AAA, one of the biggest names in travel, might not sound very green, after all, it’s the country’s largest automobile organization. But when they publish their annual TourBook guide of over 57,000 AAA-approved hotels and restaurants next year, they’ll add an eco rating that could help you on your next green vacation.

The new eco-designation will call out properties that have sustainable or eco-friendly features. So the next time you plan a road trip (hey, you can’t take public transport all the time, right?), plan by or pack the TourGuide for hunting down a spot to rest your head last minute. At least by staying at a green hotel you can reduce your carbon footprint a bit. And you can count on AAA to only include quality accommodations and be honest about eco accolades–every listing that gets the special icon must meet certain standards. Click here to read more

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I am relatively impatient when it comes to waiting.  I am constantly scrolling through old emails as I wait for and sit on the subway; I find myself making calls while standing in lines; I even pay for express shipping on items that I don’t really need urgently.  If there is a particular type of waiting that drives me mad, it’s definitely flight delays.

As a native of Brazil, I developed a severe dislike for flight delays having to travel back and forth from South Florida to Sao Paulo two to three times per year (as a kid it was much easier to deal with thanks to my Game Boy). Given my disdain of flight delays, I cringed at a recent study by the U.S. Joint Economics Committee. The report showed that in 2007 alone, delayed flights consumed an additional 740 million gallons of fuel, resulting in a whopping $1.6 billion wasted and 7 million tons of carbon emitted for no reason.

Surprisingly, I also heard about recent efforts on the part of airlines that actually justified longer flights. By slowing down cruising speeds and tacking on a few extra minutes to each leg, airlines have shown that they can save millions of dollars in fuel and thousands of tons of carbon emissions. For example, Southwest Airlines projects it will save $42 million in fuel this year by extending each flight by one to three minutes.

So, if the airlines can save money (and hopefully keep ticket prices at bay while energy prices keep skyrocketing), use less fuel (which helps out the environment and energy prices), and only add about 10 minutes to a nine hour flight from New York to Sao Paulo, I give it a solid two thumbs up!  After all, who is REALLY going to notice the difference, aside from your everyday macrophobiac (fear of long waits)?

But seriously, no more delays.

-Raphael, Greenzer Team - Business Development

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