Hong Kong Airlines Go Green

Fly green is the order of 2008. Environmentally conscious travelers on Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. can buy their tickets and offset the amount of greenhouse gas spewed out by each flight, all with the click of a mouse. The Hong Kong-based carrier and its sister airline, Dragonair, are the latest airlines to provide jet setters with a way to reduce their carbon footprint.

Travelers logging on to either of the airlines’ booking systems can tap in the origin and destination of their flight and calculate how much heat-trapping carbon dioxide they are responsible for releasing into the environment. Passengers can then choose to use frequent flier miles, or cash, to invest in a wind farm or other green project in mainland China that would offset the amount of carbon released by the flight.

Ruins In Rome The restored ruins of two opulent villas and private thermal baths have opened to the public in Rome, equipped with a 3-D reconstruction that offers a virtual tour of the luxurious residences found downtown. A 2,000-square-yard complex, dating from the 2nd to 4th centuries, features well-preserved mosaic and marble floors, bathtubs and collapsed walls that archaeologists believe belong to a domus %26#8212; the richly decorated residences of Rome’s wealthy and noble families. Another historic site, Emperor Augustus’ frescoed palace atop Rome’s Palatine Hill, built in the 1st century B.C., will partially reopen to the public March 2 after decades of restoration work, officials said. Palatine is one of the city’s famous seven hills.

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