Small steps to becoming a more sustainable and responsible tourist
The
good news is that it's easier than ever to be a responsible tourist and to
reduce your impact on the planet. After all, if you want to keep on travelling, holidaying
and experiencing these wonderful places, it's also your responsibly to ensure
they remain beautiful and sustainable for the future. Here's some simple
actions you can take to help you become a more responsible tourist.
Plastic water bottles
Public
enemy number one and a difficult one to avoid in countries which have unsafe
tap water. But there are ways around this. Firstly, take a reusable sports
bottle away with you. My boyfriend and I have 3 between us on our current
backpacking trip and they have saved us so much plastic it's unbelievable. When
in transit most airports have water fountains and filters, the best of which
was in Medan airport, the filter tallied up how many plastic bottles had been
saved by using it - it was at over 15,700 when I used it. Little positive
reinforcements like this are wonderful! In Australia and New Zealand,
although the tap water is safe to drink, we found water filling stations
everywhere, great for when you are out exploring and need a refill. Your sports
bottle will come in extremely handy.
Try
to seek out accommodation which offers water refills, some state this on their
website or accommodation overview on booking sites. This saves a crazy amount
of plastic. The hostels and home stays I stayed in throughout Asia were notably
better at this than the hotels! Many hotels are still in the habit of leaving
new plastic bottles in your room each day, something else you can tackle. At
one such hotel where they wouldn’t refill our water bottles, I stacked up our empty
water bottles purchased throughout the week (we still tried to find places to refill,
but couldn't always) and left a note. If you can change the mind-set of one
hotel at a time you're helping to make a difference. Another tip for when your accommodation
doesn’t have water dispensers is to head out to a local store and buy the huge
water containers, the bigger the better. Something we learnt to do as we travelled and at least then you have one big bottle
which you can take your refills from, rather than buying a crazy number of
small bottles.
In
restaurants ask for drinking water not bottled, some are more obliging than
others. We found the organic and more openly responsible cafes provided a glass
of free drinking water anyway. Some restaurants will refill your water bottles
for a small fee which is fine by me, they must buy the water in bulk at the end
of the day. Better to be charged a little for a refill than needlessly buying
more plastic.
Straws
Tiny
yes, insignificant no. Single-use plastic straws have one of the shortest
product lifespans around, we use them for all of 5-10 minutes before they
become waste and sadly they are among the top 10 marine debris items. What can
you do to help? Simply say "no straw" when ordering a drink, or if
you're feeling in a challenging mood ask the manager why they use plastic
straws. Since my last visit to Asia there appears to have been a positive
increase in restaurants and cafes ditching the plastic and using reusable
straws, whether they be metal, bamboo or other, or simply not using straws at
all to reduce their environmental impact. After all, do you drink your tea from
a straw at home? In Indonesia and Singapore particularly increasing numbers of
shops and stalls sell bamboo straws, a good move towards encouraging consumers
to make small changes.
Beach clean projects
In
Asia in particular a dirty plastic-strewn beach appears to be common place
these days. When you arrive at your lovely beachside accommodation do some
investigating. Are there local beach clean projects and can you join one? I found a couple of beach
clean projects when travelling, although at current there are simply not enough
to conquer the continued onslaught of plastic washing up onto the beaches. Alternatively
take matters into your own hands literally and just pick up some trash. On
Klong Dao beach on Koh Lanta I collected two bags of rubbish each day, it's so
quick to do and much better than simply ignoring the problem. I've watched parents
with their kids playing ball games on top of plastic - would it be that difficult
to pick up those bits of rubbish and put them in a bin? Let's set good examples
to our children, and not allow them to be apathetic and indifferent to waste.
Eat for a cause
Eating
at social enterprise and charitable cafes and restaurants is a wonderful way to
make your tight travel budget go further. Use your bellies for good and seek
out such eateries in the destinations you visit, in doing so you will directly
support local causes whether they are providing free healthcare, giving valuable
employment to disadvantaged young adults or protecting the local wildlife. I've created
a delicious directory of such cafes and restaurants in Southeast Asia.
Eco-tours
Responsible
tours are becoming more common place as tour operators realise the importance
of protecting local environments. Such tours may be slightly more expensive
than others but having recently chosen such a company for an overnight trek
into the Sumatran jungle, I can hand on heart say it was worth every penny and
more. The guides understood the jungle and the environment, they made sure that
not one single piece of waste (including fruit peel as traces of insect
repellent and sunscreen from humans is harmful for wildlife) was left in the jungle.
They also undertake clean-up operations to clean the trash left by less
eco-conscious tour guides and they really really care about the wildlife. Eco
tours are worth the peace of mind in knowing that you left an area exactly as
you found it. As the saying goes ‘Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing
but footprints.’
Eco resorts over mega resorts
Eco resorts over mega resorts
Short
sighted governments have allowed / are allowing big developers to blight
previously stunning shorelines and hilltops with mega resorts, complete with
casinos, zoos and god knows what else. On small islands, these are nothing but
destructive and plain ugly. Instead of staying in these money-grabbing
environmentally-damaging resorts you can limit your impact by staying in smaller
scale eco-friendly responsible accommodation - Heritance Kandalama Sri Lanka, EcoTravel Cottages Sumatra and Mango Bay Resort Phu Quoc are some which I can
recommend. Tourism doesn’t have to be destructive, with the correct thought
and planning, new developments can be sympathetic to the natural environment and
actually create positive impacts.
It's easy to be a little bit better. Small changes like the ones noted above can and will make a big difference to a place over time as responsible and sustainable behaviour becomes the norm. So for all of those bitten by the travel bug, let's make sure the destinations we adore today are still around for future generations to enjoy as we do.
It's easy to be a little bit better. Small changes like the ones noted above can and will make a big difference to a place over time as responsible and sustainable behaviour becomes the norm. So for all of those bitten by the travel bug, let's make sure the destinations we adore today are still around for future generations to enjoy as we do.
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