Eco-Tourism on the Outer Banks: What to Bring to Your Vacation Rental

Welcome back to our blog series on Eco-Tourism when visiting here on the Outer Banks. We hope you have enjoyed this fun series that we have at Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates have been sharing. In the past couple of months, we have learned how to keep our beaches clean along with some earth-friendly activities. Since this will be the final post on this series, we thought it was natural to let you know how you can bring eco-tourism to your OBX vacation rental and even your own home.  We understand how important it is to make sure that our beaches are free of trash for you to enjoy and the wildlife. But let’s take a peek at how you can help bring eco-tourism to your vacation rental and even back to your home after your vacation ends. 

Vacation Rental

Shower Head with Water Stream on Black Background

Did you know that eco-tourism is much more than keeping our beaches clean and finding earth-friendly activities? It also starts in your OBX vacation rental during your trip. You can help out by making sure that you can take advantage of the natural light within your rental. Many of our homes do have plenty of windows and doors to help bring in that natural sunlight. Just opening up the blinds or curtains within your rental can help save on the amount of electricity used. Another way that you can bring eco-tourism into your vacation rental is by conserving water. This can be done a few different ways, like watching how long the showers are, whether they’re indoors or outdoors, or leaving the hose turned on while you’re outdoors. And the last thing we wanted to share with you is making sure that you’re utilizing the outdoor trash cans and recycling bins.

Home Sweet Home

Recycling garbage such as glass, plastic, metal and paper

As you leave your vacation rental after you’ve had a wonderful vacation, why not bring some of the things you’ve learned during our eco-tourism tour home with you? Remember to reuse, reduce & recycle all products within your home. And finding fun, eco-friendly activities to do outdoors can go a long way. But it can also help you raise awareness around your community. Using energy-efficient light bulbs within your home can help save you some energy or by just turning off a light switch when you leave the room. Purchase things from a local store to support local businesses within your community. There are so many options that you can do to help bring eco-tourism back to your hometown.

There are many other options to help you bring eco-tourism into your vacation rental and your own home, and we wanted to share those with you. Remember we are still participating in the Plastic Bag Bench Project and we are still taking plastic bag donations at our main office. If you are still searching for that perfect OBX vacation rental for your next eco-friendly vacation, we have plenty to choose from. We hope that you enjoyed this blog series, and we hope to bring you more in the future.

Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is one of the most trusted vacation rental managers in the local area by growing into a market leader in the Vacation Rental and Sales Industry. Joe Lamb Jr. and his family have played a vital and intricate role in the Outer Banks Community for decades. 

Over the past 50+ years, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates have worked diligently to help promote the Outer Banks for the amazing beach and family vacation destination that it is, helping to increase tourism in the area and grow our beautiful community.

Eco-Tourism on the Outer Banks: Featuring Earth Friendly Activities

Welcome back to our blog series on Eco-Tourism here on the Outer Banks. In the last post, we learned about how you can help keep our beaches clean for others to enjoy trash-free. If you missed that article check it out here. We wanted to dig a little deeper into learning a little more about some eco-friendly activities that you can take advantage of too. Staying in one of our Outer Banks vacation rentals will allow you and your family to be able to enjoy some of these activities for free. Let’s look at a few of the great places where you can sit back and explore the Outer Banks while taking in a few eco-friendly activities. 

Yoga on the Beach

A young woman wearing gym clothes doing yoga on the beach on a sunny day.

A great way to enjoy the clean beaches on the Outer Banks is to do yoga on the beach. If you are staying in an oceanfront vacation rental, then all you’ll have to do is head out the door, walk onto the sand, and set up for some relaxing yoga and listen to the surf roll in. You can also enjoy your yoga session out on the deck or alongside the pool of your vacation home.  Whether you decide to do it first thing in the morning as the sun is rising or in the evening as the sun is setting, anytime is a perfect time. If you don’t have a yoga mat with you on your vacation, then have no fear, as a beach towel will work in its place.

Visit a Nature Reserve

White heron standing in the grass, water, at a reserve

Another great way to explore and enjoy some eco-friendly activities on the Outer Banks is by visiting one of the many nature reserves we have. Keeping our beaches clean is a must that helps with our eco-tourism and keeping our nature reserves and parks clean. Here are a few of the nature reserves that you can visit here on the Outer Banks:

  • Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve – located in Kitty Hawk
  • Nags Head Woods Preserve – located in Kill Devil Hills
  • Run Hill State National Area Dedicated Nature Preserve – located in Kill Devil Hills
  • Alligator River Refuge – located in Manteo
  • Currituck Banks Reserve – located in Corolla
  • Coastal NC Refuges Gateway Visitor Center – located in Manteo
  • Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge – located in Rodanthe

While many other parks, nature reserves, and other fun activities are all eco-friendly here on the Outer Banks, we wanted to mention these. If you are still looking to find a great place to vacation while on the OBX, check out our many available rentals from oceanfront to soundside, we have you covered.  We hope that you love this blog series as much as we are.

Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is one of the most trusted vacation rental managers in the local area by growing into a market leader in the Vacation Rental and Sales Industry. Joe Lamb Jr. and his family have played a vital and intricate role in the Outer Banks Community for decades. 

Over the past 50+ years, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates have worked diligently to help promote the Outer Banks for the amazing beach and family vacation destination that it is, helping to increase tourism in the area and grow our beautiful community.

Eco-Tourism on the Outer Banks: How to Help Keep the Outer Banks Clean

sand, wooden stairs, railings, atlantic ocean, waves, blue skies, sand dunes, boat in distance, soft clouds in sky

A Joe Lamb Jr. Blog Series –

Eco-Tourism is in full swing on the Outer Banks and every visitor plays a part in keeping our beaches & waterways pristine for all. We here at Joe Lamb Jr wanted to share a new blog series with some simple tips, ideas, & educational offerings that you and your family can implement & enjoy on your next visit. Staying in one of our oceanfront vacation rentals will allow you and your family to enjoy some of the best uninterrupted coastal views that the Atlantic Ocean can offer. If clean wide open beaches are for you then let’s get started! 

Keeping our Beaches Clean

You’ll notice one of the beautiful things about the Outer Banks is how clean the ocean is, the sound, and our beaches. We take pride in not only keeping the wildlife safe but also our guests as well. We have come up with a few ways that you and your family can help fight to keep the OBX clean for all.

reusable coral bag, white water bottle, white brick wall in background, silver and black tumbler, white countertop
  • Switch to Reusable Straws – You’ll notice that many local restaurants have done away with plastic straws & switched over to recyclable paper straws here on the Outer Banks. If you don’t care for the paper straws, be sure to pack some reusable straws that you can wash and reuse for your whole trip.
  • Bring Reusable Cups – Another big thing that we have done is discontinue using disposable cups so be sure to pack your favorite reusable tumblers with you. Not only can many of the metal tumblers keep your drinks warm, but they can also help keep your drinks cool too in the hot summer sun.
  • Use Recyclable or Reusable Bags – Bringing with you either a recyclable or reusable bag for your shopping needs is excellent. Many of the grocery stores here on the OBX will give you a discount if you shop using your bags. Let’s help keep our environment and sea life safe by not using plastic bags.
  • Carry In / Carry Out Rules – You’ll notice that when you step onto the sand from your oceanfront vacation rental that there should be no trash. Unlike other beaches around the world, the OBX takes pride in our clean beaches. After your day on the beach, be sure to clean up your things and throw the trash away. It only takes a few minutes to pick up a little trash and leave the beach the way you .

 Reduce, Reuse & Recycle

As many of our children go to school, they may have learned this helpful reminder phrase – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. As mentioned above, reducing the number of plastics you use while on vacation and reusing those items is a great first step to keeping the Outer Banks clean. 

Let’s talk about recycling for a bit. We at Joe Lamb Jr are a part of the Women’s Club here on the OBX as Mrs. Lamb is a founding member. Through this community connection we have partnered with NexTrex to help with plastic bag recycling.  

Our goal is to collect 480+lbs (about 40,500) of plastic bags to have those bags recycled into a high-performance composite community bench!  If you would like to help us reach this goal and be part of the plastic bag recycling effort along our coastline bags be dropped off at three different locations in our area.

map showing three drop off locations for recycling, Dare County Baum Center, Outer Banks Family YMCA & Joe Lamb Jr & Associates on map of the Outer Banks, NC
  • Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates 
  • YMCA
  • Baum Center – Day Programs for Adults

While there are many other ways that you and your family can help protect our beaches, ocean waters, sea life, and wildlife safe from trash, we wanted to share these with you. If you don’t have your next vacation planned to stay with us later this year, look at our OBX vacation rentals today. We hope that you will follow along with us over the next few months on more of the Eco-Tourism on the Outer Banks and how you can help too!

Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates is one of the most trusted vacation rental managers in the local area by growing into a market leader in the Vacation Rental and Sales Industry. Joe Lamb Jr. and his family have played a vital and intricate role in the Outer Banks Community for decades. 

Over the past 50+ years, Joe Lamb Jr. & Associates have worked diligently to help promote the Outer Banks for the amazing beach and family vacation destination that it is, helping to increase tourism in the area and grow our beautiful community.