Earth Day Getaways: 10 Green Destinations You Won’t Want to Miss

By Katherine Foreman on April 20, 2016

Minimizing our natural resource depletion and living as good stewards of our planet can be a challenge in modern life, especially when it comes to traveling and getting from one place to the next. Thankfully, destinations around the country are increasingly catering to a more green-friendly way of vacating from reality for awhile. In honor of Earth Day and our flourishing natural surroundings, try giving one of these eco-friendly travel destinations a go on your next big—or small—getaway.

1

Florida Keys

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The Florida Keys, some of the most beautiful islands belonging to the United States, belong to an extensive park system dedicating itself to environmental and cultural preservation. Visit one of the islands' abundant botanical gardens, which provide sanctuary to many species of endangered plants and creatures.

VRBO

2

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur, California

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California's Big Sur is home to some of the most eco-friendly restaurants and hotels in the world (and let's not forget the stunning coastal cliffs), with Post Ranch Inn having been named one of the "Top Ten Greenest Accommodations in the World" by TripAdvisor in 2007 and 2008.

Post Ranch Inn

3

Dry Tortugas National Park

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These remote islands, located around 70 miles west of Key West, Florida, are home to some of the Atlantic's most abundant coral reefs and sea life—as well as the unfinished abandons of Fort Jefferson, shipwrecks and water as blue and clear as the cloudless skies. Accessible only by boat or seaplane, the threat of car emissions doesn't apply to this side of paradise.

Tropical Snorkeling

4

Taos, New Mexico

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Not only does Taos cater to the needs of Mother Earth with its luxurious resort made of recycled materials, El Monte Sagrado, and planned sustainability community Earthship Biotecture—it is also provides a relaxing way to escape the pressures of the real world, even if just for a weekend.

LA Times

5

Burlington, Vermont

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One of Vermont's biggest cities and rife with quaint New England charm, Burlington is powered primarily on renewable resources, sells and consumes a majority of locally sourced foods and products and has a set of community-wide initiatives in place to keep our planet happy and healthy.

Vice News

6

Sadie Cove Wilderness Lodge, Kenai, Alaska

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These off-the-grid coastal cabins in a beautifully remote part of Alaska run on wind and hydropower, and guests can even opt to stay in a cabin unit fashioned out of a rescued sailboat.

Coastal Living

7

Bentwood Inn, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

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Housed in one of the most eco-friendly towns in the country near the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, this award-winning luxury lodge provides all the amenities of a well-deserved getaway while boasting fully implemented green features.

Bentwood Inn

8

Concordia Eco-Resort, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

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The United States Virgin Islands are home to some of the most eco-sustainable—and breathtaking—resorts in the country. Concordia's eco-tents and eco-studio lodges utilize composting toilets and solar heated showers among a list of other resourceful amenities.

Concordia Eco-Resort

9

Proximity Hotel, Greensboro, North Carolina

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This hotel was the first in the country to be awarded Platinum LEED certification for its 100 solar panels that power the building's showers in addition to other energy sustaining methods that help generate the lodge's electricity.

Travel and Leisure

10

Inn Serendipity, Browntown, Wisconsin

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Powered by wind and solar energy, this rustic bed and breakfast – transformed in recent years from a hundred-year-old farmhouse – is an enchanting and environmentally sound getaway spot any time of year.

Green America