I, like you, have been inundated with the word, Green. For me, I'm not tired of it, in fact, I find it interesting how many 'main-stream' companies are embracing the concept but I worry many will tire of the barrage. Some tuned out long before this recent surge began and they're probably untouchable when it comes to converting them to Green champions. Others are in the wait and see mode of learning and then there are those of us who are interested and dabble in Green exploration and of course, the complete Green geeks.

I'll stop right there, for this isn't a call to arms, a political piece or a lambasting of the corporate structure in the US. This is a short tip-sheet to help those that want to be green vacationers be a little more green on their vacations. This is about whitewater rafting with a lighter environmental footprint.

1. Carpool with friends to your destination. On the South Fork of the American River, many folks drive from the San Francisco Bay Area or from Southern California to the Northern California Foothill destination. If you're rafting with friends from the same area, look to coming up together. Some rafting companies have discounts worked out with bus lines, if your groups is large enough you may all take a luxury bus from your area to the river. This can save you money as well as reduce the ole carbon footprint.

2. I know petroleum products aren't good, but sometimes it's the better of two bad choices. While its tough to even type this phrase, choose gas/propane cooking over charcoal in you have the opportunity. Ugh! I love the old fashion charcoal barbecue but, this is about GREEN, so we take the lesser pollutant. Plus, charcoal isn't supposed to be good for our bodies either, the processing puts junk in the briquettes. If you can do it, good for you. Look, at least I didn't try to convince you to bring a solar oven!

3. Since you must wear sunblock, look for all natural, organic sunblocks that avoid: PABA, octinoxate, oxybenzone, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and the preservative butylparaben. Studies are showing the sunblock we wear is killing coral reefs in the ocean. While there's no coral in the river, it can't be bad to avoid using the stuff, bad is bad, right? One recent study claimed some 6-million gallons of sunblock are washed into our oceans annually!

4. So you love being in the water: rafting, canoeing, wake boarding, water skiing, inner tubing, etc. Every time you go out you have to rent or borrow a flotation device, a vest. Instead, why don't you make your own fashion statement and Green statement by visiting <a href="http://www.astralbuoyancy.com">Astral</a> and ordering your own personal flotation device. They've got a great reputation and they use a much friendlier foam for flotation than most other companies.

5. Buy local, buy organic. Buying organic for the most part means your foods have traveled less distance; therefore, they have a smaller negative impact on the environment. In many cases the products used to grow the foods are far better for the earth, the animals are treated better, raised more closely to life in the wild, etc.

6. Just by whitewater rafting you're Greener! Getting down a river requires human power, not electric or fuel run engines.

7. Employ reusable water containers. It's important to get your hydration on, very important. For shear convenience and hygiene many companies switched to individual, throw away water bottles. Man, it was convenient too! But, this creates a lot of waste in both the number of bottles lost overboard and in the empties that get thrown away after each trip. Switching to metal or even glass bottles can be a great compromise. For me, nothing tastes as good as coming out of glass. Here's a link from Rachel McAdams' website, <a href="http://www.greenissexy.org">Green Is Sexy</a>, that sells semi-designer glass bottles, <a href="http://www.lovebottle.net">Love Bottle</a>.

For those that are interested or completely geeky, I hope this quick hitter is beneficial to your vacation planning. There are many great site popping up that educate, advise and share the newest in Green ideas and products. It's all a learning process and none of us can be completely gentle to the world surrounding us, we're a product of our society. And, some constructs of this society make it virtually impossible not to tread heavily at some point. So, do what you can do. If you're excited about the changes you can make, make them. If not, no worries. Green is coming around, it's impacting all of us. Even the most non-interested party will be Greener by decades end. Try and find some fun in the race to be Greenest.

Enjoy your rafting experience!

Christopher Pyle has more than 20-years experience in the outdoors and whitewater rafting. He's a former residential youth counselor. His passion and focus is on youth and aims at building better people through better experience.