Saturday, May 30, 2009

The "Greening" of a road trip


Two weeks and the Great American Road trip gets started. Planning routes, choosing attractions, finding great local restaurants, and counting my pennies are all in high gear.
I'm also working on "greening" our trip.

Obviously, the biggest "green" aspect will be our mode of transportation.

I suggested to the Ford Motor Company that we could help each other out by them allowing me to drive one of their improved hybrids and making an advertising campaign showing how the hybrid works all over the country. It would appear that they are going to pass on my offer. (Kinda thought they might, but it didn't hurt to ask)

Thanks to a local auto rental company, the Great American Road trip will be accomplished in the leader in hybrid autos,
The Toyota Prius

With the wheels secured, what else can we do to "green" the trip? One thing that I always associate with road trips is "munchies". Is there a way to "green" the food for the road.

Reducing trash, waste, and excessive packaging is how we plan on being more responsible snackers. First, Ronald is not going to be happy, but we will be avoiding fast food most of the trip. This serves a few purposes. First, we'll be eating healthier. Second, we'll keep more green in my wallet. Finally, we will reduce the waste associated with snack foods. Instead of buying bags of small chips and pretzel bags or individually wrapped snacks, we'll buy in bulk and make our own "bags" Our "bags" not only will be re-usable, they will keep the snacks safer, less crushing and breaking.
Here's our "bags":

Cool Whip bowls, old butter tubs, and reusable Chinese delivery trays will keep the snacks fresh and intact. They will also help us not eat more than we should at one sitting, something quite easy to do with an open bag of SunChips and 4 hours of driving.

Two other items "greening" our trip: resuable shopping bags (great for all those cool whip bowls) and water bottles.
We're still working on other ways to "green" the trip. If you have any ideas, please let us know.

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