I wrote about Bluefields Bay Villas, an all-inclusive vacation villa in Jamaica in June of 2008 and how they don’t pitch themselves as a destination for ecotourism in jamaica. That was before I went there. This post is from my personal experience.

Ecotourism – Jamaica vacation
As I stated in my previous post on Bluefields, they don’t promote themselves as green and sustainable, but they do work with local communities, are mindful of the land and the reef just offshore. We can’t all be 100% green (myself included), but it’s steps like this that deserve recognition as the right steps toward sustainability and ecotourism in Jamaica.

I wanted to write about Bluefields once more as this is the time of year people start planning their winter get-a-ways. You might want to consider this ecotourism Jamaica vacation get-a-away. I know what you are thinking, Jamaica is unsafe, etc. That was one of my concerns too. Bluefields Bay is an hour from Montego Bay and about 4 hours from Kingston. It’s far away from the noise and the city. I didn’t experience anything remotely unsafe, but I think this is what people think of regarding “unsafe” so I figured I’d mention it.

Now the good stuff – all-inclusive, seaside view at a private villa, ala Jamaica ecotourism
There are few places that live up to the hype. This vacation villa in Jamaica did that and more. They took care of everything including picking up and dropping us off from the Montego Bay Airport, 3 meals a day, snorkel gear and a full cooler of drinks on the beach. It’s hard to describe just how good it was.

The weather in Jamaica
We went in July, and surprisingly, the weather in Jamaica for this time of year was very pleasant. I was expecting to sweat the entire time. The weather on vacation was probably better than the weather back home (NJ). I would go back in the summer again, but there something really nice about getting out of the cold too and escaping to a tropical paradise while everyone else you know is snowed in.

All-inclusive means all clean clothes
One of the things I dread about going on vacation is the post-vacation unpacking. That wasn’t my experience with Bluefields Bay. I left with a clean packed suitcases for my Jamaican vacation and I came home with a clean packed suitcase. They clean your dirty clothes. It’s a really nice way to return home.

You can see my pictures from our Jamaica trip on Flickr.

You can find out more about Bluefields Bay Villas and what they can offer your on your Jamaica vacations.

A quick thought on Thanksgiving. In the spirit of “taking small green steps”, try putting one organic offering on the dinner table this thanksgiving for everyone to enjoy.

It’s probably one of the toughest Thanksgivings in a long time for many people, economically speaking. An organic turkey might be more money than you might want to pay for a bird, if that’s the case how about lower cost items like organic greens or organic cranberry sauce?

Happy Thanksgiving.

1. Use computer and monitor power management. Doing so can save nearly half a ton of CO2 and more than $60 a year in energy costs.
2. Don’t use a screen saver. Screen savers are not necessary on modern monitors and studies show they actually consume more energy than allowing the monitor to dim when it’s not in use.
3. Buying a new computer? Make energy efficiency a priority while shopping for your PC and monitor. Look for the ENERGY STAR label or browse the Climate Savers Computing product catalog.
4. Turn down the brightness setting on your monitor. The brightest setting on a monitor consumes twice the power used by the dimmest setting.
5. Turn off peripherals such as printers, scanners and speakers when not in use.
6. Fight phantom power; plug all your electronics into one power strip and turn the strip off when you are finished using your computer. When feasible, we also recommend unplugging the power strip from the wall to avoid high voltage surges which may occur during an electrical storm.
7. Use a laptop instead of a desktop. Laptops typically consume less power than desktops.
8. Close unused applications and turn off your monitor when you’re not using it.
9. Use a power meter to find out how much energy your computer actually consumes and to calculate your actual savings.
10. Establish multiple power schemes to address different usage models. For example, you can create a power scheme for playing music CDs that shuts off your hard drive and monitor immediately, but never puts your system into standby mode.

The above tips and more great information can be found at http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/learn/saving-energy-at-home/

You can also get more involved by pledging to reduce your computer energy consumption. I did.

If you plan on going to vacation in Kauai or Oahu, Hawaii, you should probably go sooner rather than later.

Geologists say that more than 70 percent of Kauai’s beaches are eroding, and Oahu has lost a quarter of its sandy shoreline. They warn that the problem is likely to get significantly worse in coming decades as global warming causes sea levels to rise more rapidly.

Beach erosion in Kauai, Hawaii.

Seems there has been an upswing jellyfish resulting in tainted fishing grounds. Some say it due to global warming.

“These increases in jellyfish should be a warning sign that our oceans are stressed and unhealthy,” said Lucas Brotz, a University of British Columbia researcher.

Read all about jelly fish and global warming.

Check out the living roof…

We’re working on a new look and feel for the Blog. Please be patient.

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/the_conscious_consumer/19/recycling-by-mail.html

Here’s a quick one on recycling just about anything including:

• iPods
• plastics
• shoes
• batteries
• electronics

Ryan Bros Coffee of San Diego – Organic, fair trade and quite delicious

One of the easiest ways to start to go green is with a daily cup of organic and/or fair trade coffee.

If you live in San Diego, CA you can stop by and pick up a cup of fair trade coffee yourself. You can also buy organic coffee and fair trade coffee online at http://www.ryanbroscoffee.com/.

Ryan Bros are:

• Fair trade certified
• And organic

Support your independent organic and fair trade coffee retailer. For more information on organic and fair trade coffee in San Diego visit the Ryan Bros web site.

New York, July 15th, 2008: Business Development Institute and PR Newswire have partnered together to produce a conference on the ways companies have embraced the green movement and now incorporate it into their lives, products, and business strategies.

“Green Communications 2008: The Case Studies Conference” will reveal case studies from companies that have successfully created and implemented green communications campaigns. This half day event will be held at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City on Tuesday July 15th beginning at 1:30 pm, with a networking reception to follow.

Case studies to be presented include:

• Thomas Mattia, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Public Affairs and Communications, The Coca-Cola Company
• Andrew Fox, Senior Manager, Global Communications, AMD
• Matthew Greene, Director of Marketing Communications, Eaton
• Lisa Swann, VP of Communications and Marketing, Earth Day Network

400 advertising, communications, and media professionals are expected to attend including corporate communications executives, media executives, corporate marketing and branding leaders, advertising agency thought leaders, PR agency thought leaders, and technology gurus.

To register and receive the discounted price of $145, enter promo code TGM at:
http://www.bdionline.com/greencommunications2008