Green Traveller Ideas

Tips on How to Support Sustainable Tourism
These tips are to help you take account of environmental issues in the planning, and enjoyment of your vacation so that you can make your own contribution towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly form of tourism. Please remember when you visit another country you are a guest and not a customer. By respecting local customs and cultures, and showing friendship to local people you will be helping to forge lasting harmony between diverse nations and peoples.

Planning your holiday:
• Patronise hotels, airlines, and tour operators who have credible reputations for their environmental and socially responsible operations. Contact organisations like “Green Globe”, “Green Hotels”, “Responsible Travel” or “Ecoclub” and get a list of their members. Try to travel with companies that are making a positive contribution. Any environmentally interested person can “walk their talk” by choosing a “green” hotel. As a guest, you can easily and simply influence the environmental awareness of the whole tourist industry by careful placement of your dollars with hotels that are genuinely “green”. If you have chosen to travel to a hotel or with a tour company because of their environmental credentials, please let them know. This will encourage more companies to follow suit.
• As often as possible, use the Internet to gather information rather than having brochures or tour operator catalogues sent. Most environmentally friendly companies will document their environmental policies and publish their sustainable report publicly on the Internet. This information is probably not included in their brochures. Therefore, the Internet will often help you to learn far more about the properties or companies than their brochures.
• Ask for documentation of sustainable practices to make the final decision between two options or properties.
• Enquire if the hotel has a programme to which you could donate old clothes, books etc. You can clean your closets and give unwanted items as gifts to needy people in your holiday destination. This is an excellent way to recycle and help others less fortunate!
• Take time to think about your holiday plans. Are there ways in which you can make a positive contribution to the environment and the host community while you are there? What new insights, be it culturally, historically or otherwise will your holiday help you to gain? Holiday planning should include consideration of the effect of your visit, especially to environmentally sensitive places.
• Take time to learn in advance about the place you intend to visit.
• Most travel guidebooks are now also on the Internet or can be borrowed from the library rather than purchasing books that you may not use after the one trip to a particular country.
• If you do buy a guidebook, pass it on to a friend who will also be grateful for your personal insights.
• Call up the local or regional Tourist Board offices of the country you plan to visit. They are generally knowledgeable and happy to help with planning your individually tailored vacation.

Before you leave home:
• Appliances such as TVs and cable converter boxes should be unplugged because they can draw as much as 40 watts per hour even when they’re off.
• Stop your newspaper. You may be able to donate it to a school or some other needy person.
• Consider what you really need to take with you. Waste disposal systems in many countries are ill equipped to deal with the increased pressure that tourism brings, especially in third world countries and islands. A few simple measures can make an enormous difference to the effect you have while on vacation.
• Consider carefully the packaging of toiletries and sun protection products. Many developing countries do not have recycling programmes for aluminum, plastics, toxic batteries etc. and the local infrastructure cannot deal with these products either. Remove as much of the wrapping as possible before you leave. Ensure you do not leave behind packaging that the hotel cannot deal with locally. Even better is to carry such items back home with you.
• If you take detergent with you, please make sure it is phosphate free.
• Citronella is a very effective natural mosquito repellent – and smells very pleasant. (To be on the safe side, do bring some mosquito repellent with you). Buying natural products can help a developing economy.
• Pack your binoculars. Enjoy the sights of nature.
• Take a few small gifts from your home country so that you can thank people if you enjoy their hospitality. Money or tipping is not always the best option. Choose items that can help people - crayons, drawing books, some simple light toys like kites, puzzles, etc. can provide a great learning experience for children and aside from being fun, motivate them further to learn through playing. Small torches, umbrellas, and rain capes are easy to pack and much appreciated.

