If you’re going to be taking a trip across this beautiful country of ours, there are several things you can do to make your travel as green as possible.

The first thing to do is take your car in for a thorough inspection, to make sure it will be able to safely make the trip you want to make. Have the oil changed, all fluids topped off, and so on.  Don’t just look at your tires with a critical eye and decide that they’re fine – check them with a tire gauge and be absolutely sure.  And if they’re the least bit under inflated, top them off as well.

Quite simply, under inflated tires waste gasoline.  And by extension, money.

The faster you go in your car, the more gasoline you burn.  This can be a trade off.  The faster you go, the sooner you arrive at your destination, and the more time you have to spend on vacation.  But really, how much time do you save?  A couple of hours?

It’s certainly hard to be the only car on the road going 60 when everyone and their brother is passing you going 70, but in the long run it saves on money and gasoline.

If this is a family trip, you’ll have, on average, your spouse and two kids with you in the car.  And since two kids can’t sit still very long, you’ll be stopping at rest stops and perhaps at grocery stores, just to take the monotony out of the trip.

It’s at times like these that a lot of litter builds up in the car, which eventually has to be thrown out.

One way to prevent this is to pack lunches for the kids, so there’s no need to stop at restaurants.  Glide in to a convenient rest-stop, take your food out of their glass containers, repack your glass containers for future use, walk around enjoying the sites of the rest-stop (there are usually signs pointing out sites of historic interest through which you’ll be passing), and then get back on your way.

Next you need to find some place to stay for the night.  Make an effort to find an eco-friendly lodging at which to stay.  There are several sites on the web where you can search for “best green hotels” or “green hotel bookings.”  Typically these lodgings will have restaurants that serve organic food, use environmentally safe cleaners, use recycling bins, practice water conservation (with low flow toilets) and so on.

And as you go on your trip, be careful about acquiring too much “stuff” or souvenirs that you will only throw away once you get home, as opposed to stuff you really want and will proudly display.

Your family vacations should be memorable for you… but you should leave as small a footprint behind as possible.