The Aspen Climate Action Conference is scheduled on October 11-13, 2006 in Aspen Meadows. The conference provides a forum for business, resort and community leaders to learn about emerging policies and model programs underway to stop global warming. Walking tours, keynote presentations, discussions, networking receptions, and smaller group workshops will provide the tools and connections you need to bring climate action to your community.

The conference organizers are striving to make this a low environmental impact event by working with STI and Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) to offset conference-related emissions. BEF will provide Green Tags to offset emissions for the conference facility and lodging. STI will demonstrate how to offset travel-related emissions with a carbon calculator, and educate attendees about how they can incorporate this into their own programs.

For more information on the conference, including how to register, please visit the conference website, email John Gitchell, or call 970-484-3995. And pOn-site lodging is limited so register soonlease note that STI members are entitled to a 10% discount.

STI and MyClimate Offset Naturally Boulder Day

The Boulder, Colorado region has the largest concentration of natural and organic products companies in the U.S., so it makes sense for Boulder to host a conference dedicated to helping entrepreneurs succeed in this industry.

This year's flagship event, Naturally Boulder Day, is scheduled for Friday, October 20, 2006 at the Hotel Boulderado, with area business tours scheduled for Thursday, October 19. In keeping with the Natural Products Industry and the City of Boulder's commitment to sustainability and addressing global warming, Naturally Boulder will offset event-related greenhouse gas emissions, including attendee travel, though STI and MyClimate.

The conference will feature behind-the-scenes tours of Celestial Seasonings and Rudi's Organic Bakery, keynote seminars, breakout intensives, networking receptions, a trade fair display, and a closing entrepreneur's "pitch slam" keynote session. Last year's conference for entrepreneurs, sellers and marketers of natural and organic products was sold out, so we encourage you to register soon!

For more information or to register for the event, please visit www.naturallyboulderproducts.com.

Plan a trip that reflects your environmental sensibilities. Here, we present eight eco-savvy destinations that aim to tread more lightly on the earth: from cabins under quaking aspens in a once-threatened Sierra valley, to a Wisconsin farm completely off the conventional power grid, to a sailing schooner that organizes coastal cleanups along the shore of Maine. All are family-friendly, fun, and inspiring places. The owners of these unique lodgings do their part (sometimes with remarkable creativity) to reduce consumption of natural resources and promote "green" activities.

Sadie Cove Wilderness Lodge - Homer, Alaska

On the edge of Kachemak Bay and surrounded by parklands, this resort isn't for folks who suffer without their cell phones. In fact, "stuff gets lost in cyberspace up here," admits lodge owner Randi Iverson, who with husband Keith opened the resort in 1981. The remote location makes this rustic lodge especially dependent on resource conservation; in fact, it relies solely on wind and water power. Watch bears, kayak to glaciers, birdwatch, fish, or just conk out in a hammock.

Five cabins; $300/person per night (includes all meals, three-night minimum); www.sadiecove.com, 888-283-7234.

Papoose Creek Lodge - Cameron, Montana

With Yellowstone practically at its doorstep, this handsome lodge exudes environmental sensibility. Owners Roger and Cynthia Lang, who converted the lodge and cabins from a preexisting home and recycled timber, work hard to reduce traditional impacts on their adjacent 25,000-acre ranch, 45 minutes west of Yellowstone. Their efforts include wildlife-friendly fencing, managing a resident elk herd, and reintroducing native trout in local waterways. Guests are encouraged to join guided hikes and canoe trips to learn more about the region's ecosystems.

Five guestrooms, three cabins (all sleep two); three- to seven-night stays mid-May to mid-October start at $1,450/person (includes all meals); www.papoosecreek.com, 888-674-3030.

Hana Maui Botanical Garden B&B - Hana, Maui, Hawaii

In a land where almost anything grows with abandon, including invasive exotic plants, owner JoLoyce Kaia has created a 27-acre haven for indigenous Hawaiian plants. Not everything has labels - "It's too much for one person," she admits - but all you have to do is ask. She'll happily share details on the more than 1,000 plants she lovingly tends. JoLoyce, who sits on numerous conservation boards, also runs a small lodge on the Big Island near Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. "We left all the plants and natural features in place when we built it," she says proudly.

Two, two-person studios with lanai; $125/night includes continental breakfast; www.ecoclub.com/hanamaui, 808-248-7725.

Inn Serendipity - Browntown, Wisconsin

If there were a Mecca of green destinations, this rural B&B near the Illinois border might be it. With its turn-of-the-century farmstead powered by the wind, sun, and even a greenhouse heated by biodiesel fuel (made from waste oils from local restaurants), there's almost no corner of the property that isn't touched by the environmental zeal of innkeepers John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist. John and Lisa moved here in 1996 and immediately began to convert the property into an "incubator for land stewardship, ecologically based design, and sustainable agriculture and forestry," says John. The old corn crib is now a solar-heated straw-bale greenhouse, breakfast comes from the organic garden, the shower uses only solar-heated water, and wood in the fireplace comes from the branches of trees that have been downed by wind. John and Lisa also conduct workshops and frequently publish articles and books on sustainable living.

