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While travelling, I am always conscious of what I can do to help reduce my *carbon footprint. After all, we have only one planet to live on and we are dutybound to leave behind a greener earth for our next generation.

Here are some tips on how YOU can reduce your carbon footprint while travelling:

1. Re-use the soap -- when you check into your room, you will eventually open up a new bar of soap for washing your hands and so on. But when you check out, your left-over soap will be thrown away, even if it has just been used a few times. It would be a good idea to bring the soap home where you can continue to use it.

2. Save the towels -- ask yourself, do you need a fresh towel everyday? Unless your bath towel has been soiled, it should probably be good for two to three days. What I do is, I would hang it up nicely and if I bump into the chambermaid, remind her not to change the towels. I am especially pleased when I come across hotels that have this practice of replacing towels only when they are thrown into the tub. Less changing of towels means less washing and detergent being used.

3. Bring your own slippers/flip-flops -- some hotels and especially beach resorts provide disposable slippers. After the guest leaves, the slippers are thrown away. I usually bring my own slippers which are not only more comfortable, they are of the right size.

4. Save on electricity -- when you sleep, do you need all the lights and TV to be left on? Or the air-con turned up at full blast while you are shivering beneath layers of blanket? I dislike air-cons as they not only consume a lot of energy but make my skin dry, too. I would usually switch off the air-con and if that's not possible, I would put it at its lowest setting. And when I leave the room, I make it a habit to switch off the lights and other electrical appliances.

5. Climb the stairs -- if the restaurant is just one floor below, why not take the stairs instead of the lift? You not only help save electricity but you get a good exercise as well. Of course, if the stairs look dingy and you're a lady, avoid it for safety reasons.

6. Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints -- this is one of my mantras while travelling. And this is especially true when you are heading to places like a nature reserve, park, cave or protected area where the things you take away will seriously impact on the ecology of the environment. Leave things the way they are and take only pictures.

*Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2 (carbon dioxide) which were induced by your activities in a given time frame. In other words, the things you do which result in more carbon dioxide being produced -- and I am not just talking about breaking wind!