Earth Week: What are YOU doing to protect our planet?

Posted by David Paul Appell on April 18, 2011 at 5:05pm

Earth Week is here, with Earth Day April 22. Are you doing anything about it personally, such as buying carbon offsets? Selecting "green" lodgings, or taking public transportation rather than renting a car at your destination? Are these "feel good" measures, or true strategies to protect our planet? On balance, does travel help (e.g., through greater awareness) or harm the environment? 

 

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Tags: Earth Week, eco-travel, environment, green travel, sustainable travel
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  • Oasis Adventures and Camps Ltd June 3, 2011 at 11:41am

    At Our camp we have taken some steps that I believe contribute to greener travel.

    1. We encourage our clients to use towels/beddings for at least two nights during their stay

    2. We use solar as the main source of lighting and charging small appliances

    3. We have used natural available materials for construction including thatch roofs which dont require air conditioning.

    4. Most of the foodstuffs are bought fresh from local communities and no need for freezing and then defreezing

    5. We have not planted flowers / plants / lawns that require maintance and watering. Instead we just left the existing vegetation which requires minimum maintainance.

    6. We dont run TV or Radio at the Camp.

     

    Hope this helpshttp://www.oasis.co.ke/eco.html

  • GreenGlobalTravel.com April 23, 2011 at 3:53am

    I don't think doing things like this one day a year can make up for 364 days of ignoring the health of the planet. But if enough people around the globe start taking little steps every day, collectively it can make a huge difference. For those who are interested in simple steps to "Going Green," we have more than 70 great tips on our website, GreenGlobalTravel.com. We also wrote a "Top 10 Green Travel Tips" piece for WWF's Travel Blog today, which you can find a link to on our site as well.

    Happy Earth Day!

    Bret Love

    www.GreenGlobalTravel.com

    www.facebook.com/GreenGlobalTravel

    @GreenGlobalTrvl

     

    • David Paul Appell > GreenGlobalTravel.com April 23, 2011 at 4:46am
      True enough. But do you have a sense, from an overall standpoint, if travel is on balance a plus or minus from the point of view of the ecosphere, and give an example or two of the best way we can minimize our impact when we travel?
  • Juan Martinez April 23, 2011 at 12:10am
    I believe that travel should help the environment through greater awareness. But it does not because most people do not travel in a green manner. All they are achieving is more burned petrol, no?
    • David Paul Appell > Juan Martinez April 23, 2011 at 2:47am
      Yes, you certainly have a point, and that's why things like Earth Day and Earth Week exist -- to hopefully reach more people and teach them about greener travel.
  • David Paul Appell April 22, 2011 at 5:58pm
    Happy Earth Day!!  A good start is to not be wasteful in your hotel rooms - reuse soaps, towels (unless of course they've gotten unavoidably punky), water glasses, shampoo, and so forth.  I also strive to take public transportation as much as possible if I can possibly avoid renting a car.  Also, FYI, I noticed recently in this site's Hotels group someone posted an interesting writeup called How To Green Your Stay.
  • Wendy Capra April 18, 2011 at 8:41pm
    Well I havent traveled in a year but that has more to do with the sad state of the economy than with my desire to preotect the planet. Which of course does need protection. Meanwhile I come onto this site and dream about places i want to go. But if i could travel I certainly wouldnt buy any of those carbon offset things, I've read about them and I think they're a scam. I'd rather plant a tree myself when i get home!
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