Sustainable Travel Helps You Preserve Naples

Here’s how you can make your visit to Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades a sustainable one.

According to recent surveys, three out of four travelers are looking for ways to discover new destinations without making a big impact on the environment. If sustainable travel is part of your plan, Florida’s Paradise Coast has plenty of ways to help reduce your footprint while maximizing your fun.

Getting to Naples

Flying and driving both contribute their share of pollution to the environment. You can make up for that impact by buying carbon offset to reduce the effect of your emissions. Websites such as Cool Effect help you determine your carbon footprint, based on the distance you’re flying or driving, and encourage donations that help fund programs aimed at helping communities adapt to a changing climate.

If you’re driving an electric vehicle, you can use websites such as Plug Share to locate charging stations near you. A growing number of hotels, retailers and public facilities are adding charging stations for their guests, as well.

Eco-Friendly Lodging in Naples

Accommodations across Florida’s Paradise Coast have committed themselves to operating in an eco-conscious manner. Hotels are reducing waste, reducing water use, and reducing electricity demands in a variety of ways. They’re eliminating those tiny shampoo bottles, offering guests to option of foregoing daily laundry service, and switching to LED lighting, among other things. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has rewarded 224 hotels statewide with its Florida Green Lodging certification. Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades is proud to be home to seven of those.

Eco-Friendly Experiences

These days, about a quarter of travelers say they’re looking for new, locally relevant experiences away from the crowds — to zig when everyone else zags. Along Florida’s Paradise Coast, we specialize in experiences that let you live like a local during your stay.

Two-Wheeled Travel

Naples and Marco Island are bike-friendly places with more than 30 miles of dedicated bike lanes, on-road lanes and shared spaces – along with plenty of places of rent a ride. Year-round good weather and a level landscape makes biking around both communities a breeze. You’ll get up close with the plants and animals that call this unique slice of the Gulf coast home. Best of all, in addition to reducing your carbon footprint, you’ll also be giving your body some great low-impact exercise!

Explore the Everglades

If there was ever a place made for sustainable travel, it is the incomparable natural treasure of the Everglades. While visiting Florida’s Paradise Coast, you can rent a kayak or canoe to discover the beauty of this one-of-a-kind eco-system for yourself. Paddle among the mangroves in the Ten Thousand Islands, and you may bump into resident dolphins or manatees. Bring your fishing pole for a chance to catch your own dinner in the ultimate fisherman’s paradise.

Savor Local Flavors

Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades is a community filled with artists. Whether they work in paint, music or food, you’re invited to partake of their creative talents. You’ll find plenty of one-of-a-kind artistic creations in the region’s locally owned boutiques. Local musicians will get your toes tapping while our talented chefs tickle your taste buds with meals featuring fresh-caught seafood and locally grown ingredients.

Here on Florida’s Paradise Coast, we’re happy to help you make your visit as sustainable as it can be. That’s because we share your desire to live lightly and leave the planet a better place for future generations. After all, this is Paradise.