By Lisa Kivirist
For that next family trip, you can add one more item to the itinerary: Help future generations.
As a national leader in the green travel movement, Wisconsin offers lots of ways to blend memorable travel with environmental learning opportunities for your family. With some thoughtful planning, travel can take on deeper meaning for you and your kids – providing not just a getaway, but a real-life education in helping to make the planet a better place.
And it includes both how you travel and where you travel.
Have the kids help plan the most efficient route to your destination, and try to use public transportation or bring your bikes to get around once you arrive. Keep a set of reusable plastic dishware in the car to minimize the use of disposables while on the road.
The
Travel Green Wisconsin site provides a growing list of travel-related businesses – from lodging to outfitters – that have undergone a certification process confirming their green practices, such as using renewable energy and local food sources.
Nature centers offer kid-friendly, hands-on opportunities to connect with Wisconsin’s conservation heritage. The
Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in rural Baraboo showcases Leopold’s lasting impact on Wisconsin’s land ethnic with tours of his family’s “shack” and the new headquarters building, touted as one of the greenest buildings on the planet.
But don’t think nature experiences can only happen in the countryside. The
Urban Ecology Center brings nature to the heart of Milwaukee with various activities that show kids how to connect with the land, including a habitat-themed playground.
Or let your kids sample tasty local flavors from Wisconsin farmers and harvest a lesson in healthy food systems. Wherever you travel in the state, there’s a farmers’ market or a vendor of regional food specialties, giving kids a chance not only to sample the product, but also a chance to meet the person who produced it. One notable example is the
Dane County Farmer’s Market circling the capitol square in Madison, offering a virtual classroom for sustainable agriculture.
“I love to talk to kids about why my family farm became organic,” says Jim Goodman, an organic beef farmer from Wonewoc who sells on the Square. “Helping kids understand where their food comes from, how it was raised and why it’s important for us to support Wisconsin farmers will help reap a healthy food system for us all.”
Locally produced food can teach kids about the seasonal cycles. Pick-your-own farms, such as Bayfield
's area orchards, provide families a chance to conduct their own “harvest” and bring home seasonal tastes to savor.
Green travel can also introduce kids to the power of renewable energy. The Midwest Renewable Energy Association hosts the world’s largest
Energy Fair every June in Custer, offering more than 200 workshops, including “Rainbow’s End,” a kids area with activities ranging from building your own solar oven to creating art from recycled junk.
An added perk of green travel: The experience can continue with your kids when you get back home. From purchasing renewable energy through your local utility to supporting area farms, the lessons of green travel can help change the world, one family trip at a time.
Lisa Kivirist is a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow and writes from her farm in Browntown.
Look for the Leaf. It indicates a certified Travel Green Wisconsin business.
