I realize it's a New Year, and we've all just gotten over the holidays, we're back to work, back to our green habits, (or hopefully adopting some 'green' as a New Year's resolution).

However, it's fair to say the grind is settling in, the ice is just a little too plentiful on my car each morning, and I'm tired of the dire snow warnings I hear on television.

Is it too early in the year to already be thinking of a vacation?

Yes, vacation, the time to indulge yourself, to forget all about calories, carbs, and fat. To forget about everything, have not a care in the world; to sit on the beach and have many frozen beverages delivered until I can take no more.

It's also that time to get on a plane, sit in that glorious traffic at the airport, rent a cheap car that gets "gallons-to-the-mile" instead of the other way around, and, of course, revel in the plushness of some hotel for which you got a killer deal on the internet.

And what's waiting for you in that hotel?

-Towels replaced every day, whether they need to or not.

-Energy-gobbling "mood" lighting in a room that you hardly notice.

-Harsh chemicals to keep the room clean, while your perfectly good Seventh Generation or Ecover products sit at home.

It would appear as if your "green" lifestyle is on vacation as well.

So, what can we do about this? After all, here at Project Green, we're all about solutions.

First of all, (thankfully) many hotel chains are hanging their hat on doing their business in an environmentally-conscious manner. You can see it prominently on their websites.

For a more objective view, there are plenty of resources out there. Here's just a few I've noticed and liked:

All-Stays:  These guys list the places to stay all over the world, and give them a green ranking based on business practices. Some of these results may surprise you, as even the biggest names are doing green-friendly things right under our noses.

Environmentally-Friendly Hotels: Solid batch of listings here from a site that encourages us to, "Leave smaller footprints when you travel."

As far as cars go, many of the major car-rental firms now offer hybrids, and several offer more than just the Prius. Anyone who's had to pay $4 a gallon in Kona should rejoice and consider the savings your rental car can bring.

For guilt-free and green-friendly flying, it would be great if I could tell you Boeing has developed a jet that runs on French fry grease from the airport McDonald's, but modern engineering has yet to crack that nut.

At the moment, we can tell you that air travel is not the greenest thing you can do. Some things you can do to make it easier include taking direct flights whenever possible (because really, who really needs 4 hours at O'Hare or LAX?), and some studies have suggested that flying during daylight hours could be easier on the environment (suits me, I can't stand the red-eye).

So, with that in mind, you can go on vacation, and take your green habits with you, in the hopes that the next time you visit your favorite natural wonder, whether it be beach or mountain, there will be a little more 'green' there to enjoy.

Joe Gura is the Director of Digital Media for KSTW-TV, CW11 Seattle. The opinions expressed in this column are strictly his and are not to be implied as a commercial endorsement.