Happy Earth Day! The BF and I spent all of Sunday watching hours of Planet Earth and eating pizza. Other than the coronary heart disease that I developed after being stagnant and full of grease, it was a MAGNIFICENT day. I’m going to give each and every wildebeest in Africa a straw to drink crocodile infested lake water from.
Anyhow, if Planet Earth doesn’t awe you and make you want to recycle everything including your used toilet paper, then your heart is made of coal. Travel responsibly through eco-tourism and save Planet Earth!
Three things to know about Eco-tourism:
1. Eco-tourism helps the environment: Ecotourism can help sustain the natural environment. Not only is this important for the animals who live there, but it’s also important for your experience. But most importantly, it helps the locals maintain their way of life without losing their home to a gigantic resort.
2. Ecotourism provides jobs for locals: In some developing nations, when a tourism comes into the neighborhood, it pushes out opportunity for the locals. Why? Because some companies typically hire more educated people with more experience than the uneducated locals. Responsible eco-tourism companies will partner with local businesses. Also, isn’t it just better to have a local show you around?
3. Donate: You can donate to the cause! Even if you’re planning on running through Alaska with a barrel of oil (PLEASE DON’T!), you can help make the world a better place by donating towards the cause. Some places you can donate to: Greenpeace, the Nature Conservatory, and other similar organizations.
Take a look through the International Ecotourism Society, an online ecotourism community. Start your search for your Green vacation!
(Images by Marisa Wong)
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1 comment
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July 29, 2008 at 1:41 am
larryvance
You know, there are a lot of ways that responsible citizens can help to reduce damage to the earth – and ourselves in the long run. One easy thing is to pick “green” accommodations when available, not just those who say they’re doing something, but those who actually are. You can do this through a website I’ve run across recently, iStayGreen.org, where you not only locate green hotels, but rate them, which puts pressure on hoteliers to do as much as they can to be well rated.
Uniquely, the site features a social networking system, so groups with like interests can get together, advise each other and exchange information. It’s about time something like http://www.iStayGreen.org came along.