Travel:
• Purchase electronic tickets for airline travel whenever possible. This results in less waste and you’re also apt to move ahead of the lines of people waiting with paper tickets.
• Enjoy walking tours. Walk where sensible.
• Look at personal travel options. For certain trips, public transportation may be a reasonable and viable option. The added benefit is that you can meet local people and enjoy interesting and authentic experiences. Many places offer bicycle hire. This is a wonderful way to take in the local sights, provided you have suitable terrain. Enquire at the hotel. Even if bikes are not available, repeated demand will create a supply for the future.
• If you are driving, turn your motor off when idling. Encourage your tour/bus driver to turn the motor off when idling.
• Don’t allow anything to be thrown out of your car windows – ever. Prevent littering by also addressing others who may do so. If you go to places where litter is a problem, approach and tell the people there that although the place may be beautiful, the litter puts you off and will prevent you from recommending it to your friends. If they recognise that they will lose business as a result of not reducing and disposing of their waste in a responsible manner, they will eventually address the issue. Many visitors do not share their concerns out of politeness. This does not serve the host community in the long run. Explain that you are sharing your views because you would find it a shame if their community suffered because of their litter. Above all do not contribute to the problem.
• Purchase either fresh fruit drinks or beverages sold in deposit/recyclable bottles. Do not encourage the sale of plastic bottles that are not recyclable. Ask. Explain the reasons for your preference. Remember the value of your purchasing power as a customer. Your repeated demands will make people change. No one wants to stock items that do not sell!
• Whether on the beaches or in towns, ask where the garbage bins/collection centres are. Again, repeated demand will create pressure for facilities to be installed.
• Try to buy local products. Enjoy the difference and help to support the local economy. Take some products home too to remind you of your holiday.

Hotel Stays:
• When you leave your hotel room, turn off the fans/AC, lights, radio and any other electrical appliances.
• Recycle. Place recyclables in appropriate bins or on the counter.
• Ask your holiday/tour company representative about local environmental issues. If you feel strongly about a local issue in the place you visit, share your views with the tour company and the local tourist board. Only by sharing your reaction and insights can the information be put to good use and effect a positive change. Say what you liked and where and how improvements can be made.

Food/restaurants:
• Avoid Styrofoam. Carry your own cup and snack box.
• Avoid carry-out foods.
• Respect and observe any close-out seasons such as for lobster. Do not order items that are on the endangered list.
• Try out local alternatives instead of always demanding foreign brand names or products.
• Use the opportunity to discover new flavours and interesting new things.

General:
• Take photos with a regular or digital camera. Disposable cameras are very wasteful.
• Buy rolls of film with 36 shots rather than 12 or 24. Packaging waste is reduced, and you will save money too.
• Buy souvenirs made by local organisations and co-operatives. The money benefits the communities and helps to ensure a higher quality of life for the host community. Avoid the standard “made in Taiwan or China” products that are mass-produced and do not contribute towards sustainable and viable development. Do not buy on price alone but in what value they represent to you. Hand-made items take longer to produce and represent a great deal of patience and skill. Support local skills – many are being lost because of a lack of demand and a coincidental increase in imported goods.
• Do not buy souvenirs that use black coral or other protected plants and species.
• Take only photographs. Do not take “souvenirs” from protected natural or heritage areas. Leave only footprints. Take everything that you brought with you.
• Choose outdoor activities that do not pose a threat to the environment. Some motorised water sports damage delicate natural areas.
• Enquire about community-based tours. You can really learn a lot about the culture from meeting people. Tours organised by local organisations tend to give you an invaluable insider’s perspective.
• Support conservation programmes. Most hotels support various community projects. Ask how you can help best. Aside from financial contributions, often you can help in practical terms by attending one of their meetings, sharing your insights or helping as a professional with certain skills. You may be able to lobby for support in your home town, write about the project and promote it.
• Leave or donate your first aid kit to a school or organisation. Local support groups are so grateful for every bit of assistance.
• Give yourself a pat on the back for doing all you can to protect Mother Earth.
• Let us know if you have any additional environmental tips to improve this list!