Forgot Password?
Home arrow GreeniacsGuides arrow Travel arrow Take an Eco Vacation
Written by Greeniac24   
Share |
Monday, 21 July 2008

Take an Eco-Vacation

What is Ecotourism?

Ecotourism, or sustainable tourism, is a developing trend focused on environmental conservation and the welfare of host cultures. It promotes sustainable travel that will help preserve natural settings for the enjoyment of future visitors. This means making responsible travel choices that will benefit the places visited.

Today, tourists have access to every corner of the world and travel to untouched, natural areas is increasingly popular. Before you head off to see nature in its pristine splendor, however, it is important to realize how you will affect the place you visit. Making your trip an eco-vacation will help ensure that you leave a good impact.

BENEFITS for the Environment:

Ecotourism provides an economic incentive for conservation and Green practices. This generates funding for wildlife preserves, initiatives that protect biodiversity and the natural setting, and support for Green businesses such as eco-lodges. As a result, undisturbed nature attains a high financial value. Ecotourism also involves the application of general conservation ideals wherever possible. For example, ecotourists try to reduce emissions by riding public transit or flying direct.

Ecotourists can also participate in education and direct action to preserve pristine environmental areas through going on what is known as volunteer vacations. Volunteer vacationers can participate in reforestation projects, wetland restoration, wildlife rescue, environmental studies, trail maintenance, photojournalism, and organic agriculture. Such vacations allow for one to make a tangible difference while educating oneself about a new environmental effort. Volunteers often feel that they have a stake in the environmental project, sometimes returning to see how the project has faired, and often educating others upon returning from the vacations.

BENEFITS for Native Cultures:


Ecotourism also strives to improve local welfare. Conventional tourism often displaces indigenous peoples off cultural lands in order to erect tourism infrastructure and Western-style amenities. Ecotourism helps preclude these deleterious impacts by establishing sustainable tourism practices that take into consideration the needs and wishes of the host peoples. Ecotourists also support local cultures by hiring native guides, patronizing local businesses, and traveling in small groups to minimize impact.

COST: Variable

Ecotourism is not necessarily more expensive than conventional travel, but it all depends on the nature of your vacation. Certain ecotourism choices are more costly; for example, flying direct reduces emissions, but often costs more than using available flights with connections. Other eco-activities save money; for example, riding public transit or walking is cheaper than a car rental. Many sustainable travel practices require little to no money at all; examples include conserving water or volunteering to help a local cause.

TIME and EFFORT: Moderate to High

Prefixing something "eco" does not automatically make it benevolent or sustainable. Tourism in general is consumer driven, and financial green often trumps environmental green when it comes to motivation. Thus, it is up to the responsible traveler to make sure that tourism dollars are supporting the actual environment rather than ecotourism exploitation. This often requires research, planning, and commitment. Ecotourism is about becoming an informed and responsible traveler so that our vacation activities make a difference for a healthier world.

As of yet, ecotourism is not a centralized or organized movement. Certification programs are currently in development in different countries and on a global level to set ecotourism standards. Ultimately, however, it is up to each responsible traveler to represent the ecotourism ideal through individual actions.

However, if one opts for the less extravagant options of backpacking or camping out, packing and trip planning need not be much more complicated than for any other vacation. Instead of meticulously pouring over city guide books, one spends that time pouring over maps of trails, campsites, and lodging locations. Instead of making sure to remember a cell phone charger, one makes sure to remember a first aid kit.

The Ethic of “Leave No Trace”

Whether one is backpacking, camping, exploring a new city, or exploring a natural area abroad, the environmentalist ethic of Leave No Trace can be put into practice. The Wilderness Act of 1964 created a legal definition of wilderness and legal protections for wilderness areas. In the 1970s and 1980s, environmental advocates devised a set of principles collectively entitled Leave No Trace in order to promote low-impact outdoor recreation without limiting access to wilderness areas, since limited access could have potentially jeopardized popular support for the Wilderness Act. The principles of Leave No Trace, while most often applied in wilderness settings, can also be applied in other travel situations among those who wish to minimize the footprint they leave as they journey.

The first principle of Leave No Trace is that one should plan ahead and be well-prepared. In a wilderness situation, this can mean choosing an adequate campsite ahead of time, while, in an urban setting, it can mean planning ahead so as to generate as little trash as possible. The other principles of Leave No Trace that can readily be applied to urban, rural, and wilderness settings include: dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, respect wildlife, and be considerate of others. The Leave No Trace ethic is often summarized by the statement: Take only photos, leave only footprints. In urban areas, it may sometimes be appropriate to take souvenirs in addition to photos, but the general ethic of Leave No Trace is applicable in all travel settings and is helpful to keep in mind.

Tips on Becoming a Responsible Traveler

Ecotourism refers to sustainable travel to natural places, but you can be a responsible traveler everywhere you go! Try some of the following tips...

Cultural Sensitivity

* Research your destination before you go. This will help you understand local cultures and avoid any inadvertent disrespect. In addition, knowing the local area will allow you to plan ecotourism activities to make the best use of your time.

* Keep an open mind. Engage with the locals and learn from them. Listen carefully and observe the local culture.

* Be sensitive to your surroundings. Wear appropriate clothing; nothing flashy or flamboyant. Do not flaunt your wealth or fancy electronics. Do not use your status as a tourist to seek attention.

* Hire a local guide instead of an expatriate. You will be supporting the local community, and a native person will be able to convey more profound knowledge and extra insights into his or her culture.

* Only take photographs of people who have given you explicit permission to do so. Photographing without permission can be seen as reducing a person to the status of a thing.

Ecological Mindfulness

* Minimize emissions by walking or biking whenever possible. Ride public transit and trains, or rent an alternative fuel vehicle. When driving and flying are unavoidable, plan to travel by the shortest and fastest route.

* Conserve water and electricity. These are precious resources, especially in undeveloped regions, and using them indiscriminately places an unnecessary burden on the local community.

* Minimize garbage by removing all excess wrappers and packaging before the trip. Undeveloped regions and poor countries often have inadequate waste management systems that are unable to accommodate extra trash from tourists.

* Be a responsible shopper and find out where products come from. Buy local products made with renewable resources. Purchase organically grown food. Do not buy souvenirs made with animal or plant products from endangered species.

* Stay at an eco-lodge and patronize sustainable local businesses. These establishments contribute to local communities and provide goods and services that come from local sources.

* If traveling in a natural area, stay on the trails. Walking off the trail can cause compaction of the soil and expand the trail into natural areas that are meant to be protected from degradation.

Giving

* Use your vacation as an opportunity for philanthropy. Pack items to donate to the local community. Ask your guide if there are any local projects you could volunteer for or conservation programs you could help support.

Ecotourism Resources

The International Ecotourism Society
http://www.ecotourism.org

The Ecotourism Portal - Book an Eco-vacation!
http://www.ecotourism.cc

Volunteer Vacations
http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/vacation/topic/environmental-protection.htm


Volunteer Vacations with the American Hiking Society
http://www.americanhiking.org/volunteerVacation.aspx


Volunteer Vacations with the Sierra Club
http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/national/service.asp

The Ramblers Association
http://www.ramblers.org.uk/


Partners in Responsible Tourism
http://www.pirt.org/


Browse all Greeniacs Guides Browse all Greeniacs Guides        Browse all Greeniacs Articles
_______________________________________________________________________________




Add your comment
RSS comments

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Click here to Register.  Click here to login.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 November 2011 )

SEARCH GREENIACS.COM

Green Facts

  • You will save 300 pounds of carbon dioxide for every 10,000 miles you drive if you always keep your car’s tires fully inflated.

  • A laptop consumes five times less electricity than a desktop computer.

  • Every week about 20 species of plants and animals become extinct.

  • For every 38,000 bills consumers pay online instead of by mail, 5,058 pounds of greenhouse gases are avoided and two tons of trees are preserved.

  • It takes 6,000,000 trees to make 1 year's worth of tissues for the world.

  • Rainforests are being cut down at the rate of 100 acres per minute.

  • Washing your clothes in cold or warm instead of hot water saves 500 pounds of carbon dioxide a year, and drying your clothes on a clothesline six months out of the year would save another 700 pounds.

  • In California homes, about 10% of energy usage is related to TVs, DVRs, cable and satellite boxes, and DVD players.

  • Nudge your thermostat up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter to prevent 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

  • Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months

  • Refrigerators built in 1975 used 4 times more energy than current models.

  • Shaving 10 miles off of your weekly driving pattern can eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

  • A steel mill using recycled scrap reduces related water pollution, air pollution, and mining wastes by about 70%.

  • One recycled aluminum can will save enough energy to run a 100-watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours, or a TV for 2 hours.

  • Less than 1% of electricity in the United States is generated from solar power.

  • Bamboo absorbs 35% more carbon dioxide than equivalent stands of trees.

  • The World Health Organization estimates that 2 million people die prematurely worldwide every year due to air pollution.

  • Glass can be recycled over and over again without ever wearing down.

  • In the United States, automobiles produce over 20 percent of total carbon emissions. Walk or bike and you'll save one pound of carbon for every mile you travel.

  • States with bottle deposit laws have 35-40% less litter by volume.

  • You’ll save two pounds of carbon for every 20 glass bottles that you recycle.

  • You will save 100 pounds of carbon for each incandescent bulb that you replace with a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL), over the life of the bulb.

  • A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to 2,000,000 gallons of fresh water.

  • A tree that provides a home with shade from the sun can reduce the energy required to run the air conditioner and save an additional 200 to 2,000 pounds of carbon over its lifetime.

  • Current sea ice levels are at least 47% lower than they were in 1979.

  • Turning off the tap when brushing your teeth can save as much as 10 gallons a day per person.

  • Americans use 100 million tin and steel cans every day.

  • Recycling aluminum saves 95% of the energy used to make the material from scratch.

  • American workers spend an average of 47 hours per year commuting through rush hour traffic. This adds up to 23 billion gallons of gas wasted in traffic each year.

  • Recycling 1 million laptop computers can save the amount of energy used by 3,657 homes in the U.S. over the course of a year.

  • Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year.

  • 82 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. come from burning fossil fuels.

  • Recycling for one year at Stanford University saved the equivalent of 33,913 trees and the need for 636 tons of iron ore, coal, and limestone.

  • Due to tiger poaching, habitat destruction, and other human-tiger conflicts, tigers now number around 3,200—a decrease in population by about 70% from 100 years ago.

  • 77% of people who commute to work by car drive alone.

  • Americans throw away more than 120 million cell phones each year, which contribute 60,000 tons of waste to landfills annually.

  • Recycling 100 million cell phones can save enough energy to power 18,500 homes in the U.S. for a year.

  • An aluminum can that is thrown away instead of recycled will still be a can 500 years from now!

  • If every U.S. household turned the thermostat down by 10 degrees for seven hours each night during the cold months, and seven hours each weekday, it would prevent nearly gas emissions.