Air travel contributes to the increase of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. Earth Routes has adopted a practice to reflect this global concern. For every airline ticket sold, Earth Routes donates $1 to SeedTree, a nonprofit organization that provides help for local people to plant trees and keep them growing in deforested areas of Nepal and Nicaragua.

Trees can provide many life-giving supports in third-world countries, and can help the whole planet by absorbing some of the carbon dioxide that is responsible for about 50% of the "greenhouse effect" and the threat of global warming. A single tree can be a sustainable source of fuel, food, animal fodder, and timber and at the same time absorb 20 to 50 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Considering that an average airline flight within the US releases about 1700 pounds of carbon dioxide and other gases that produce the greenhouse effect, we should make sure there are plenty of trees around to offset this environmental damage.

• $5.00 can plant 40 trees including indigenous and endangered species;
• $10.00 can supply a smokeless, fuel-efficient cooking stove to a household;
• $30.00 offers one week's supervision for several nursery and tree planting sites;
• $100.00 can provide a well to a community now struggling for water.
• $250.00 constructs a wood conserving biogas plant, providing sanitation, fertilizer and clean-burning cooking fuel.
• $350.00 provides six months environmental education to a remote village.
• $500.00 endows a Community Environmental Trust issuing rotating loans to extend your gift for people and their ecosystems indefinitely.

You may already have experienced geotourism without being aware of the term. It's a practice that goes beyond ecotourism - which can sometimes harm natural resources with too much traffic - and includes a concern for protecting a region's art, cultural heritage, and the well-being of its residents as well as its natural environment. Geotourists spend their money in ways that help maintain the distinctiveness of the place they are visiting. Supporting community beautification projects, dining at restaurants serving local cuisine, participating in tours of historic sites, enjoying performances of regional music, and hiring local guides who see themselves as caretakers of natural resources - all these are ways to be a geotourist and help sustain the wonderful destinations you discover.

A list of recommended practices from the Florida Green Lodging Association gets pretty personal. Protecting the environment is a lot about wastes and water, so this list follows you right into your hotel bathroom. Lodgings committed to green practices are doing their part by making improvements in water conservation (such as using reclaimed water for irrigation), and guests can share the responsibility for the environment by turning off the water while brushing teeth, taking short showers, filling the sink basin to shave, and reporting noisy or leaky faucets and toilets. It's not that hard to do, and it makes a difference! For a complete list, and for information about lodgings that have earned Green Lodging Certification, see www.floridagreenlodging.earth911.org

Can we do this in large enough numbers to make a difference? Or do we need a law to hit us in our wallets and remind us to do what's good for our environment? Since March of 2002, Ireland has levied a tax on plastic shopping bags. The result was a 90% drop in numbers of plastic bags consumed, along with the equivalent of over 9 million dollars raised from the tax in the first year and dedicated to a "green fund" to benefit the environment. Litter has been reduced, and millions of gallons of oil have been saved.

We can learn from other countries, and at least some of our fellow shoppers might become more aware by seeing more reusable bags brought to the check-out counter. Don't forget to take some shopping bags with you when you travel, too!

Someday we won't need a special day to remind us to take care of the Earth. In the meantime, we can work towards a world more caring of the natural environment by being aware of our impact and choosing a small change to make in our lives. A time to walk instead of drive, a switch to a renewable-energy electricity source, a willingness to look into the reasons behind a low-cost vacation package, a choice based on concern for the true cost of a purchase - these are ways to celebrate the planet that sustains us.