Guests are often like-minded green thinkers: One couple rode their tandem bike here from Milwaukee, roughly 100 miles east. And if they don't pedal to get here, notes John, "guests usually come in a Prius."

Two rooms ($100-$115/night including full vegetarian breakfast) and a two-bedroom cabin on a 30-acre wildlife sanctuary in nearby Hillsboro ($795/week, no meals); www.innserendipity.com, 608-329-7056.

Schooner Isaac H. Evans - Rockland, Maine

It could be the ultimate eco-destination: a 120-year-old sailing schooner powered by the wind. No computers, no cell phones. "It's kind of like camping on the water," says Captain Brenda Walker (except that you don't usually sight whales off the starboard bow when you're in a tent). The vessel mostly explores Penobscot Bay, but for one week each year, it joins the International Coastal Cleanup project to collect debris "wherever the wind blows us," says Walker, a member of Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility.

Exceptional onboard meals are prepared on a wood-burning stove (no fossil fuels) by cook Eileen Worthly. Whenever possible, she uses fresh organic produce from local farms and all-Maine products - think maple syrup on your pancakes and fresh lobster for a special feast on an uninhabited island.

Sleeps up to twenty-two in eleven berths; three- to six-day cruises, $520 to $680 (2006 season runs June 3 through October 2; six-day coastal cleanup September 18 through 23; www.isaacevans.com, 877-238-1325.

Sorensen's Resort - Hope Valley, California

It's safe to say that this collection of aspen-shaded cabins in a broad alpine valley just south of Lake Tahoe wouldn't have land to sit on if it weren't for its environmentally driven owners. John and Patty Brissenden purchased the Sierra Nevada resort, then a ratty collection of run-down fishing cabins next to a branch of the Carson River, in 1982. After a quick buff-and-polish to get the inn open, the Brissendens began to dig into their real passion - land preservation and resource conservation. Over the years, the couple worked with environmental groups like the Trust for Public Land to protect thousands of surrounding acres in the stunning Hope Valley region - land negatively affected by ranching and threatened with development.

Not that they forgot about the resort: It now consists of cozy B&B cottages, fully outfitted cabins, and contemporary mountain homes. Cook in or walk down to the inn's wildflower-trimmed Country Café. Bearded and gregarious John is usually behind the counter in the adjacent store, where he's as likely to give out fiesty political opinions as fishing and hiking tips.

Two-, four-, and six-person cabins and houses; summer rates start at $125/night; www.sorensensresort.com, 800-423-9949.

Sundance Resort - Sundance, Utah

Robert Redford's 475-acre resort-cum-entertainment-industry think tank, at the foot of 11,750-foot Mt. Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range, still shines as a testament to the actor's longtime commitment to environmental education and sensibility. Check out the glassblower's studio, where wine bottles emptied in the resort's restaurants and the famed Owl Bar (recycled from Wyoming, and once the hangout of Butch Cassidy and his Hole-in-the-Wall Gang) become spectacular bowls and vases. Or visit the Sundance Nature Center to join a guided hike.

Studios, cottages, and mountain homes (sleep two to eight), $270/night and up; www.sundanceresort.com, 800-892-1600.

Twin Creek Ranch - Lander, Wyoming

With the Wind River Mountains on one side and the red sandstone cliffs of the high desert on the other, the setting alone would make this sprawling ranch a place of environmental inspiration. But owners Tony and Andrea Malmberg do more than rely on visuals; their dream means turning their 16,000-acre cattle ranch into a showcase of eco-stewardship.

Guests staying in the handsome log lodge (built from beetle-kill trees logged by horses, not tractors) can ride the range on the ranch's gentle horses (all levels of ability are welcome, even city slickers). Andrea says the rides to help move cattle to new pastures are especially popular. "We use the concept of migratory elk, who find fresh grass every day," says Andrea. "It lets the land recover." At dusk, kids also love to ring bells to call in the resident goats, whose milk the Malmbergs use to make cheese. You can also hike or mountain bike in the surrounding rangelands, 5,000 acres of which the innkeepers have dedicated as permanently protected - a big deal in a region where subdivisions are popping up faster than wildflowers.

Two lodge rooms, one four-person cabin, $1,150/week per person, includes all meals; www.twincreekranch.com, 307-335-7485.

About the Author

When not searching for great green destinations, writer Harriot Manley lives and plays in Marin County, just north of San Francisco.

Please note: This article excerpted from the Summer issue of greenlight magazine, a quarterly online magazine offering you products and ideas for making your home a healthier, more earth-friendly environment. To claim your free, complimentary subscription to greenlight, click here.