Do good for Mother Earth

Volunteer vacations have a “green” offshoot: trips that aren't just about doing good but doing good for planet Earth.

Green volunteer work projects send people to nature cleanups and preservation efforts all over the world. Participation in such efforts is up 13% over recent years, says Global Volunteers, a non-profit group that organizes up to 200 volunteer work projects a year worldwide. Travelocity, which helps pay for 12 selected volunteer vacations a year through its Travel for Good program, is seeing twice the number of grant applications for green volunteer trips than before. The Ecology Project International's Yellowstone program for teens also is seeing a near doubling of participation by students, who take on conservation work at the national park.

Intrigued by this interest, we sought a firsthand account of just what a volunteer vacation is like. Kiley Macie, 28, went on her first such trip last July to help with trail restoration and preservation in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. She plans to return this summer.

The Boston-based Appalachian Mountain Club oversees volunteer opportunities on mountain trails in New England for more than 300 participants every year. In a typical season, volunteers team to work on more than 20 miles of trail, all while living in tents and other less-than-luxe shelters. The cost for the trips, which can last one to four weeks, starts at $215 a week for non-club members.

Macie is taking part in these opportunities with her father, Bill, 60. When she was growing up, the two of them spent much time in the outdoors, thanks to a shared love of nature. “He's a retired animal sciences and forestry teacher,” says Macie, who is now a high school math teacher in Foxborough, Mass. “We always did a lot of hiking, fishing and canoeing in the White Mountains. So this gives us both a chance to enjoy the mountains together again while making a contribution to their upkeep.”

Not that this was a leisurely summer break. Every day, the two of them would join a crew — pickaxes and other heavy tools in hand — and clear trails of creeping brush, as well as remove heavy rocks and fallen trees. They built “rock cairns,” or trail markers designated by high piles of flat rocks.

“We also built bog bridges,” Macie says. “You need to take the supportive logs underneath and remove their bark, because the bark can rot quickly. Then you put the longer logs on top of that, hammer in some spikes, and you have your bridge. This was the most enjoyable part of the trip.”

By week's end, Macie and her father had worked on about 5 miles of trail. “It was a good workout,” she says. “I didn't realize everything that went into maintaining trails before this. Then, you realize there are hundreds of miles of trails here that need the same attention, and that makes you want to come back.”