Whether you're driving or flying or cruising, if you're traveling - you're leaving a footprint. And that's OK, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't  do our part to leave our paths a little cleaner. You could buy carbon offsets at Terrapass - its calculator says just one person flying from Baltimore to Los Angeles is responsible for emitting 1,400 pounds of carbon into the environment. Or you could stay at a green hotel - several are opening in the Baltimore region. Either way, you should be greenwise about your travels - and many of us already are.

I used to love those little single size toiletries - Red Flower is my favorite - but they come in little plastic bottles that just add to landfills. Many hotels are switching to dispensers for shampoo and soap. A good move. When I do stay at a hotel with those travel size bottles, I take the half-empty ones home and refill them for the guest bathroom. Many hotels are eliminating plastic spoons and forks and replacing them with genuine silverware. Others are building saline pools to reduce chlorine use. Still more are using green cleaning supplies - or electrolyzed water.

You can find more tips for green travel here. And if you like to see your garbage going to a good cause, check out the trash museum.

Photo courtesy of Aloft, a new hotel at Arundel Mills that opens in May and uses refillable dispensers for in-room shampoo and soap.