Top tips for your next trip...
Whether you go to the beaches of the Mediterranean or the pristine landscape of the Arctic, how you travel can have a huge impact on the environment.
Make tourism and conservation compatible - the money you spend on your trip helps determine the development and direction of tourism. Use your money to support reputable, conservation-minded tour operators and suppliers.
- Learn about the culture and customs of the areas you will visit before you go.
- Visit parks and nature reserves - visitor demand and tourist expenditures support existing protected areas and can lead to the protection of additional nature. Get any necessary permits before visiting nature reserves or other protected areas. Leave these areas as you found them and do not disturb the wildlife there.
- View and photograph wildlife from a distance and remember that in the optimal wildlife viewing experience, the animal never knew you were there. Suppress the natural temptation to move too close and respect signs of distress such as alarm calls, distraction displays, laid-back ears, and raised hair.
- Respect the environment, stay on trails during hikes, do not remove plants or feed animals, and never litter. At the sea do not take any corals, shells, dried fish, starfish, sea-fans and other marine souvenirs - removal can seriously disrupt ecosystems. Navigation in reef water needs special care - do not anchor on reefs which can be easily damaged.
- Reduce your air travel
When you travel to your holiday destination by plane you are contributing to significant emissions of climate change causing carbon dioxide. Take vacations nearer to home, or get there by other forms of transport such as train, bus or boat. If you have to fly, consider buying carbon offsets to compensate for the emissions caused by your flight. - Reduce your car use - choose other ways to get around like trains, buses or bikes. Share taxis and take shuttles to and from the airport. Check out tips on how you can save fuel, money and help nature!
- Respect local culture, traditions and religious places. Insensitive behaviour such as taking photographs of people without their consent, or failure to observe local customs, can cause offence. Note that being nude or semi-nude in public is unacceptable and illegal in some countries (e.g Islamic countries).
- Conserve water - take showers rather than baths, and use a refillable water container, sterilising water when necessary, rather than buying bottled water.
- Limit energy use, including your use of air conditioning and hot water. Turn off all lights and taps when you leave hotel rooms.
- Minimise your use of personal care products and detergents to wash linen, and reuse your hotel towels and bed-linen. Dispose of sanitary waste properly. Don't flush cotton buds, condoms, tampons and plastics down the toilet - or you might just find them on the beach next time you visit.
- Reduce the impact of your recreational activities by avoiding sports which have a significant harmful impact on the environment or choose more progressive establishments (e.g golf courses which recycle water).
- Recycle newspapers, magazines and your beverage containers (many can be returned for refunds), and reduce the number of bags, napkins and disposable cups you use when you eat fast food.
- Choose lodgings that have effective waste treatment systems, that recycle, that are energy efficient, and, where possible, that use environmentally friendly energy sources such as solar energy or hydroelectric power.
- Respect rules and regulations, pay attention to signals and behave responsibly (e.g do not light fires where it is forbidden).
- Say "No" to Bad Souvenirs
Some souvenirs could end up costing a lot more than you paid for them.
Think twice before you buy any products made from any endangered species, including animal hides and body parts, tortoise-shell, ivory, or coral - they could be illegal.
Visit WWF-US's Buyer Beware website for information that can help you say "no" to illegal wildlife products. And check out our tips; Ten things not to buy for Christmas - Your feedback makes a difference. If a tour, tourist service, or supplier was environmentally sensitive and informative, or if it could have been better, tell the owner or operator.
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