What the Pacific Northwest may lack in sunshine, it makes up for with enough great parks, bridges, coffee shops, restaurants, and bars to keep any traveler preoccupied for weeks. Insert an incredible natural landscape full of rugged coastlines, pine forests, and wandering rivers, and you’ve got yourself a pretty amazing part of the world.
So, enticed by everything the PNW has to offer, we set off on a roadtrip, from the Bay Area to Vancouver. The goal, make our 11 days of travel as sustainable and socially responsible as possible, while having a *&%$ ton of fun, of course…
So, enticed by everything the PNW has to offer, we set off on a roadtrip, from the Bay Area to Vancouver. The goal, make our 11 days of travel as sustainable and socially responsible as possible, while having a *&%$ ton of fun, of course…
Day 1: The Road to PDX
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We begin by renting a car from the Hertz Green Car Collection. Not only is our Mitsubishi Mirage extremely fuel efficient, it’s also economical (and tiny). This bad boy averages about 44 mpg highway (48.5 mpg at times), meaning we’re saving money while also saving the planet. Surprising to most, a road trip with multiple people in a fuel efficient car is actually much more environmentally sustainable than flying. Although the numbers may vary, most experts determine that a short-haul flight, like the one from SFO to SeaTac (or Vancouver) creates significantly more carbon emissions than a fuel efficient vehicle (our car averaged 41 mpg for the trip) with two or more passengers. Buses and trains are also great options, but when you’re visiting multiple locations driving a fuel efficient car is your best bet.
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We make the ten hour drive from the Bay Area to Portland a bit easier by stopping for the night in Eugene, less than two hours south of the City of Roses. After briefly exploring the quaint college town and gobbling down some delicious vegetarian pho, we get a good night’s sleep and an early start the next day to maximize our two nights in Portland.
Days 2 + 3: Beautifully Green and Wonderfully Weird Portland
Not surprisingly, it’s raining when we arrive at the beautiful Nines Hotel in Downtown Portland, across the street from Pioneer Square. Taking a cue from the building’s original inhabitant, the Meyer Frank Department store, The Nines is a sleekly retro reimagination of mid 20th century art and fashion. Teal walls, elaborate chandeliers, and unique artwork surrounds plush, comfortable beds in each elegant guestroom. Expertly bridging the gap between eco hotel and luxury accommodation, the property is LEED certified, has vigorous recycling, composting and waste reduction programs in place, and even grows its own vegetables (and mushrooms!) on-site. Hardworking bees on the hotel’s rooftop make delicious honey and a portion of the net proceeds from the hotel’s BeeKind bath amenities (provided in bulk to eliminate those terrible little plastic bottles) is donated to honey bee and sustainable pollination research. It’s downtown location and luxuriously cozy rooms make The Nines a perfect home base for our visit to Portland.
It doesn’t take long to locate (one of) Portland’s famous “food cart pods.” Home to what CNN has deemed the “World’s Best Street Food,” the food carts/trucks span an entire city block, with 60-70 options for fast, cheap, and delicious eats. We can’t pass up The Grilled Cheese Grill, and happily eat our hot sandwiches under an awning in the rain; a very Portlandy experience.
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We’ve received a bundle of sustainable and socially responsible business recommendations and wish we had the three weeks it would take to visit them all. In our limited time, we land at Ex Novo, a small, non-profit brewery located in a quiet neighborhood, The Oregon Public House and Clyde Common. We dine at many of the local and vegetarian-friendly restaurants and escape the rain by browsing through stores with local, handcrafted items.
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The city lives up to its reputation, delivering an awesome combination of weirdness, with a dash of hippie and a good amount of hipster sprinkled on top. The result is an urban community with residents that are inherently ahead of the curve, a local government that provides energy reducing incentives to businesses, a city-wide, solar-powered recycling system, and a plethora of local bars, coffee shops and restaurants that are doing really cool stuff for the world.
To see our complete Portland Weekend Itinerary, click here.
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Days 4 - 7: Vancouver, BC
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It’s tough to leave the plush feather duvets at The Nines, but we’re antsy to make our way to one of Canada’s best cities: Vancouver.
With the hefty goal of becoming the “Greenest City in the World” by 2020, Vancouver is at the forefront of the sustainability movement. City-wide recycling, composting and waste reduction initiatives are just the tip of the iceberg here. Many of the city’s incredible restaurants participate in Vancouver Aquarium’s Ocean Wise sustainable seafood program as well as a community Mealshare Program, which donates a meal to someone in need when certain dishes are ordered (special shout out to the INCREDIBLE Tuc Craft Kitchen, which has donated nearly 16,000 meals to date). |
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The point is, Vancouverites aren’t just friendly, they look out for one another. They also have a strong sense of community and respect for the environment. Add it to the long list of reasons to visit this beautiful city.
