Environmentally friendly vacation spots form the center of the Summer of Green mashup, a project that joins Google Maps with the Earth Day Network.
Five major vacation destinations, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and San Francisco, can be toured in a way that is a little more friendly with natural resources than most options.
At the Summer of Green website, Google and Earth Day Network have created a website that heightens awareness of the choices travelers have to make their holidays less challenging to the environment.
“We looked at all the great Maps mashup sites out there and thought, why shouldn’t we have some fun too?” wrote John Hanke, Director, Google Maps & Earth, on the Google Blog. “So we started working on a Maps mashup that would highlight some fun summer activities that also respect the environment.”
From the main page of the Summer of Green website, one can take a tour of the five highlighted destinations. Choosing Orlando brings up a map of the popular Central Florida locale, with five locations around Orlando listed for special attention.
Clicking one of the selected stops in Orlando brings up the usual expanded dialog window on the map with details about the place, but with a twist. Google has added video from Earth Day Network that offers a quick look at the shop, hotel, or attraction.
On the Summer of Green website, Google provided five tips (whoever worked on this project must have been a Reggie Bush fan) for traveling green this summer and using Google Maps to do so:
• Search for “environmentally friendly hotel” instead of just “hotel.”
• Switch to “Satellite” mode in the upper right for an alternate view of outdoor areas.
• Save paper. Download Google Maps for Mobile.
• Search for “organic spa” for spas specializing in organic products.
• Search for “bike rentals” or “kayak rentals” in the city you’re visiting to discover healthy outdoor vacation activities.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
