quote:

tourism, when practiced in a moderately responsible manned, will of course have some effect to the environment, but it also returns cultural and civil benefits.

I agree about the cultural benefits. Maybe if more people travelled abroad to experience different cultures and "expand their mind" then the world would be a more understanding place. Like many people, for instance, before i went travelling my only experience of Muslims was from the TV, however, when I travelled around the East coast of Malaysia, a Muslim dominated part of the country, I discovered a fasinating culture and very weloming and friendly people - nothing at all like the 'TV Muslims'.

The ironic thing of course is that most people don't have to travel thousands of miles to experience a different culture, you could of course just head down to your local mosque/Chinatown/Irish pub etc

Rather than stopping travelling to help the planet, everyone would be far better off by voting out war-mongering politicians - as surely there's nothing worse for the planet than a war.

I think tourists can also help local people by being responsible and showing that if accomodations and trips think about cultural and environmental aspects, that they not only save important things, but that there is also a growing market (and thus money) for responsible travel.

If we do the following, we can make an impact.

1. Stop buying small plastic water bottles and dumping them, sometimes on the sides of roads. Find a water bottle and fill it from a large one, or god forbid, with safe tap water.

2. Take a train. They have less enviromental impact than vehicles per passenger or airplanes.

3. By all means, don't partake in Tuk-tuks or any two cycle motor vehicles. 10 minutes of a Tuk-Tuk emits more particulate and gaseous pollution than 100 minutes of a four stroke automotive engine. That goes for you guys who use two stroke motorcycles, Jet-skis, or snowmobiles too.

4. You can always walk instead of taking a cab if the distance is short. Rent bikes to see paris rather than public transport. Well, maybe I won't do that, but bike centered people might enjoy it.

5. Buy some poor african or third world person a solar stove. They've found that once they learn how to use one, it saves them money and prevents a little deforestation.

Oh yes.. while you're at it, turn off the air con and move to fan cooled rooms. Yeah, you're a little uncomfortable, but you relieve the strain on electrical systems. If the hotel/hostel you're in uses portable generators, well, they're two stroke engines. See Number 3.

Does this help?

Or, you can just walk from North Anerica to the tip of Patagonia. Does that interest you? It does me.

One way to correct the problem of a detrimental effect of tourism on the eco system is to choose transportation companies and places that are as earth conscious as you are. According to one website I came across 5% of all carbon emissions come from the tourism industry. I think it may have been reported in the LA Times. If this is true than that is a lot of carbon being put into the environment.

To get around this we can choose a different alternative when we travel. I know of one taxi company in San Francisco that runs recycled waste Vegetable Oil in their vans. Green Tortoise also uses some biodiesel on some of their routes and Baja Trek also uses 100% recycled waste vegetable oil in their trips down to Baja. These options are sustainable for the environment and earth friendly.