Los Angeles may feature an abundance of holistic arts, yoga and macrobiotic diets, but it’s probably not the first city that comes to mind when you hear the term “eco-friendly.” You can largely thank the 900 miles of freeways and highways in Los Angeles County for that. Few would dispute that the city’s culture is a car-dominated one, with an obsessive focus on driving routes, smog alerts and the best times of day to avoid traffic. It’s an obsession that has been mocked on “Saturday Night Live,” captured in pop songs and recorded in academic essays.

It’s possible, though, to escape the routines of the typical visitor in the name of environmental friendliness. I set out to marry the city’s organic cuisine and healthy, active lifestyle with something that it isn’t widely associated with — leaving a small carbon footprint — by ditching the car and creature comforts of regular hotels.

I discovered that it’s possible to rely on the Metro, Los Angeles’s imperfect but quite functional public transportation system, which includes buses, a light rail system and, yes, even a subway. I was able to find a comfortable yurt — that’s right, the traditional Central Asian round tent — in a quiet, wooded part of the city accessible by light rail and just minutes from downtown. And all while saving some money in the process.

My girlfriend, Brette, and I rode the long escalator into the bowels of the subway station at Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue. “Wow,” she said, “I can’t believe this exists.” It does feel strange to ride the subway in Los Angeles because it dispels the one huge stereotype nearly everyone subscribes to: that you need a car to get around. “And it’s so quiet and clean,” she said, touching her Metro Tap card to the turnstile (subtracting the $1.75 fare) and going through.