Whether you go to a beach in the Carribbean or stay near a resort such as Tremblant, you can have an important environmental footprint if you don’t remain conscious of your habits. When you are renting a vacation home, you have more control over your environmental impact than when you stay at a hotel where you depend on the hotel’s practices. In fact, renting a vacation home is generally more environmentally friendly than a hotel (towels and sheets are not changed when they don’t need to be). To guide you in managing your impact, we are providing below a list of small actions you can take that make a big difference:

1. In organizing transportation to your destination, evaluate the most fuel-efficient methods possible. If you crave your comforts and ease of travel, consider offsetting your carbon emissions. Many airlines provide you with the opportunity to do this, otherwise, you can check out organizations such as www.myclimate.org and choose to voluntarily offset your carbon emissions.

2. When you get to your vacation home the heat or A/C will have likely been lowered to conserve energy. It is a good idea to lower the heat by a few degrees celcius in winter or increase the ambiant temp in summer, especially when you are out of the house for the day and when you leave for the return home. The pipes will normally not freeze unless the heat is lowered to 14 degrees. When lights, TVs and other appliances are not in use, keep them turned off.

3. Many vacation homes provide recycling services. Another good practice is to consider buying the least amount of packaged goods and whatever packaging you need to discard, recycle it in the bags or bins left for this purpose.

4. Reduce the heat at night and cuddle with your loved ones.

5. Always put the spa cover back on after use - it will keep it well heated.

6. Conserve water: take showers rather than baths and use a refillable water container rather than buying bottled water. In industrialized countries - the water is safe to drink.

7. Respect rules and regulations, pay attention to signals and behave responsibly (e.g do not light fires where it is forbidden).

8. Say “No” to Bad Souvenirs. Think twice before you buy any products made from any endangered species, including animal hides and body parts, tortoise-shell, ivory, or coral - they could be illegal.

9. Please don’t let your car idle - turn off your engine when car is not in use.
10. Follow the rule of thumb: Rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle!

Enjoy your stay and remember that you can lessen your impact when you travelled… leave with a green travel conscience and come home feeling good. See more tips at http://www.virgin-vacations.com/site_vv/going-green-in-the-travel-industry.asp