Results tagged “Environment” from Intelligent Travel Blog

Earlier this month, Apple began to celebrate the app store's first birthday by highlighting its favorite applications and games on iTunes -- tens of thousands of which have undoubtedly changed the way people use their phones when out and about. Grist also recently compiled a list of green apps, featuring a range of green programs from one that finds the greenest tissues and paper products to one that calculates fuel efficiency. Although I've refused to buy into the iPod hype, below are some apps that have me lusting after an iPhone for hitting the streets:

• Summer fun comes hand in hand with a blistering summer sun, so some sunscreen application is in order these days. Gorgeously Green Survival Guide ($0.99) helps in selecting the right one by showing  which chemical ingredients are no-nos.
  
• For those trying to figure out where to go and what to do in Los Angeles, Greenopia (free) offers a listing of over a thousand green businesses, restaurants, and services, complete with search and mapping functions. (Don't worry, it's coming out with apps for more cities later this year.)
  
• Overwhelmed by new menus in new locations? What's Fresh ($1.99) offers a U.S. map of seasonable produce and details the local fruits and vegetables in season for fresher and greener eats.
  
• To learn more about energy used in travels, greenMeter ($5.99) measures fuel consumption, efficiency, and costs, enhanced by details on carbon footprint and consumption graphs.
  
• In the era of new media, everyone likes to be in the know whenever and where they are. Stay in tune with GreenSpot ($1.99), a topic-specific reader aggregating environmental headlines from top sources like the NYT and AP and even hosts a podcast.
  
• Alternatively, Green News Reader ($0.99) also scans our favorite National Geographic, among other sources, for news!

Got other green app suggestions? Let us know!

Hitting the road this summer? Just because you're out of your comfort zone doesn't mean that your eco-friendly habits have to go on vacation too. Responsibletravel.com recently surveyed their readers about which travel faux pas they noticed most often in tourists. It's bad enough looking the part, do your best not to act it by avoiding these ill-minded actions.

1. "Littering - especially plastic bags."
2. "Purchasing illegal souvenirs or food produce."
3. "Wasting water in destinations which face shortages e.g. Spain."
4. "Leaving lights on."
5. "Leaving air conditioning on in hotel rooms when you're not in them."
6. "Purchasing mineral water in plastic water bottles when the hotel provides drinkable water for re-fills."
7. "Standing on coral reefs. It takes approx. one hundred years for one inch of coral to grow. By killing it you affect the whole eco system."
8. "Disturbing wild animals by getting as close as possible for a better picture."
9. "Throwing cigarette butts on the ground."
10. "Failing to take advantage of recycling facilities where offered."

Of course, there's hope for all of us, and lots of great ways to stay green while you're traveling. For more tips and ideas, check out Traveler's Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel. And National Geographic's Green Guide just launched their huge online package on having an eco-savvy summer, offering tips on what not to bring to the beach, a "How Green is Your Road Trip" quiz, and yes, even a buying guide to eco-friendly beer.

Got your own tip? Share it below.

[via Traveling the Green Way]

Photo: Vasjan Gulka, National Geographic magazine's My Shot

It's been 39 years since the first Earth Day, and National Geographic news has a great slideshow of photographs and stories from it's not-so-humble beginnings. But what's interesting is how the day has changed over time. Elizabeth Kolbert reports in the New Yorker this week that the first Earth Day was a "raucously exuberant affair..."

In New York, Fifth Avenue was closed to traffic. People picnicked on the sidewalk; dead fish were dragged through midtown; and Governor Nelson Rockefeller rode a bicycle across Prospect Park. Students in Richmond, Virginia, handed out bags of dirt (to represent the "good earth"); demonstrators in Washington poured oil onto the sidewalk in front of the Interior Department (to protest recent oil spills); and in Bloomington, Indiana, women dressed as witches threw birth-control pills into the crowd (no one was quite sure why). All told, some twenty million Americans took part..."

Today Earth Day seems a bit tame in comparison. Yes, there are concerts and other events, but in many ways the day seems akin to Arbor Day in our minds - a nice thing to recognize - but unless you're physically planting a tree it's more a manifestation of good feelings than a call to action. And indeed, there are numbers to prove that effect: In a recent Gallup poll asking Americans whether "protection of the environment should be given priority, even at the risk of curbing economic growth," only forty-two percent said yes. And in a poll from the Pew Research Center that  asked Americans about their priorities for Congress and the new president, "dealing with global warming" ranked at the bottom of the list.

So what can you do to raise awareness and share information about protecting our environment? We've got some suggestions here at NG. We're currently running a contest called GreenEffect, which will award $20,000 to the five people or groups whose green ideas will help bring about change. Our Green Guide offers tips for everyday trimming of your consumption and energy use. Our mission is "to inspire people to care about the planet" and we're working every day to achieve that end. So read, donate, or share what we're doing here with others, and you can help make a difference.

Photograph from AP