Erin Go Green!

Just because St. Patrick's Day comes only once a year doesn't mean you need to limit celebrating Ireland's best exports — from breakfast tea to Bono — to just one day a year. There's certainly no shortage of Guinness and green here in America, but if you really want the true Irish experience, you do indeed need to hop on a plane (remembering, of course, to offset your carbon footprint) and head overseas.

Many tourists begin and end their Irish adventure in Dublin ... and end up missing the countryside's Kodachrome green hills, babbling brooks and extra-warm hospitality. If you're considering a comprehensive Irish vacation, it's good to know that one of the country's grandest hotels, Ashford Castle, is also one of the greenest.

Since launching an extensive environmental game plan last year, the hotel has substantially reduced daily energy and water use, increased its recycling initiatives and even won a Green Hospitality Award from its local government authorities.

The hotel's conservation efforts are thorough enough to touch every aspect of the property, which includes luxury amenities like a golf course, spa and expansive lakefront grounds. Some of those initiatives, like replacing every old light bulb with a new energy-efficient one, might seem obvious ... but others, like giving used menus to a local grade school to make art out of, may not. Many of the hotel's recycling practices are things we should all be doing at home, like separating used wine corks from dry cleaning hangers in the trash so that both can get properly recycled. But, sadly, hotels that go to these environment-loving steps are the exception as opposed to the rule.

And if you're wondering, Ashford Castle is indeed a castle. It was built in the 13th century and owned by the Guinness family — yes, as in the ubiquitous dark drink — until becoming a hotel 70 years ago. It's one of those sprawling properties that you really want to allow ample time at to enjoy everything, explore and relax. How do you wrangle plenty of vacation time while everyone seems to be downsizing and glued to their desks? That might just take the luck of the Irish.