Philippe Bourseiller/Getty Images
- equadorian andes photo Philippe Bourseiller/Getty Images
- dry tortugas photo Philippe Bourseiller/Getty Images
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While lots of families like to be at home with their extended families over the holidays, my family always had a different take. It was the time of the year when my parents had time off of work and we could travel! These are really some of my favorite memories as a child. Whether it was on a road trip to Florida or that family trip to Colorado, our holidays were never boring. This year why not consider the holidays a time to get away with your family? It's an opportunity to get back in touch with both your family and nature at the same time. Choose a rustic, eco-friendly destination where you can get back to basics and celebrate what really matters, your family.
Visit the Ecuadorian highlands and stay at the Black Sheep Inn.
Check out the Black Sheep Inn. It's an inexpensive, ecologically friendly hotel high in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. This hotel is a true eco-gem that produces less than one ounce of non-recyclable trash daily per person. It recycles wine and liquor bottles by building bottle walls. The sauna, bunkhouse shower, and showers in the private bathrooms all use the bottled wall architecture.
The Black Sheep Inn's Eco-Activities
This simple eight-room eco-retreat and bunkhouse is just one big adventure. Take the family on a hike through Andean villages and canyons, feast on a vegetarian dinner from the organic garden, sit in the sauna, then the parents can cap it all off with a glass of Ecuadorian rum.
Green Awareness
The hotel has also built a recycling center in rural Ecuador. The recycling center receives organic and inorganic waste from the village of Chugchilán. Over 50 percent of the waste is composted, 30 percent is separated and sold to local recyclers, and approximately 20 percent goes into a small landfill.
Unique Hotel Eco-Features
The hotel also uses composting toilets. Composting toilets http://compostingtoilet.org/faq/index.php use little or no water and treat toilet wastes on-site for reuse as valuable compost. The flush for the toilet is made up of sawdust, dry chopped leaves, or other dry organic matter.
Camp at Dry Tortugas National Park
Take the family to remote Dry Tortugas National Park. It encompasses a cluster of seven remote islands, reefs, and shoals about 70 miles west of Key West, that protect the southwest tip of the world's third largest barrier reef system.
Park Activities
Start your adventure with a tour of historic Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, on which construction began in 1846 though it was never completed. The park is a great place for bird watching, snorkeling, and beautiful sunsets. Camp in the park for a nightly fee of $3 per person with discounts available for annual pass holders. But remember, the park is only accessible by boat or seaplane.
Be a Green Camper
Bring green grub. Check out this guide to finding eco-friendly snacks for your family. Bring organic towels and sheets. When you leave, make sure that you have left the campground exactly as you found it.
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Make Greener Choices for Your Vacation Journey and Destination
Eco-friendly Travel Destinations
Need proof that it's possible to balance being green and still be a supportive partner and parent? See how Ed Begley, Jr. does it on Planet Green TV's Living with Ed.
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