There was an interesting Twitter discussion today during Travelers Night In. In case you aren’t yet in-the-loop of this weekly online event, here’s how it works: 10 questions are thrown out via the hashtag #TNI pertaining to a particular travel-related theme over the course of 90 minutes (a new question is posted every 10 minutes). Each question sparks a flurry of responses, lively debate and discussion. I’ll admit it. TNI is my new guilty pleasure, and I find myself eagerly awaiting 12:30 p.m. PST each Thursday for the spirited cyber festivities to begin.
This week’s topic was Green Travel and the topic seemed to cause pause for a lot of participants. Sure, people had plenty to say about the greenest and least green cities, but when it came to tougher questions like “Do you consider your carbon footprint when you travel?” and “What is the most unique mode of green transportation you’ve taken?” a lot of people seemed to come up short on the responsible travel report card. I thought Todd Wassell’s suggestion to plant a tree each time he travels to offset carbon emissions was really smart; made only more clever by @TravelingPam’s suggestion to plant Meyer Lemon trees so he could make limoncello. You gotta love a woman who multi-tasks while doing good.
The one question that struck a personal chord was #3: “Have you traveled with the sole purpose to volunteer?” Responses ran the gamut from folks who had not, but would like to and committed Peace Corps volunteers, to people deterred by the prohibitive expenses of many volunteer programs and those instead donate money to charities. For some reason, a lot of people expressed interest in volunteering at a winery, which just goes to show that volunteerism doesn’t necessarily have to be a humanitarian effort to be helpful.
For the post-play Green Travel report, search #TNI on Twitter (I have a dedicated column set up on Tweetdeck, which makes it easy) or check out Adventurous Kate’s blog. She usually posts a recap. The discussion definitely has me thinking about how I can travel greener and make less of an impact on the world. Next weeks topic: Budget Travel. Same time, same place. I hope you’ll join the conversation for Travelers Night In.
Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks