Dana's Five For Fun - July

Cool eco- and econo-conscious freebies and travel sites.

1. RANK finds and ranks travel routes based on criteria such as price, travel time and CO2 emissions. Unlike other solutions that consider only one means of transport at a time, routeRANK integrates rail, road and air options and shows them in a single view on one screen.

2. Green Explorer, new travel site from Nokia, "Not to make money or attract users to Nokia phones, but because it is a good thing to do."

3. HomeLink USA, one of the few home exchange sites that has European homes for swap with US homes. I find other home exchange sites are top heavy with listings from the US. and listings are old, free, or copied from other sites. Reminder: the vacation homes mentioned on this site also consider swaps.

4. Free advice about Sedona from locavores, trail experts, and guides. Also, search this blog for "Sedona" or "hiking."

5. Free eBooks for summer reading.

Send Free Starbucks Ice Cream to Your Fave Vacation Rental by Owner?

Eco and econo conscious as I am, my vacation rentals are full of cool goodies for guests like coupons, discounts, and free stuff free stuff. Where do I get them, guests ask? Come on, you can Google anything... okay, okay, here are links to the ones I hit most often:

Frugal-Freebies.com
Current Offer Free Starbucks Ice Cream: Up to 20,000 coupons for a free pint will be shared every day through July 19. Send one friend a coupon to enjoy a complimentary pint of new Starbucks Ice Cream. Over 800 coupons for a free pint every hour. You can only send one coupon to one friend, so choose carefully! If it says restricted, try back later.

The Freebie Blogger has an offer now for free luggage tags.

I also check CoolSavings.com and SmartSource.com

Just kidding about you sending me ice cream. Send me a video review of Casita Colibri instead and you can get a free week in the Sedona vacation rental (based on availability and a few excluded dates).

Earth Odyssey Travel Features Green Vacation Rentals

Four vacation spots take environmental responsibility way beyond simple measures. A recent article By Ann Haver-Allen, Earth Odyssey Editor features Dana's vacation rentals.

Michael Jackson and the Illusion of the Consumer Culture

Amazon.com sold as many Michael Jackson albums in the 24 hours after his death as in the previous 11 years. What does this say about us?

I'll explore this subject of consumerism in the context of the impact on our spirit and the planet in my upcoming column in 4CM. Join the conversation with comments here or email me privately...

How about these MJ jokes intended to cheer you up? Offensive or did you laugh? (Warning: Mature content)

Hottest Trends in Weddings--Eco Consciousness Rings A Bell

Take 2.5 million US weddings a year, add half a million commitment ceremonies and multiply it by an average of 150 guests at each event, and you end up with overflowing landfills and toxins soaking into the water supply, our skin, and Mother Earth.

While celebrating your love isn’t supposed to be a downer about the death of the planet, weddings tend to be about stuff—single use, chemically bleached dresses, toxic makeup, rolls and rolls of gift wrap, gem-based jewelry, chemically treated, imported flowers, and lots of garbage. This may be why green weddings made #5 in the global nuptials hottest trends list. Trend #1 is announcing your engagement on Facebook— also eco in that it eliminates paper declarations.

Green wedding planner, Kate Harrison explains, “If every wedding this year used a disposable aisle runner and the runners were laid end –to-end, they would circle the globe twice! Similarly, the amount of paper used to make invitations could cover the island of Manhattan.”

Throwing an earth-friendly ceremony doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice style or freak-out your friends with lectures about recycling. You can gently increase people’s awareness with your show of love for one another and the planet with earth and money-saving practices at a celebration that doesn’t poison the planet. Take these simple ideas:

• Clue guests in early to your eco-approach with a page in your program or website highlighting some of the green choices you made and mention choices they can make to green their travel and gifts.
  Example about a wedding menu, “Our menu will offer mostly vegetarian choices. Raising cattle uses much more energy than growing vegetables. And, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), chemical and animal waste runoff from factory farms is responsible for more than 173,000 miles of polluted rivers and streams. Runoff from farmlands is one of the greatest threats to water quality today. Agricultural activities that cause pollution include confined animal facilities, plowing, pesticide spraying, irrigation, fertilizing and harvesting.
  
• Invitations, place and note cards not only generate tons of trash—the production of paper creates air and water pollution. Try plantable paper and envelopes implanted with wildflower seeds, you buy the paper from a company like Botanical Paperworks and print your own invites. Or order from Plantable Seed Paper which makes paper for you with your own choice of seeds—from trees to herbs or flowers.

Engagement Rings and Jewelry. Gold mining is one of the dirtiest businesses on the planet. Production of just one ring creates 20 tons of mine waste and the battle over diamonds has left over 50,000 dead, half a million refugees, and a thousand amputees. In addition to the human cost, mining creates erosion and flooding. Make a big difference with these choices:

• Buy a previously owned ring from eBay or a reputable consignment shop like Saddlerock Barn in Sedona. Owner, Mary Ann Johnson has these tips for easy eco, “The trend in jewelry sales is for estate and vintage wedding sets. Our customers buy old rings and have the stones reset. A new diamond ring costs about $4,600. With a vintage ring you know you are not contributing to pollution or violence, and you spend around $2,000.”


• Sumiche Jewelry Co. is the only company in the U.S. using Certified Green Gold and Platinum. Their handcrafted jewelry is created from Certified Fair Trade/Eco-Gold and Platinum. All diamonds are certified Conflict Free.

Choose vendors who make an effort to go green. Go with local or organic food catered at a green certified venues like Smog Shoppe—LA’s first completely green event space—100% solar powered. Even music can go green, take Bamboo Beats in Seattle, WA, these DJs use only MP3 files—no CDs—plus they drive to and from gigs in a hybrid, and only print in-house on recycled materials with an Energy Star® rated printer. Other eco-tactics:

• Save money and trash. Photographers can be expensive and if every wedding in the US had 10 disposable cameras, that puts 25 million cameras a year in landfills. Who needs more plastic when there are good alternatives like renting fully insured, digital cameras? Let your guests take quality photos and lighten up the landfill load. Camera Renter ships digital cameras to you and when you return the cameras the photos post to a website so you can share pictures with your guests.


• Save money, book offseason—Sedona makes a good choice with close to 300 days of sunshine a year your wedding can be outside almost anytime except July and August.


• Smaller footprint, bigger rooms, lower bill at check out. Choose lodging for guests or your honeymoon at eco-conscious vacation rental homes like those at EcoLuxury Lodging or a green B&B.


• Choose recycled dresses instead of buying new. Wedding and bridesmaid gowns can use up to 16 yards of fabrics made from petroleum products, bleached with toxic chemicals, and shipped from China. The average cost of a new wedding dress is $1,300, a previously worn gown averages just $200 and no new resources were used to create it.


• Donate gowns after the wedding to The Cinderella Project or The Glass Slipper Project.


• Slow down conspicuous consumption. Let guests know you’re comfortable with reused, re-gifted items on your wish list.

This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy healthy living. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Dana's 5 for Eco Summer Travel

1. Tyvec Papier Travel Bags. Light and 100% recyclable. saskia-diez.de

2. Los Poblanos, NM Lavender Shampoo & Conditioner. Delightful, pure and organic from the farm at Los Poblanos Inn.

3. Earth-friendly luggage on sale and travel bags with free shipping and return shipping.

4. Sedona's new farmers market at the airport parking lot, Fridays 8 AM - 12 PM.

5. Shared luxury. Fractional ownership in boats, boutique hotels, eco-destination clubs.

This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy eco-travel deals and healthy living. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Celebrating Progressive Communities of the Southwest

I just finished writing my column about eco consciousness for the June/July issue of Four Corners Magazine. It's about partying without punishing the planet or your pocketbook. But what I really want to tell you about is not my article, but how this issue of the magazine cements publisher, Holly Lucky's commitment to bring readers truly postmodern content. You gotta check it out. The images are mind blowing and the articles--world class.

Gone are the days when metaphysics was the domain of gurus and barefoot-daisy-pickers--Lucky is creating a truly inclusive and expansive community relevant to our times. Now, my parent's were daisy-pickers, so before you get insulted, consider how my statement "includes and transcends." Or just go pick up a copy of Four Corner's Magazine and see for yourself. It's online or grab a hard copy, free at most health food stores, gyms, spas, and progressive retailers in Arizona, New Mexico, and a few in Colorado. Another way to incorporate the spirit of the SW into your daily living is to sign up for emails from Holly's Sedona Wave Network.

Photo by Andrew Holman http://www.andrewholman.com/.

This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy eco-travel deals and healthy living. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Summer Savings on Holiday Homes & Vacation Rentals

1. Southern Arizona Day Trips.

2. Most Romantic Green Vacations.

3. Save up to 50% percent off vacation rentals. Sedona, Arizona healthy living vacation rental, $699 the last week of July. St. Augustine, Florida $85 a night in June. Some restrictions may apply.

4. Best place to host your blog or website about your healthy vacation home.

5. Big Green Lies. New TV show exploring common myths about eco-friendly practices such as cloth versus disposable diapers, hybrid versus traditional cars.

This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy eco-travel deals and healthy living. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Fresh Ideas For Summer Green Vacations

Most green travel tips focus on the destination, like my organic lifestyle vacation rentals. But how you get there and what you do on vacation may have a big impact. Get fresh answers fast in the The Union of Concerned Scientists, peer-reviewed report. Their analysis works with three key factors:

1. The type of vehicle you are taking to reach your travel destination;
2. The distance you are traveling; and
3. The number of people traveling with you.

My tips, "Forget Being Fanatic" has simple ways to protect your home while you're away and cut vacation costs to the planet and your pocket. It's available as a PDF at http://www.ecoluxurylodging.com/pdf/GreenVacationTipsJuly08.pdf

Affordable Travel - 5 Ways To Save On Your Next Vacation

Who isn't trying to save money these days?. But it's time for summer vacation! Time to immerse yourself in the local life of a new place or just take a break at the beach. It may be just what you need to reduce stress.

Fortunately, if you want to save money, this summer is a much better time to travel than last summer. Gas prices are lower, the dollar is stronger in some countries, airfares are down, and there is no time like the present.

These five tips will help you wring more value out of your summer holiday.

1. Take advantage of the strong dollar in Western Europe. Prices have fallen in the UK, Turkey and Iceland.

2. Stay in a private home. More space, save on meals, sleep on the sofa, or rent a joint big enough for a family reunion--each way can bring big savings. Self-catering rentals, holiday homes, vacation rentals, or just a room or sofa in someone else's home is less expensive than B&Bs and hotels. My neighbors just rented their beautiful condo out while they went to visit family for the Memorial Day weekend. All they did was respond to an ad a young couple from Vegas ran on Craigslist. asking for a place to stay for the weekend for less than $300. And they got it! A comparable suite in a hotel would have cost $900 plus tax.

3. Learn about deals before it's too late. Instead of spending all day browsing the Internet, have the deals come to you. Sign up for all the RSS feeds like this one and newsletters from airlines and travel blog magazines. Deals like our free week to people who quit smoking, or JetBlue's $14 San Francisco-New York airfares sell out fast. If you get an email about it, you can get to it first.

4. Don't go to Sedona or St. Augustine during wedding season. May and June fills UP both towns with brides, grooms and their loved ones. Year-after-year the couples come back to celebrate their anniversary. Find out when it's shoulder season in your chosen destination and make sure the weather is still good. The rates on lodging and dining go down when high season ends. Plus there will be fewer people on the hiking trails.

5. Call home for free. Bring your laptop or iPhone and download Skype. When your friends and family do the same it is free as long as you call Skype to Skype. Skype to land line or cell phone call. Once the software is loaded and you plug in a headset or USB phone and connect to the Internet, you can talk to friends all over the globe no charge. Don't want to bring a laptop or download software? Book a vacation rental home like ours, we include unlimited US long distance calls in the fee.

Eco Weddings Gifts That Celebrate Love Not Stuff

When Gary Myer and Dana Gail celebrated their honeymoon at Casita Colibri, a vacation rental in Sedona, Az their wedding was part of one of the hottest trends on the planet, green weddings.

In addition to going easy on mother nature and themselves by renting a healthy vacation home, I was so inspired by what they wrote to their guests about their nonmaterial wedding gifts I thought I'd share it.

Our Alternative Registry mentions gifts we'd most welcome. You'll see some of these gifts don't come in boxes. It would be a gift to us if you:

· Make a donation to Verde Valley Sanctuary or the Nature Conservancy
· Offset the carbon for your trip to Sedona
· Give us a used item from our list—reused from a yard sale or secondhand store
· Something creative of your own choosing that reflects this is a celebration of love, not stuff.

The greatest gift is your presence in our lives and at our wedding.

Feel free to share your eco wedding and anniversary celebration tips. Watch for my article about eco-weddings in the June issue of Four Corners Magazine.

Photo by Edward Randolph.

Sweetness In Sedona--Hummingbirds at Our Vacation Rental

An amazing miracle happened at my Sedona vacation rental Casita Colibri, two Black-Chinned Hummingbirds hatched this week. The nest is smaller than half an eggshell. The babies looked like two, minuscule black peas.

You'll notice how small even the mother is compared to the ficus leaves.

Summer Fun--Dana's Top Five for May

1. Are You Stuck on Teflon? Guests often ask why the gourmet kitchens in the vacation rentals don't have teflon pans (aka PFOA, a likely carcinogen). My answer? "Teflon has sticky health issues." I'm a stickler for cast iron and green pans.

2. Last Minute Vacation Rentals. No healthy homes or eco conscious properties in the current specials, but I did see some screamin' deals for summer savings. Listings change daily, so smoke-free or green vacation homes may get posted.

3. Six Secret Ways to Save On Your Next Vacation. Good ideas but I say, "No way," to Number Five. Never found renting an RV to be inexpensive or eco conscious.

4. Tools to Help You Plan, Book, and Share Your Travel. Check out their famous Packing List.

5. Looking For Someone To Hike With? Check out Fitness Singles.

Award winning "pinhole" photography by Sheila Bocchine

This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy eco-travel deals and healthy living. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Love Is In The Air--St. Augustine Eco Weddings

Romance blooms in the Old City of St. Augustine this time of year--it seems there are weddings everywhere. "Green" is one of the hottest trends in weddings, with many guests renting eco vacation rental homes in the area instead of big box timeshares, hotels, or B&Bs. While St. Augustine B&Bs remain a popular choice with the over-50 crowd, younger members of the wedding often want to enjoy more privacy.

Honeymooner, Ali Munroe says she chose our vacation rental because, "My husband didn't like that we could hear other guests through the walls when we stayed in a B&B. We're also not chatty people at breakfast."

Next Post: Scattering Joy--Green Wedding Tips
Last Post: Snake In The Grass

Photograph by pinhole photographer Sheila Bocchine http://www.flickr.com/photos/daisyjellybean/

Snake in the Florida Grass

Guest blogger, Fran Palmeri writes about her recent photography session with a rattlesnake.

“The gentle Ben” of the snake world is how D. Bruce Means characterizes the eastern diamondback rattlesnake. Means is the co-author of Priceless Florida: Natural Ecosystems and Native Species--an essential tome for people who like Florida.

As an ecologist, he’s a worldclass authority on the rattler, the largest venomous snake in North America which sometimes reaches 8 feet in length and weighs 10 pounds and has a lightning swift strike.

I admit to being shaken when I encountered it a few weeks ago. It was the first I’d seen. Declining populations make them a rare find. They fill most people with dread and have been persecuted over centuries. Often to see a snake is to kill it. At “rattlesnake roundups” they are captured, killed and eaten. In parts of New England estern diamondbacks have been extirpated; on other states they’re an endangered species. They’ve become rare even in Florida.

All the naturalists I spoke with agreed the Eastern Diamondback is not an aggressive creature. Western Diamondbacks are often described as more irascible, defensive and stubborn. But don’t go chasing one. Practice field etiquette: never corner an animal, move towards it aggressively, get too close, stare it in the eyes, or make sudden movements.

I was confident I’d be able to take a few pictures without disturbing this rattler. It looked me over and then moved away.

India--Right Here, Right Now

If 25% of the people in India with the highest IQs exceeded the total US population, which it does--wouldn't you want to click here to watch this and find out what's going on?

This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy conscious travel and healthy living--conscious of our spending and our impact on our bodies and the world. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Healthy Travel Tips

Your best bet for staying healthy on the road or anywhere else for that matter, is to keep your immune system strong. While anitbiotics or Tamiflu may shorten the length of time you're ill by a few days, there is no cure. Flu vaccines reduce the risk of catching the bug, but only protect about 39% of the people who take the shot.

Here's how I keep my immune system strong:

• Avoid stress. I get outside--hike, bike, or just take a walk! Being in nature is a healing balm, the wonder and beauty relaxes me and reminds me of the order and grace that exists regardless of what the balance is in my IRA account.
• Increase Vitamin D. Most adults in the US suffer from an acute shortage of vitamin D. 15 minutes of sun a day on my legs and arms will boosts my levels to normal and helps protect your immune system. Yet another reason to get outside on my vacation.
• Increase exercise. Our sedentary lifestyle contributes to our weak immune system. I spend an hour a day walking and on vacation, I hike for hours.
• A Breath of Fresh Air. I avoid toxic places and stay out of hospitals and gyms (with the exception of the Sedona Spa which is hyper vigilant about keeping the place sanitized). 92% of indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air. I open the windows at least 45 minutes a day, except during heavy pollen seasons, ozone or air quality alerts. I avoid staying in places that have been remodeled within six months--most likely the carpet, paint, drywall, and other materials will be out gassing toxins like formaldehyde and other respiratory irritants and carcinogens.
  
• Insist on Truly Smoke-free Lodging. Enforcement can be lax unless the establishment is committed to healthy practices. And a smoke-free room on a smoking floor is still a smoking room. I use http://www.smoke-freehotels.com/ to find lodging on the road.

Swine Flu Effects Travel to Vacation Rentals

In recent weeks, most of us have become familiar with the strain of flu found in pigs that has mutated to be able to infect humans. Swine Flu cases have been confirmed in the US, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK, and Spain. For travelers concerned with health, it is a time to be alert and informed, but not to panic or spread fear.

So far, cases elsewhere in the US have been mild. The reported deaths are in Mexico. CDC officials recommend Americans avoid all nonessential travel to Mexico.

Travelers to the US have expressed concerns to me about exposure to the reported outbreaks. Vacation rental guests want to know if Arizona or Florida have reported cases. The answer as of today is "No, none." Arizona health department officials report having a good supply of Tamiflu and other drugs to treat an outbreak.

If you plan to travel to other US states with reported cases of Swine Flu , boost your immune system and take precautions to avoid contracting this illness with these practices:

• Wash your hands often. Dr. Oz said today on Oprah, "Be assertive, speak up about washing hands." Better to be embarrassed about washing up than to get sick.
• Avoid touching your nose, mouth, and eyes.
• Cover your mouth or nose when sneezing or coughing.
• Don't share towels or clothes, and take care in gyms and health clubs not to touch robes, slippers, or towels of other guests.
• On flights, open the air conditioning vent to allow more oxygen to flow near your seat, even if it means you have to put on a sweater. Airlines save money on fuel costs by cutting back oxygen. Breathing the recirculated air from other passengers is not as healthy as breathing the oxygen replenished air from the valve in the ceiling over your seat.
  
  If you have concerns about an upcoming trip:
• Talk with your doctor, natropath, or nurse practitioner
• Talk with the vacation rental owners to get information about outbreaks and health care facilities in their area.
• Check the cancellation policies of you rental as vacation rental policies differ from one to another.
• Do not book a vacation rental unless the owners provide written agreements and cancellation policies. You can check out my vacation rental policies on the EcoLux website.
• If you have already planned a trip into a risk area and want to cancel, I recommend contacting the owners to discuss it even if the cancellation policy does not allow it. Owners may be willing to work something out under these unusual conditions.

Websites for monitoring the progression of swine influenza, http://www.blogger.com/www.travel.state.gov, http://www.cdc.gov/, and http://www.who.int/.

Later this week I will post on health tips for vacationers. Let me know what you do to boost your immune system and protect your health while travelling.

This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy conscious travel and healthy living--conscious of our spending and our impact on our bodies and the world. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Hug It: Dana's Top Five

1. Leverage your impact with CarrotMob.com and their new ways of activism. In the first ever Carrotmob event, a liquor store agreed to invest in upgrades that made their store more energy-efficient. In exchange, hundreds of Carrotmobbers showed up at once to support the winning liquor store.

2. Win a Green Home from HGTV. Enter until June 5, 2009.

3. Research Shows Dancing Improves Health for Seniors.

4. For the birds. Check the Audubon's Climate Change Quiz and see if you can beat my score: 7 out of 8.

5. MACA urges O'Bama's to use pesticides in their organic garden because, among other reasons, "Americans don't have time to grow their own food."


This blog is for bottom-up dispensers of cool who enjoy eco-travel deals and healthy living. We feel that "the small, the slow, the local, and the personal" will build the new economy. Your comments will help enrich this information for all of us. Please share your tips and experience.

Earth Day: Market the Solution, Not the Problem

Male bass with eggs in their testicles. Endocrine disruptors in household products creating intersex fish and amphibians with six legs--legacy pollutants like PCBs in our drinking water, in the fish we eat, and in the tar on roads.

Who cares? The 20 year old discussion about clean water has lost public attention.

But ask what's safe to eat and drink? And people care. Frame the issue so it addresses traffic and taxes and watch activism grow.

Earth Day is getting more attention this year than ever before, much of it from companies hungry for marketing opportunities. So I narrowed my options down to doing just one thing for Earth Day--I'm watching Frontline, Poisoned Waters, a PBS special about the impact of unchecked development around my former hometown, DC metro area. I used to live in Vienna, Virginia near Tysons Corner. What has happened to the area in the past 20 years is an ecological plague. It could also be a model for how to undo the decisions of greed.

Photo of Yellow Crowned Night Heron by Fran Palmeri