Green savvy travelers can look forward to an array of new environmentally friendly practices across the nation’s public parks, thanks to sweeping achievements in the past year under the National Park Service's "Green Parks Plan."
The NPS directs energies to create sustainable management of national parks and addresses key environmental issues, including reducing energy and water consumption and adopting greener transportation methods, lowering emissions of greenhouse gases, and diverting solid waste from landfills through recycling. The NPS happily reports that all goals within these categories were met or exceeded in 2012.
Year highlights include 13 parks partnering with the Department of Energy Clean Cities Program to receive grants to exchange conventional vehicles with alternative technologies, install electric charging stations, and implement other fuel reduction strategies. Lake Mead National Recreational Area completed construction on the first ever LEED-certified floating building, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks partnered with the City of Visalia, CA, to provide hybrid-electric shuttle-bus service to its visitors.
Future goals from the NPS include reducing fleet fuel consumption, increasing the amount of municipal waste diverted from landfills through recycling, composting, and reuse, reducing energy consumption, and encouraging individuals to take responsibility for incorporating small changes into the workplace.
For more information, visit www.nps.gov/greenparksplan.