Reducing the environmental impact of our travels.

Friends have requested me to post WWF guidelines for environmental impact of our travels. I am posting it below.

1. Selecting your destination…

When you travel to your holiday destination by plane you are contributing to significant emissions of climate change causing carbon dioxide.
• Try to take vacations nearer to home, or pick locations that you can reach by other forms of transport.
2. Getting there

•If you have to fly carbon offsets to compensate for the emissions caused by your flight.
•Rather than hiring a car at the airport choose other ways to get around like taxis, trains or buses.
•If you do travel by car turn off your engine when you’re parked, or stuck in traffic. It will save you fuel and reduce emissions.

3. Choosing the right place to stay…

•Choose accommodation that have effective waste treatment systems, that recycle, that are energy efficient, and, where possible, that use environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar energy or hydroelectric power.
•Look out for hotels that participate in WWf checkout for nature programme. Participating Hotels will add a Euro (or its equivalent value) to your hotel bill when you check out at the end of your stay, which will be used to support our conservation work around the world.


4. Whilst you are there…

•Look at eco-tourism options. Many travel companies now offer holidays which support sustainable development, do not impact negatively on the environment and provide financial support to local communities.
•Respect the environment and stay on trails and public footpaths. Do not remove plants or feed animals, and never litter.
•Conserve water and take showers rather than baths. Use a refillable water container, sterilizing water when necessary rather than buying bottled water.
•Limit energy use, including your use of air-conditioning and hot water. Turn off all lights and taps when you leave hotel rooms.
•Minimize your use of personal care products and detergents to wash linen, and reuse your hotel towels and bed linen.
•Dispose of sanitary waste properly. Don’t flush cotton buds, condoms, tampons and plastics down the toilet, or you might just find them on the beach!
•Recycle newspapers, magazines and your beverage containers (many can be returned for refunds), and reduce the number of bags, napkins and disposable cups you use when you eat fast food.
•Rent a bike. In many places you can rent them out. They are not only environmentally friendly and cheap, but also a great option for sightseeing.
•Take a hike. walking in cities or going on a hike in the countryside is great way to avoid emissions and yet discover some of special things about where you are, things you may otherwise simply "drive by".
•Reduce the impact of your recreational activities by avoiding sports which have a significant harmful impact on the environment, or choose more progressive establishments (e.g. golf courses which recycle water).


5. Coming home…

Some souvenirs could end up costing a lot more than you paid for them.
•Think twice before you buy any products made from any endangered species, including animal hides and body parts, tortoise-shell, ivory, or coral - they could be illegal.
•Visit WWF-US’ buyer beware website for information that can help you say "no" to illegal wildlife products.

Reuse of water bottles- Venice shows the way

A used plastic water bottle thrown away carelessly is a big headache in tourist centres. I came across this new scheme launched in Italy recently. It impressed me with its simplicity and inherent great potential. If implemented properly it is going to be blessing.
Italy has the largest consumption of bottled water in the world. For tourist centers like Venice discarded water bottles is a big bother. Venice has come out with this innovative scheme called 100%public whereby tourists are given an empty water bottle and a map showing 122 fountains that have been installed in the city. The authorities hope that this will solve a major problem for them
Ecolodges congratulates the civic authorities of Venice for this innovative scheme.

InterContinental Hotels Group plans 100% ecologically-friendly hotel

The InterContinental Hotels Group has come out with plans for 100% eco-friendly hotel. Latest technology in energy and water conservation and recycling has gone into the planning.

The important features are

Solar panels on the roof to heat water

Wind power to generate electricity for the hotel

A green roof planted with low-maintenance plants

A rainwater harvesting system to supply water to toilets

Furniture and fittings made entirely from recycled materials

Using household waste to provide heat and power

Natural lava stone signage at the entrance and on the lawns instead of traditional plastic and metal signs

Furniture in the reception made from recycled material

Recycling paper used by the receptionists

Low emission paint décor

Unused food from the kitchens packaged and delivered to local charities or food banks

All furniture and fittings including towels made from recycled materials

Usage of low-flow shower heads and dual flush toilets.

The dark side of Costa Rica’s environmental tourism.

Costa Rica is often touted as an environmental paradise. It may have been true in the early years. But mass tourism has brought misery to the region. An investigation by Christian Science Monitor has come out with alarming facts.

Water quality tests conducted by the Costa Rica Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) over the past year found faecal contamination far above levels considered safe by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The biodiversity that has long lured visitors is disappearing. 97 percent of Costa Rica's sewage flows untreated into rivers, streams, or the ocean. Illegal well drilling is running aquifers dry. Monkey populations, symbols of the rain forest and a charismatic tourist attraction, declined by an estimated 50 percent in little more than a decade. Sea turtles are also threatened.

