Eco-Vacations All Over the World

Best Eco Lodges is a eco-tourism Web site featuring eco-friendly hotels, eco-resorts and green hotels all over the world.

The hotels and lodges featured on the site have been selected to meet eco-friendly requirements to be an ecological and environmentally friendly accommodation that offer travelers an unforgettable experience.

Best Eco Lodges' goal is to create awareness among fellow travelers about genuine sustainable lodging.

Eco lodges must meet the following eco-friendly requirements:

-Be energy efficient

-Protect the environment, including flora, fauna and landscape

-Conserve natural resources

-Support, respect and benefit local culture and economy

(More exhaustive definitions of the requirements can be found here.)

The eco-lodges featured on the Web site are located in Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Laos, Seychelles, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, South Africa, Tanzania and the U.S.

Rates vary greatly with eco-lodges in South Africa, Laos and India only costing $25 and $30 a night for a double room and a villa at Cousine Island Eco Lodge in Seychelles costing as much as 1700 euros.

An example of an affordable accommodation is the Black Rock Lodge in Belize, which is surrounded by rain forest and is one of few places in Central America where you can observe three Toucan species. The electricity at Black Rock Lodge is supplied by a custom hybrid of hydro and solar power and the staff comes from surrounding communities. The restaurant of the lodge serves fresh, organic fruits that are grown on-site and 100 percent of the water is supplied by a nearby mountain spring. Double rooms start at $80.

Try making your next vacation an eco-friendly one, check out Best Eco Lodges.

Eco-Spirits Extremely Affordable

On a recent trip to the liquor store I came across 360 Eco Friendly Vodka. It was priced at $19.95 and I decided to give it a try.

The packaging includes a lot of useful information about the company’s environmental impact. It claims to be the first and only true eco-friendly premium vodka and has received awards in taste, quality, packaging and marketing. I am no vodka coinsurer, however I thought it was good and better than the similarly priced Skyy Vodka.

The store only had the regular 360 Eco Friendly Vodka, but after researching on the Web I discovered that 360 also distills cola and double chocolate flavors.

The vodka comes in an 85 percent recycled glass bottle and 100 percent recycled eco-friendly paper products are used in the labeling, packaging and promotional materials. The shipper uses 100 percent recycled cardboard. Environmentally friendly water based inks are used for printing of all materials. A program called Close the Loop was developed for the metal bottle closures with the purpose of enabling infinite reuse which reduces waste and conserves resources needed to produce new closures. The vodka came with an envelope with prepaid postage to return the closure.

The vodka is four times distilled through an energy efficient process, with every bushel of grain being fully utilized and nothing going to waste. The vodka is also five times filtered at a facility that has improved its eco-footprint measurably over the past five years. All grain is locally grown to significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption in transporting raw materials to the distillery.

According to an Eco-Audit with calculations based on research by Environmental Defense and other members of the Paper Task Force, the Earth Friendly Distilling Co. saved the following resources in the production of 360 Vodka’s labeling:

• 193 fully grown trees
• 82,766 gallons of water
• 9,255 pounds of solid waste
• 139 million BTU of energy
• 18,052 pounds of greenhouse gases

Magic Soap

Have you ever wondered if the same soap you use to wash your clothes could be used as toothpaste and shampoo? Sounds outrageous right? Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap does just that, in fact, it has 18 different uses. The soap, which has been made for decades, is also certified under the USDA National Organic Program and Fair Trade.

Below is a list of just some of the soap's uses, according to the product Web site:

1. Always dilute for Shave-Shampoo-Massage-Dental Soap-Bath!

2. Peppermint is nature's own unsurpassed fragrant Deodorant!

3. A drop is best Mint Toothpaste; brushes Dentures Clean!

4. A dash in water is the ideal Breath Freshener & Mouth Wash!

5. Peppermint Oil Soap for Dispensers, Uniforms, Baby, Beach!

6. Dilute for ideal After Shave, Body Rub, Foot Bath, and Douche.

7. Hot Towel-Massage the entire body, always towards your heart.

8. Pets, silk, wool & body tingles head to toe - keeps cool!

9. 3 dashes in water rinse most Sprays Off fruit & vegetables!

10. 1/4 oz in qt H2O is Pest Spray! Dash, no rash Diaper-Soap!

All of Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One liquid and bar soaps are completely biodegradable and vegetable-based. They are made with Certified Fair Trade and Organic oils. Both the bar and liquid have 18 uses and there are no synthetic foaming agents, thickeners or preservatives in the soap. The cylinder bottles and paper labels used in the packaging are 100 percent post-consumer recycled.

Dr. Bronner’s is the number one selling natural soap brand in North America. Although I have never used it, I am eager to try it out. A classic bar of soap costs $4.19 and an eight ounce bottle of the liquid version is only $5.99. Not bad at all when you consider all of its uses.

Dr. Bronner must have been an interesting character. This is evident when reading the soap bottle label, and is demonstrated in a 2006 documentary, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soapbox. Click here to see the movie trailer.

Eco-Grooming Products

As I was reading through The Daily Evergreen I came across an advertisement for Red Devil Grooming. It is an online retailer for affordable, organic personal care products. With a tag line "So Natural. It's a Sin." I knew I had to check it out.

There are only 11 products on the Web site, but they are extremely affordable in comparison to similar items. The products, which are aimed towards men, include shampoo, hair gel and body wash. Most of these items cost $8.95, with the most expensive item being a 3-pack of personal care items for $24.95.

The site is very well organized and links to a blog about men's grooming, a Twitter account and a place to sign up for the newsletter.

Red Devil Grooming's mission is to provide products to people that are good for the environment and the people who use them.

In 2009, the company was created in order to "...take the challenge of trying to save the world." The company sought to curb some environmental issues like eliminating the harsh chemicals used in grooming products and shipping products in eco-friendly packaging.

Renewable Energy Purchases on the Rise

Corporations can wreak havoc on the environment. However, their large purchasing power gives them the opportunity to make a positive effect by buying renewable energy rather than using conventional, unsustainable power sources.

Consumers in all states have the opportunity to buy renewable electricity. In areas where consumers pick a utilities provider, they have the option to select a green energy provider. In other areas, green pricing programs are available. If nothing else, renewable energy certificates (RECs) are available to offset emissions, but these are more common for businesses.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "if the typical commercial facility switched to 100 percent renewable power or used RECs to offset emissions, this could amount to thousands oftons of emissions avoided each year."

Kohl's became the new #2 purchaser of renewable energy this week. Intel is still on top and PepsiCo is #3. For more information, read the article on the Environmental Leader Web site.