Issues > September/October 2003 (#98) > How Consumers and Eco-Tourists Can Protect Ecosystems

How Consumers and Eco-Tourists Can Protect Ecosystems

Travel is a big-ticket consumer item worldwide In 2000, international tourism revenues amounted to $469 billion, and the industry grew 35 percent faster than the world economy as a whole, the Worldwatch Institute reported in its State of the World 2002. Adverse impacts on visited peoples, places and wildlife are also growing: They include energy consumption for transport and lodging, destruction of habitats and production of solid waste and air and water pollution. About 80 percent of international tourists are from the developed countries of North America and Europe. If we direct our money to true conservation tourism that invests in people's welfare as well as ecosystems, we can make a positive difference. And even if we vacation at home, by choosing sustainable products and behaviors in our daily lives, armchair travelers can protect wildlife habitat and support local economies and cultures.

Here are some eco-tips for consumers at home and abroad:

Criteria for an Eco-sound Vacation

While there is no international third-party certification as yet for ecotours and resorts, the United Nations Environment Program, Conservation International and several non-profit ecotourism organizations recommend that a truly green vacation should meet this criteria:

*Minimize impact upon natural resources, wildlife and habitat

*Build environmental awareness through education

*Invest in conservation efforts

*Provide direct financial benefits for conservation to local communities

*Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people

*Respect local culture

*Be sensitive to the host country's political environment and social climate

* Support human rights and international labor agreements

Before signing up, travelers should ask whether an ecotour outfit or green hotel makes donations to local non-profits dedicated to conserving wildlife, habitat and other natural resources.

How to Minimize Impact

Learn about your destination and the customs of its people before going there.

Resorts that bill themselves as eco-sensitive should live up to that name. Habitat should not have been disturbed to build the resort; nor should it sit close to bodies of water, which can be contaminated by waste water. Alien plants and animals should not be introduced-forget the African wildlife adventures in Hawaii! Water and energy should be conserved and recycling/ reuse should be incorporated. Guests can do their part by not demanding unlimited hot water or enough power to run hairdryers or electric shavers-after all, they've come for the natural experience!

Follow guidelines set by your ecotour guide to minimize impact, such as staying on paths (it's safer for you, as well!) and not gathering plants, touching wildlife or making noise.

Do not touch or walk on coral reefs: The sensitive coral animals-and the wildlife that live on reefs- can be bruised and killed, and stirred-up sediment can choke them.

Never litter-pack out everything you carry with you. Along popular Himalayan tourist routes, including the ascent to Everest, litter has become a heaping problem.

If you go whale watching, make sure to confirm that the tour boat will shut off its engines when whales are sighted, and not approach them-it should be up to the whale whether it stays close enough to be watched.

Support locally-owned businesses that employ local staff; buy locally-made arts and crafts.

Make generous donations at national and state parks and reserves. Because of pressure from the tourism industry, for example, entry fees to wilderness parks in Costa Rica only cover 25% of the high cost of maintaining and protecting these areas.

Avoid cruises, unless the operators can prove that they do not ram or set anchor on coral reefs or dump fuel, bilgewater or sewage at sea. For certified greener GalBpagos cruises, see the SmartVoyager program at www.ra.org. For campaigns to regulate cruises, see www.bluewaternetwork.org

Consumer Buying/ Behavior Guide

Protecting Forests

Half the world's original forests are now gone, and 30 million acres more are lost each year, with just 10 billion acres left.

This year, satellite photos showed that the Amazon rain forest is vanishing at an accelerating rate, having lost 40 percent more acres than the year before. World Wildlife Fund, among others, is working hard and fast to instill sustainable forestry practices in this region. To help, consumers can buy products grown in ways that conserve forest canopies, protect drinking water, pay a living wage and other benefits to local communities, and thus provide incentives to let forests stand.

The key is to look for verifiable labels on products from foodstuffs to wood. The top label for food or cotton should be "certified organic," which means that the product was grown in ways that conserve soil, protect watersheds and biodiversity, and without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers that harm wildlife, both land-based and aquatic.

Below, some forest-friendly choices (for lists of companies and green products in all categories, click on The Green Guide's "Product Reports"):

Coffee

Each fall, songbirds make the long trip from North America to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. But as their rainforest habitat there disappears, many birds are flocking to traditional farms, which grow coffee under a canopy of trees. Modern "technified" coffee farms are treeless, using high-yield varieties, which grow in full sun and need synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Drink coffee that's certified shade-grown and organic. An example: coffee bearing the "Bird-Friendly" label of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Council.

Chocolate

This sweet treat can have bitter costs: on Africa's Ivory Coast, a major chocolate-growing region, child slavery and other labor abuses on cacao farms has been well documented. In addition, rainforests around the world are being cleared to produce high-yielding, sun-grown cocoa, which--unlike shade-grown, organic varieties--relies heavily on agrochemical use.

As with coffee, shaded chocolate production in thinned forests encourages greater biodiversity. For example, cocoa plantings in Indonesia and West Africa attract wildlife like monkeys, rodents, squirrels and wild boar. Whenever possible, choose certified organic, fair trade, shade-grown chocolate.

Oranges and Bananas

Certified organic bananas or those that are Rainforest Alliance (RA) Certified "Better Bananas" were grown on a farm that conserves soil and water, minimizes agrochemicals and protects worker health. RA's ECO-O.K. labels are also awarded to orange, coffee and cocoa growers who comply with these standards that protect rainforests.