Costa Rica has 11,450 species of plants, 67,000 species of insects, 850 species of birds, and the highest density of plants, animals, and ecosystems of any country in the Americas. It is a shame if these disappear by pandering to tourism. What is needed is levelheaded planning. Judiciously used tourism is a great driver of economic prosperity. But the hen that lays the golden eggs has to be protected.

Read the full story here

Link - 2008 Green Spaces Travel awards

I have received couple of mails asking for a link to the original article in TimesOnline
Here it is guys
Click here
Please send your entries to Greenspaces@thetimes.co.uk

The Times’ Green Spaces Travel Awards – 2008

Leading UK newspaper, The Times, has launched Green Spaces a new award for green travel. This is your chance to have your say about Green Spaces and gets rewarded to boot. You could win a copy of Alaister Sawday’s Green Places to Stay. Travellers around the world can nominate a favourite Green Space that they have encountered on holiday in the UK or abroad. You can nominate a hotel or villa, a park, a beach, a city, an area of natural beauty, a restaurant, a bar, a method of transport, a tour or holiday. Deadline is September 2008.

Pro-poor Tourism: Who Benefits?

Pro-poor tourism is the buzzword nowadays. It is part of the sustainable development strategies in the less developed countries. But is it a really effective development tool or lot of hogwash? Here is a book that does a detailed analysis with case studies.

Pro-poor Tourism: Who Benefits?

Perspectives on Tourism and Poverty Reduction

Edited by: C. Michael Hall

Publisher: Multilingual Matters

List price: £34.95

Format: Hardback (pp: 176) ISBN: 1-84541-075-0

Green Travel - The World's Best Eco-Lodges & Earth-Friendly Hotels

Here is a great book coming your way. People who had sneak preview say it is money’s worth. Green Travel is a guide to eco-lodges & green hotels around the world. It features 100 eco-lodges & green hotels that support local communities in their endeavour to deliver clean, green, holistic experience. It also tackles issues like questions about poverty, the politics of boycotting certain destinations, and the environmental impact of travel. First-hand accounts of green travel experiences on each continent and practical information about the greenest ways to get there are great additions. If you are in to travel business or happens to be an inveterate traveller go ahead and buy it when it hits the stand in April.

Green Travel: The World's Best Eco-Lodges & Earth-Friendly Hotels

Written by Fodor’s
Format: Trade Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: Fodor's
ISBN: 978-1-4000-0753-0 (1-4000-0753-4)
Pub Date: April 29, 2008
Price: $25.00

Galápagos Islands - Perils of Mass Tourism

Galápagos Islands, the world’s first World Heritage Site is under threat due to mass tourism. Galápagos Islands has unique native species that are said to be the instigation behind Darwin’s theories on evolution and natural selection. Visitor numbers to the islands have grown phenomenally. The crisis afflicting the islands is not only a direct result of the rise in tourism but also from a change in the type of travellers visiting the area. Nature-loving tourists, who were easily accommodated by smaller, locally owned tour operators characterized early tourism in the Galápagos. The new type of tourists often prefers high level of comfort available from large tour operators and vessels. Tourists coming by big vessels are not staying in locally run hotels or eating in the local restaurants. Local guys are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the mainly foreign-run large-scale operators. Out of $418 million generated by tourism annually in the Galápagos, only $63 million is estimated to enter the local economy. Increased risk of infection and introduction of non-native plant species looms large. The delicate ecosystem is in great danger.

Top 10 Eco-friendly Destinations of the world

IgoUgo, (owned by Travelocity) selected the following 10 Eco-friendly Destinations as real top class and money’s worth. If you are a green buff these are the destinations you should plumb in for.

1. Buck Island Reef National Monument – St Croix, US Virgin Islands
2. Sea Turtle Watching in Rekawa – Rekawa, Sri Lanka
3. Napo Wildlife Center – Quito, Ecuador
4. Artisans D’Angkor Silk Farm – Siem Reap, Cambodia
5. Celestun Biosphere Reserve – Yucatan, Mexico
6. Rainforest Hike to Middleham Falls & Ti Tou Gorge with Ken’s Hinterland Adventure Tours – Dominica
7. Sadie Cove Wilderness Lodge – Kachemak Bay State Park, Alaska
8. Volcano Trekking at Gunung Batur – Gunung Batur, Bali
9. Strokkur Geyser – Geysir Center, Iceland

10. Canopy Tour – Quepos, Costa Rica