Many people who travel have the opportunity to consider hotels that are green when choosing where to stay.

For your next out of town trip, search for green hotels on sites that only include legitimate green businesses, including Responsibletravel.com, The Rainforest Alliance, The International Ecotourism Society, and Best Green Hotels.

Before making the reservation check the hotel’s website or call to find out if it has an official environmental or sustainability policy. A good policy should go beyond washing towels every other day to save water. It should address both the hotel’s environmental and cultural conservation practices in detail. If the policy looks too generic or the hotel representative can’t answer your questions, find a different hotel that deserves your business.