How to Make a Clean Get Away
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 35
How to Make a Clean Get Away
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is episode #35 which is called How to Make a Clean Get Away.
In this episode, I want to focus on the topics of sustainable travel and ecotourism. Now that travel restrictions are starting to relax, we are all anxious to get out and about, which I totally understand. I know I feel that way as well. But, as we all start to think about travel again, it is important that we make responsible choices and that includes when we travel.
What I want to do in this episode is first define ecotourism, give you some examples of ecotourism activities, and also give you some resources and some companies and organizations that focus on this type of tourism. I want to put these ideas and principles in your mind so that when you travel, you can do so in a responsible manner and in a sustainable and clean manner. In other words, if you want to get away, then make it a clean get away. Make it a green get away. And make a positive impact on the people and the place to which you travel.
As I am producing this episode, it is July 27, 2021. So we are what, about 1 1/2 years into the pandemic. Things are starting to open up again and life is at least somewhat returning to normal. I know very well that this whole situation has affected all of us. I don’t know about my listeners but I know I am weary of this whole thing. So many of my plans have changed, been canceled, or otherwise put off for more than a year. At the beginning of the year I was supposed to take a long vacation and drive down the Baja peninsula of Mexico but the border was closed. I took some time off anyway but stayed at home instead.
Anyway, how many of you remember your first trip abroad? You finally got your passport, you plan a trip, and you are leaving your home country for the first time. I distinctly remember just how excited and nervous I was. My first trip abroad was to England in May of 1991. It was a vacation just prior to starting my doctorate program.
To me England seemed like a pretty benign place to go. And at the time, airport security was much more relaxed than what it is now so travel was at least a little easier. However, when I got off the plane in London, I was a little bit afraid because there were numerous military personnel with automatic weapons in the airport and security was nothing like I had ever seen. But you have to understand this was very soon after the Persian Gulf War.
Since that time, I’ve made numerous trips abroad. But like most people, I’ve hardly gone anywhere over the last 1 to 1/2 years
But as I start thinking and planning trips abroad again, there is something that is always on my mind. How can I do this in a more responsible and sustainable manner. And that is the focus of this episode, sustainable travel and ecotourism. But, let’s first talk about the impact of tourism, both good and bad, so that you can gain a prospective on how important it is to be sustainable about your choices and have as little impact as possible.
You know when I think about such things, I always seem to question just how things got started in the first place. Well, since the dawn of time people have always traveled. But throughout a significant portion of the history of humanity, travel has been related to war, trade, education, leisure, entertainment, and more. Certainly the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all had roads and various other forms of infrastructure in place, including their own version of resorts.
But with the onset of the industrial revolution, traveling and touring was within easy reach of the masses. The development of roads, cars, passenger planes, and railroads made traveling easily accessible. Consequently, the motivation for travel started to change and tourism became a formalized industry. But as time went on, we began to realize the negative impact of such activities.
One of my personal experiences that sticks in my mind is a trip I took with some friends to Albuquerque, New Mexico several years ago. The mountains on the east side of the city are called the Sandias, which by the way is Spanish for watermelon. There is an enormous aerial tram that takes you to the top of the mountain. There is a restaurant up there as well as some other shops.
Once up there I remember seeing this giant environmental interpretive sign, with pictures even, that talked about just how long it took various articles of trash to decay in the environment. In particular I remember the orange peel. It takes about 6 months to decompose by the way. I remember this only because I read the sign, was amazed that it actually took 6 months, then I walked down the trail and saw 2 orange peels that someone had thrown on the ground.
Okay my first thought was “Well, maybe you should not have made it so easy for people to be up here in the first place.” My second thought was to pick up the orange peel and put it in the trash.
My point being is that it is a foregone conclusion that the presence of human activity is going to have an impact on the environment, consume various resources, and produce waste.
Tourism can destroy the natural environment, negatively impact local biodiversity, destroy local habitat, deplete local resources such as water, land, food, and energy as well as affect the local economy. In fact, unrestrained tourism is one of the leading causes of species extinction.
The negative impact of tourism is often compounded in third world countries where laws are minimal to non-existent and enforcement is relaxed anyway. And this is especially true in ecological areas that are fragile.
Littering is particularly a problem with trekking and climbing tours. Mount Everest basecamp is a prime example. It is estimated that there is now about 12,000 pounds of human feces at Everest basecamp. And that does not even account for the food containers, beer cans, plastic bottles, equipment left behind. Everest basecamp is now that highest garbage dump in the world.
Obviously you cannot travel anywhere without having some sort of impact. Something is going to change in some small way just because you were there. It is similar to the concept that if you could see into the future, you would change the future just simply because you looked at it. Wow! Try and wrap your head around that concept.
Now, all that being said, there is of course a positive side to tourism because it does produce some significant benefits. There are numerous examples as to how tourism has literally been the savior to a drowning economy. I often think of this when I visit this little community called Santa Rosa, New Mexico. There is a natural artesian well in Santa Rosa called the Blue Hole. The in flow to this well is about 3,000 gallons per minute. The well is about 65 feet across at the top, about 120 feet across at the bottom and it is about 95 feet deep. This place is a major tourist attraction because people are allowed to swim in it. Additionally, scuba divers come there from all over Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, as well as other states. This are is well managed and cared for by the city. So, it is hard for me to fathom the enormous economic impact the Blue Hole has on the local economy. So, this is a great example of the positive impact of tourism.
But this is also a good example of how a local government sees the financial benefits of developing a tourist destination, then they put money and resources into revitalizing an area and natural resources are managed more carefully.
This is also an example of how efforts, rules, regulations regarding preservation are enforced. In other words, more effort is placed into conservation of the given area. And everyone benefits. If managed properly, it is completely possible for tourism, the local economy and the natural environment to have a mutually beneficial relationship. Thus the dawn of ecotourism in the 1980s.
People had the desire to travel just to learn about different exotic environments without causing harm. Ecotourism gained even more traction in the 1990s due to heightened awareness of environmental conservation. People were finally starting to get a grip on the fact that there was truly a limit to the resources on our planet and humanity was having a negative impact on those resources.
Very simply put, ecotourism is responsible travel. It centers around awareness of the environment and the local community. The goal of the eco-tourist when traveling is to always be mindful of the well being of the local people and the environment.
Ecotourism is truly about uniting conservation, communities and sustainable travel. What this means is people and organizations that implement the principles of ecotourism and market it as such, they adopt practices that minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts of their activities.
There are four common elements to eco-tourism that you can watch for when making travel plans:
- Eco-tourism usually involves nature of course.
Many companies will focus on one aspect of the natural environment. For example, whales, lions, birds, insects, archeological or cultural sites.
2) Education and Interpretation
One of the essential elements of eco-tourism is education and interpretation. And I am not talking about just facts and figures. They should be educating you about the complex relationships found in nature.
For example, my favorite scuba diving instructor and guide is named Vajai. He is in Saint Kitts and he is the guy the first certified Annette and I years ago. But, he is so knowledgable about the critters that we see when we go diving. Once we return to the surface, he always has interesting facts about the animal that we saw, what they do, and how they interact with the environment and how they fit into the ecosystem.
3) Cultural impacts
It is vital that ecotourism activities involve the local community so that it is beneficial to them. This is the best way to ensure protection of the local area. Tour operators should encourage putting money into the local economy by patronizing local goods and services, using local guides, and local accommodations. This creates employment, boosts the local economy, and creates economic security.
4) Sustainability
Ecotourism should emphasize minimal impact on the local environment. Visitors should be encouraged to give back to nature by participating in restoration activities and making donations to support such activities. By doing so, people get the impression that the environment is everyone’s responsibility.
Several years ago I went to Honduras for 6 weeks of dive training. As you mostly likely realize, anyone who goes through extensive dive training loves being in the ocean, appreciates the natural world, and is concerned about the environment.
As part of our training, we were required to do two things: 1) spend a day collecting data on the health of the coral reef and submit that to a research data base. 2) Spend one day doing beach clean up. As you can imagine, this made all of us focus even more on the health of the oceans because we saw first the changes in the coral reefs and of course we had to pick up all the trash.
Examples of Ecotourism
So, now that you know some of the basic fundamentals of ecotourism, let’s move on to some examples of things you can do.
What about simple cultural ecotourism?
This is where you travel simply to engage in local cultures. The tours you take may seek to protect archeological sites, observe and explore spiritual customs and cultural traditions. As a cultural traveler, you can aid the local community by purchasing from local artisans, patronizing local businesses.
There is endangered wildlife tourism.
For example, in South Africa various organizations work with wildlife preserves to map animals such as rhinos, cheetahs, and leopards. You can help conduct animal behavior research, learn basic survival skills, learn about local culture.
You can work with local guides for treks, and tailor-made conservation tours and get off the beaten path.
There is adventure ecotourism.
For someone with a more adventurous spirit, you can get off the beaten path and still have little to no environmental impact. For example, zip line canopy tours allow visitors to view the flora and fauna of the rainforest without leaving a trace.
Photo Safari
This is where people take tours and photograph the wildlife from specially adapted vehicles. This can be done without interrupting the ecosystem or the wildlife.
Wildlife Rehabilitation Facilities
These organizations are typically non-profit and provide significant benefits for the wildlife. You can volunteer your time and get an in-depth learning experience about a particular species.
When Annette and I lived in Saint Kitts she worked with the local sea turtle rescue program. I can tell you there are few things more satisfying than releasing a baby sea turtle back into the ocean.
Scuba diving tours
This is my favorite of course because Annette and I are both instructors.
Conservation organizations
There are numerous organizations that focus on a wide variety of conservation activities. Take a tour with them, volunteer your time, make a donation. Do something to support their cause.
Sustainable Travel Organizations
Now, I could go on about this topic for hours. But, I want to mention just a few organizations that focus on sustainable travel. I will also have several links in the transcript of this episode to various articles and organizations.
Center for Responsible Travel
Their mission is to promote responsible tourism policies and practices globally so that local communities can thrive.
Destination Stewardship Center
This is an offshoot of the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations
Global Ecotourism Network
Their mission is to unite the world’s national and regional ecotourism organizations in order to build a stronger industry.
I just wanted to give you a few examples here. However, there are many such organizations so spend some time on the internet doing a search and I will take you very little time to find a company that you like.
Now if you are like me and have the strong desire to travel again, I really want you to keep a few things in mind. I just want to take a minute here a reemphasize the underlying principle of ecotourism. According to the International Ecotourism Society, the principles of ecotourism are as follows.
-Minimize physical, social, behavioral, and psychological impacts.
-Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect.
-Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts.
-Provide direct financial benefits for conservation.
-Generate financial benefits for both local people and private industry.
-Deliver memorable interpretative experiences to visitors that help raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, social and environmental issues.
-Design, construct and operate low-impact facilities.
-Recognize the rights and spiritual beliefs of the indigenous people in the community and work in partnership with them to create empowerment.
So, please keep these principles in mind as you travel. But you can take it a step further and download the transcript of this episode to help you plan your next trip.
Now, as I am coming to a close in this episode, I want to mention one caveat:
Unfortunately, there are companies that are not exactly honest. There are organizations that like to present themselves as being eco friendly when they are not. There is a term called greenwashing. This is when a company or organization spends more time and money on marketing themselves as being environmentally friendly than they do on actually minimizing their environmental impact.
But how do you avoid this?
Well, we no longer live in the age where we primarily get our news and other information from the TV, newspapers, magazines, or the library. By performing some simple due diligence, you can easily get online and investigate an organization. Look into their background. Look for reviews. How long have they been in business? Do they donate to notable causes? Do they obviously put money into the local community?
Download the transcript of this episode so that you can keep in mind the underlying principles of ecotourism and sustainable travel. Then take that information and give your target organization a critical eye. Once you are satisfied, then contact them and ask questions and see what kind of response you get. So, plan ahead, take you time, and truly review a company before you book your travel.
And please, when you travel, always keep the local culture in mind. Be respectful and patronize their businesses. I have had the opportunity to live and work in a number of areas in the world where the average person was very poor.
If you happened to listen to episode #19 The True Impact of Fair Trade, then you know that two thirds of the world makes less than the equivalent of $10 USD/day and 10% of those make less that $1.90/day. So think about that in comparison to your present lifestyle when you travel to another country.
Be nice. Be respectful. Make a positive impact. Always follow the principles of ecotourism and sustainability. What that means is if you want to get away then you can make it a clean get away. A green get away.
I hope you have enjoyed this episode. And please take the time to leave me with a review and of course subscribe to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast as well as my companion blog Off Grid Living News.
This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Please join me again next week for another episode. And always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.
Additional Resources
9 Amazing Examples of Ecotourism
Belize in It: An Example of Ecotourism
The World’s Best Responsible Travel Organizations
