It’s Easy Being Green on Bald Head Island

Bald Head Island, NC – For many, summer vacation means lazy days spent on the beach without a care. However, in these environmentally conscious times, many travelers want to ensure they don’t abandon their care for our planet with their work woes and winter jackets. Luckily, there are places like Bald Head Island, where taking a green vacation is as easy as an afternoon nap on the beach. 
 
Visits to Bald Head Island begin with vacationers parking their petrol-burning cars on the mainland and traveling together on a ferry. There are no cars on Bald Head Island, where the preferred mode of transport is golf cart, bicycle, or your own two feet. Visitors reduce their carbon footprint while having the opportunity to see the island in a whole new way. One of highlights of summer on Bald Head Island is the July 4th Golf Cart Parade, where residents and visitors whimsically decorate golf carts and compete in various categories including Best Environmental Cart.
 
Families who visit Bald Head Island can participate in environmentally friendly activities like the turtle walk program offered through the Bald Head Island Conservancy. Turtle walks, which happen seven days a week from June through August, offer participants the rare opportunity to observe sea turtles nesting in the protected environment of Bald Head’s shores. The conservancy is nationally recognized for its efforts to protect sea turtle’s natural habitat, and its work is vital to the continued survival of the species. Bird lovers will be happy to learn that Bald Head Island has been designation an Audubon Important Bird Area, with lots of opportunities to sight the grosbeaks, egrets, and herons that nest there.
 
Those concerned with the sustainability of our fragile barrier islands can learn more through the conservancy’s Barrier Island Study Center. The center is concerned with researching ways to best manage these islands to protect them from human and environmental disturbance.
 
The foundation for Bald Head Island’s green appeal goes back to the unique, sensitive land planning philosophy of the Mitchell family, the island’s developers. Rather than building high-rise hotels and amusement parks, the Mitchells left the beaches, creeks and marshes in their pristine state. Of the Island’s 12,000 acres, 10,000 are permanently protected and will remain undeveloped. Through smart planning and dedication to their vision, the Mitchells have made Bald Head Island a sustainable community where people live in harmony with nature and each other. 
 
To learn more about vacations on Bald Head Island, call  1-800-432-RENT, or visit www.baldheadisland.com.