable, sustainable travel experiences.

Jicaro Island Eco-Lodge

Possibly Nicaragua’s most famous eco-lodge, Jicaro Island Eco-Lodge has been featured in both Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler.  Its proximity to Granada makes it an ideal destination for travelers who want to see a Nicaragua’s natural wonders in a short time span. The hotel consists of nine casitas (“little houses”) on a private island in Lake Nicaragua.  Each two-storey casita is raised off the ground, treehouse-style, with views of the lake from the upstairs bedroom and lower living area.  The on-site restaurant focuses on seasonal local cuisine, and there is an open-air spa where guests can indulge in health and beauty treatments.

Jicaro Island Eco-Lodge has always been committed to sustainability in travel.  All of the buildings were constructed from trees that fell during Hurricane Felix, and they were strategically placed around the site so that no large trees had to be removed.  Upon opening, the hotel introduced sustainable practices like a water filtration system (to eliminate the need for disposable water bottles), ceiling fans instead of air conditioning, solar panels for heating water and organic, biodegradable cleaning products.  The hotel’s nature tours allow guests to learn more about the local eco-system, whether it is through a visit to the biological studies station in the Mombacho Volcano Nature Reserve or learning how to use traditional artisanal fishing methods to catch your own dinner from Lake Nicaragua.

Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Eco-Lodge

Located on Nicaragua’s wild Pacific coast, eighty miles south of the Nicaraguan capital, Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Eco-Lodge consists of fifteen bungalows, a private nature reserve, sustainable agricultural land and a protected tropical forest.  The lodge has its own private beach where sea turtles make their nests, and the surrounding jungles are home to sloths, anteaters, monkeys and macaws.  Every private bungalow has its own open-air terrace, and some have personal plunge pools as well.  The lodge has an open-air yoga studio with a palapa roof and a restaurant where more than half of the food served is grown or raised on-site.

Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Eco-Lodge makes animal conservation its top priority.  They have helped restore the local wildlife population through their commitment to keeping poachers at bay and rehabilitating the forest.  Since the lodge opened, staff have planted more than two million trees on the eco-lodge’s property, with the goal of developing a sustainable forestry industry that eliminates the need for illegal logging.  They also offer a range of tours with a focus on the local ecosystem.  The Breakfast on the Farm experience whisks guests to the resort’s private farm, where they care for the animals and learn how local ingredients travel from farm to plate.  The seasonal Turtle Watching excursion allows guests to see five different species of sea turtles as they nest and hatch, and teaches guests about Nicaragua’s sea turtle conservation efforts.

Selva Negra Ecolodge

Located in the landlocked highlands of northern Nicaragua, the Selva Negra Ecolodge is one of the country’s most affordable ecotourism choices.  At Selva Negra Ecolodge, guests can choose between private bungalows, traditional hotel rooms and shared dormitories in the style of a youth hostel.  The ecolodge also has its own organic farm, coffee plantation and restaurant, all of which can be visited for a pre-arranged day tour by travelers who don’t have time to stay overnight. Selva Negra Ecolodge has been family owned and operated for more than one hundred years, and is one of the area’s largest employers of local workers.

Selva Negra Ecolodge believes in spreading their message of sustainability to all of their guests.  Guests are not only taught how to make their stay more environmentally friendly (for example, through reusing towels, separating recyclable materials and staying on the ecolodge’s marked hiking trails), but they are also taught ways to bring the same sustainable practices home with them.  Selva Negra Ecolodge is famous for its daily coffee tour, where guests see how coffee is made and learn how to choose beans that are both socially and environmentally sustainable.  Nature tours are offered during the day and at night, with limited group sizes so as to not disturb the resident animals.

Nicaragua’s dry season runs from November to May.  During this time, there is little rain and temperatures are generally pleasant.  If you would like to see nesting Pacific sea turtles during your trip, it’s best to visit between July and November.