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We check in to the uber sustainable, (TripAdvisor Green Leaders Platinum) Listel Hotel. This small hotel has an awesome location, incredible service (including complimentary french press every morning and wine tastings every evening) and still somehow manages to be zero-waste. We walk into our room to see recycling and compost bins, as well as reusable glass bottles with a purified water station down the hall. Just downstairs, Chef Chris Whittaker, who grows his own vegetables, catches his own fish, makes his own preserves, composts all food waste, and keeps mason bees to pollinate plants, heads up the signature restaurant, Forage. Bottom line, The Listel is doing it right.
One of the most incredible aspects of Vancouver is its location. Surrounded by water, with beaches in the summer, mountains in the distance, the amazing Stanley Park, and a city center that’s totally walkable, it’s an unbeatable blend of urban and nature. When the rain breaks, we hustle outside, walk the complete perimeter of Stanley Park one day; the perimeter of the city the next. We stuff ourselves with authentic Japanese and Vietnamese food, the best we’ve found since our visit to Asia last summer. Before a trip to Granville Island, we make a stop to East Van Roasters, a social enterprise that provides employment and training to marginalized women in East Vancouver and serves up organic, house made chocolate and espresso drinks. Their hot “drinking chocolate” could be the most incredible hot beverage we’ve ever experienced and pairs perfectly with our chocolate flight, made with cocoa beans from Peru, Argentina and Madagascar.
Like Portland, we locate a strong list of similarly minded Vancouver businesses during our stay, and hop in our car feeling more in love with this city than ever.
One of the most incredible aspects of Vancouver is its location. Surrounded by water, with beaches in the summer, mountains in the distance, the amazing Stanley Park, and a city center that’s totally walkable, it’s an unbeatable blend of urban and nature. When the rain breaks, we hustle outside, walk the complete perimeter of Stanley Park one day; the perimeter of the city the next. We stuff ourselves with authentic Japanese and Vietnamese food, the best we’ve found since our visit to Asia last summer. Before a trip to Granville Island, we make a stop to East Van Roasters, a social enterprise that provides employment and training to marginalized women in East Vancouver and serves up organic, house made chocolate and espresso drinks. Their hot “drinking chocolate” could be the most incredible hot beverage we’ve ever experienced and pairs perfectly with our chocolate flight, made with cocoa beans from Peru, Argentina and Madagascar.
Like Portland, we locate a strong list of similarly minded Vancouver businesses during our stay, and hop in our car feeling more in love with this city than ever.
To see our complete Vancouver itinerary, click here.
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Days 8 - 11: The Oregon Coast
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Over the next few days, our mission is to slowly meander down the Oregon Coast. We hop on the 101 and wind through thick pine forest toward the ocean. The spectacular, 4-mile long Astoria-Megler bridge brings us to Astoria, a picturesque town situated at the mouth of the Columbia River. Our first (of many), this Oregon coastal town redefines “quaint,” with great restaurants, two microbreweries and awesome sustainable hotels.
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The next day, we drive to Cannon Beach, another small seaside town, where salt water taffy stores sit next to funky antique shops and travelers of all ages stroll the main street. We check in to Schooner’s Cove, a peaceful ocean side inn with with a strong commitment to environmentalism. Here, the employees are engaged and committed, independently identifying sustainable solutions for everyday problems, fixing a once leaky shower on the beach side lawn and implementing an onsite recycling sorting center.
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In the morning we hit the road, heading south to the town of Tillamook, where we arrive around lunch time. Armed with a hearty appetite and a serious love for pepper jack, we stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.
Tillamook is wholly farmer-owned, with nearly 100 families making up the local co-op, Tillamook County Creamery Association. The local operation is made possible by Tillamook county’s famously wet weather, giving the cows plenty of grass to eat and generating tons of milk, which is brought to the creamery twice a day to be turned into cheese, ice cream, and yogurt. We’re happy to show our support for this community driven corporate model by indulging in a perfect grilled cheese sandwich and a scoop of butterscotch ice cream.
Tillamook is wholly farmer-owned, with nearly 100 families making up the local co-op, Tillamook County Creamery Association. The local operation is made possible by Tillamook county’s famously wet weather, giving the cows plenty of grass to eat and generating tons of milk, which is brought to the creamery twice a day to be turned into cheese, ice cream, and yogurt. We’re happy to show our support for this community driven corporate model by indulging in a perfect grilled cheese sandwich and a scoop of butterscotch ice cream.
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Over the next few days, our drive home takes us through Lincoln City, Newport and Coos Bay before being happily reunited with Northern California. We wind along rugged coastline where jagged rocks jut out from the ocean’s surface and low hanging fog sifts through ancient, massive redwood forests. Once again, we’re in awe of nature at it’s very best.
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The trip, from the Bay Area to Vancouver and down the Oregon Coast, takes us a total of 2,000 miles over 11 days. We visit some of the Pacific Northwest’s best sustainable hotels, locally-sourced and community-based restaurants, and non-profit breweries. Our eco-friendly rental car averages 41 mpg, meaning we can be kind to the planet and save some dough.
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In the end, it’s clear. The slow, steady, and sustainable route is the only way to experience all of the beauty and wonder on display in the great Pacific Northwest.
