Guess what? You don’t need to be a Patchouli-wearing, tree-hugging, dread-infested hippie to embrace eco-tourism anymore. Eco-tourism basically involves visiting relatively undisturbed natural areas. It’s a small scale alternative to commercial tourism but you don’t necessarily have to hook up with businesses like Organic Explorer or Eco Travels to get involved. You’re smart enough to know that how you travel will impact the environment. So Bigfoot, how do you make your footprint smaller? Here are some no-brainers!
1. Plastic Bags: Don’t use’em. Bring along a reusable bag for your laundry or grocery needs. When shopping, don’t accept a bag, just put it in your purse or backpack. You don’t want to add to the litter bombs scattered across the globe.
2. Bottled Water: We’ve all been there. You’re in a place like Thailand and you forget about the water so you brush your teeth in the shower. Then it’s a barf party. Treating your own water on the road is easier than you may think. Just bring along a reusable water bottle and a purifier filter or iodine tablets. You’ll be safe from water-borne illnesses while doing your part for Mama Earth. Go you!
3. Watch Your Step: When hiking avoid taking shortcuts on sections of trail as your footsteps will be followed by many others, you sneaky trail blazer, you! It may not seem like much compared to, you know, landslides, but when several thousand trekkers each year come a walkin’, damage will be done. And it’ll totally be your fault.
4. Biodegradable Soap: Bring an environmentally friendly soap that’s gentle on the local water system as in rural areas, the water will most likely drain right back into main local water sources. Bringing hand sanitizer works well too.
6. Buy local: Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend but the best gifts are made by hand (so gimme your diamonds…but not your Blood Diamonds.) Contribute to the local economy by splurging on artisanal products. Nothing says I love you better than a hand-carved penis in Balinese wood. Or maybe a hand-carved necklace would be more appropriate. Your call!
7. WOOF: One of the best ways to see the world in an eco-friendly manner is to go WOOFING. That’s when you travel with your dogs. No, silly, it’s when you work on small, local organic farms for room and board. It’s a great way to meet the locals and really experience how people live. There are plenty of organisations that can help put you in contact with participating farms. Or you can just contact the farms directly.
When it comes to eco-tourism, die-hards tend to shun cars. But Transfer Car leaves a smaller carbon footprint than other companies. Through using our customers to move cars for us, we’re able to reduce the amount of emissions produced. Get in touch with us to see what else we’re doing to be responsible business operators in this Brave New World. You’ll be pleasantly surprised…
