Finding a hotel with environmental initiatives has never been easier, but knowing which hotels are truly worthy of your eco-conscious buck isn’t quite so simple. ‘Travelers should feel empowered’ says Alexa Poortier, co-founder of NOW, a new initiative calling for accountability around sustainability in travel. ‘After all, as consumers they are voting with their wallets.’ And she’s right – all you need to know is what to look for. Here are five reliable ways you can lighten your carbon footprint while traveling around the world.

Nothing stirs a climber’s soul quite like a beautiful summit. John Muir put it best when he wrote, ‘The mountains are calling and I must go.’ But if you want to enjoy a high-altitude escape – perhaps at the very top of the world – it’ll take much more than just willpower. Planning and preparation are half the battle. So who better to consult than an expert – Ellen Miller, a high-altitude training specialist and endurance coach – before I attempted my highest climb yet, an ascent of 13,209-foot Homestake Peak in the Colorado Rockies. After reaching that summit, I started dreaming of even bigger climbs – like Mt Kilimanjaro and…