Another label that protects rain forests, this time in the Pacific Northwest, is "Salmon Safe," awarded to the products of farmers and vintners who follow conservation practices that restore water quality and salmon habitat in the Pacific Northwest. This involves conserving forests, which prevent erosion and the silting of streams.

Wood

Americans consume 27 percent of the wood commercially harvested worldwide. We are powerfully positioned to change the marketplace by demanding wood and paper products that haven't harmed forests.

For new wood from sustainably managed forests, the label to look for-and demand- is Forest Stewardship Council's FSC label.

Or, go for wood substitutes, such as milled bamboo, made from a renewable, fast-growing grass that's 12 percent harder than rock maple and installed just like a traditional hardwood floor. Also increasingly available on the marketplace are furniture and decking made of synthetic lumber made from recycled plastic bottles and containers.

For finished products, a time-honored green choice is old wood, such as antique or flea market finds, or recycled wood bearing the "SmartWood Rediscovered" label managed by Rainforest Alliance, found on everything from furniture to cutting boards.

Paper

Look for the "Post-Consumer-Waste Recycled" or "PCW" label: 100 percent PCW, for instance, must be derived from pulp made entirely of paper that was used by consumers and then recycled.Best pick: Living Tree's Vanguard Plus paper, made of 90 percent PCW and 10 percent agricultural fiber. Staples has vowed to increase the average amount of PCW content in some paper it sells to 30 percent, up from the current average of less than 10 percent, and to stop purchasing paper products made of wood from endangered forests. Also, the GREEN SEAL label can be found on some paper with 20 percent PCW and non-chlorine bleaching.

A good gift for a traveler: a journal made of high-PCW paper or paper substitutes. Beautiful tree-free papers, made from old money, blue jeans and more, can be bought from

Crane, Dolphin Blue and others (for contact info, see "Paper" Product Report)

Herbs and Medicinal Plants

Many wild plants collected for the herbal trade-such as ginseng, goldenseal, echinacea, black cohosh, and slippery elm--are now becoming scarce. For instance, although goldenseal is listed as endangered or imperiled in numerous states, only 2.4% of the 260,000 pounds used in 1998 came from cultivated sources. When buying herbs or products made from them, be sure to ask whether they are farmed or wild, and only buy the former.

Forests as "Living Pharmacies"

Local people working with scientists worldwide are launching initiatives to save rainforests by protecting the indigenous medicinal plants that grow there. Help support these efforts, when traveling or at home, buy rainforest remedies from forest preserves certified by government or non-profit conservation organizations. See atlantisherbs.com.

For the low-down on illicit souvenirs made from endangered plants, coral and wildlife, go to www.worldwildlfe.org/ buyer beware

Protecting the Oceans

Even those of us who live thousands of mile away from the ocean affect coastal waters and offshore ecosystems. What we produce on land, including nitrogen-rich sewage and fertilizer, can ultimately find its way into the seas, stimulating the growth of microalgae that rob oxygen from waters. Impacts grow heavier the closer development moves to the sea-and more than 54 percent of Americans live in coastal areas. In addition, the ocean ecosystem has been shaken by industrial fishing, which has depleted 90% of large predator fish worldwide, including cod, swordfish and tuna, and harmed habitats and wildlife through bottom trawling and snaring of such "bycatch" as turtles, marine mammals, birds and unwanted fish.

Here's what you can do, whether at home or while vacationing by the sea:

Choose fish from sustainably managed fisheries. Download The Green Guide's handy pocket fish list.

Reduce Water Pollution: Wastewater from drains, sewers and industrial outflows eventually reaches streams, lakes, rivers and the sea.

Reduce runoff from your driveway and yard: Maximize plants, bricks, gravel that promote water absorption, rather than pavement that lets it run into storm drains. Channel rainwater onto plantings, Wash car on lawn. Keep cooking grease out of drains-its' a major source of sewage spills-along with motor oil, solvents, old paints/pesticides. For safe disposal how-to's, call your local sanitation dept. or 1-800-CLEANUP.

Keep your septic tank well-maintained to prevent seepage.

Pick up after pets, and keep cats indoors. Cat feces have caused toxoplasmosis in California sea otters.

Conserve Water and you'll also produce less polluted wastewater.

Use efficient appliances and fixtures: Washing machines, dishwashers, shower heads, faucets, low-flow toilets. Choose Energy Star appliances and lightbulbs, and you'll reduce the amount of energy your home draws from the power plants that emit CO2, the major global warming gas, and mercury that falls as acid rain, harming forests. Warming oceans are killing coral worldwide.

Don't leave taps and hoses on when not needed. Turn off shower while soaping. Reuse dishwater on plants, and use least-thirsty plants. Water yard at coolest time of day.

Use Nontoxic home & yard pest control; use compost & cuttings instead of synthetic fertilizers; Clean without toxic chemicals. See The Green Guide's Product Reports on "Household Cleaning Supplies," and "Common Sense Home Pest Control" and "Garden Prep" in our article Archives. Also see www.thegreenguide.com, www.birc.org,, www.panna.igc.org

Don't Use Disposable Plastic Items such as bags, lighters, six-pack rings. Sea birds, marine mammals and turtles are routinely strangled by them.

Protect, don't collect tropical fish for aquariums, or live coral or jewelry and other products made from coral, sea turtles, marine mammals. See www.worldwildlife.org/buyerbeware, and www.coralreef.gov/trade.cfm.

For More Information on conventional and sustainable tourism issues, see Worldwatch State of the World 2002.