Eco-friendly White House Easter Egg Roll

Mother Nature Network reports on the eco-friendly nature of this year's White House Easter Egg Roll.

The eggs (pictured right) are made from Forest Stewardship Council certified wood and painted with vegetable-oil and water based inks and coatings.

The Roll's activities will focus on getting kids to be active and healthy. First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign called Let's Move! brings awareness and solutions to childhood obesity.

Read the full story: White House to host eco-friendly Easter Egg Roll

Photo from Whitehouse.gov

D.C.'s National Mall needs overhaul

National Parks Traveler reports on the dire conditions of the heavily-touristed Washington D.C. National Mall and calls for solutions.

The National Mall is often described as the nation's front yard. If you accept that label, than you can understand the maintenance needs: the lawn has bare spots, the walks are cracking, the porch is sagging. Yes, it's time for a serious face lift, the National Park Service is working on a plan to restore the Mall, and your comments are welcome.

Read the full story: How to fix the National Mall?

Photo from thisisbossi via Creative Commons and flickr.

BYOB to DC

Mother Nature Network reports that Washington D.C. is now taxing consumers for once free grocery bags.

Implemented on January 1 the tax now requires businesses that sell food or liquor to charge customers 5 cents for each paper or plastic bag used. All proceeds go into the Anacostia River Cleanup and Protection fund. Lawmakers estimate that $3.6 million will be raised this year.

Read the full story: New year brings bag fee to D.C.

Photo by teddave / Flickr

D.C. could tax bags, plastic and paper

US News & World Report's Fresh Greens blog reports that the D.C. city council voted to approve a 5 cent tax on plastic and paper bags.

If [this tax is] approved in a second vote later this month, [that] would make the District the first city in the U.S. to institute a bag fee.

San Francisco banned plastic bags outright in 2007, and Los Angeles' ban will go into effect in 2010. Several other cities have tried to assess bag taxes, but have not yet been successful: Seattle residents will vote on a 20-cent tax in August, and a measure in New York was blocked. Last month, the Philadelphia City Council a 20-cent tax on bags, citing the recession.

So what does this mean for consumers in D.C., and other cities that may follow suit? Those who choose not to buy reusable bags can look at an additional $7-$15 dollars spent per year, depending on how frequently they shop.

Proceeds will benefit the notoriously polluted Anacostia River in D.C.

Read the full story: D.C. council approves plastic bag fee

Panda's exam could help others

Reuters reports on the condition of Washington D.C. National Zoo panda Tai Shan; whose examination could help diagnose and treat other pandas worldwide. Tai Shan, almost 4-years-old, lost 30 pounds last summer from irritated intestines and veterinarians needed to do a follow-up exam. Tai Shan is the only offspring of pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian on loan from China.

Watch the report below:

Bus deals D.C. to NYC

Now that gas is so expensive, more and more people are using public buses to get around.

There's always been Greyhound, but now between the busy Northeast corridor, the demand for cheaper and better rides give travelers more options to choose from.

The Washington Post has a review of six bus lines going to and from Washington D.C. to New York City.

Ecotravel News can vouch for the environmental-friendliness, cheapness, and convenience of the Chinatown buses as written in this previous post; as for safety, that's another issue.

Read the full story: D.C. to New York: The deals on the bus go round and round

Photo from Picassa website, click here to read the photographer's review of the Bolt Bus from D.C. to NYC.

Ecotravel news' own ecotravel

Ecotravel news was away for a few days to the Washington, D.C. area, and although perhaps this doesn't strike one as an ecotravel destination, we try to be environmentally conscious when traveling even on short trips.

First of all we used public transportation to get there, one of the handy and cheap Chinatown buses. We took the NYC subway to get to the bus station in Chinatown. The bus was pretty much full and we noticed that when the driver gassed-up he used ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel.

Once in D.C. we used their subway system to meet up with our friend's private car, which when used, always had at least three people in it.

There are many other options for quick getaways, but the cheapest it turned out was also environmentally minded.