The obsession with eco-living, eco-travel and eco-tourism has given rise to a number of marketing strategies that are aimed to trap eco-conscious people. Here are 14 eco-tourism myths that you should be aware of while making your travel and accommodation choices.
1. Only Organized Tours Can Be Eco-friendly
This is not true; there are plenty of responsible holiday ideas that you can explore. As long as you ensure that you follow eco-friendly practices and stay at eco-friendly hotels, you can have a fabulous eco-friendly trip.
2. Eco-Friendly Trips Means Roughing It
If you’re not up to sleeping under the stars and cooking your eggs over the campfire, it’s perfectly fine. Having a luxury holiday does not mean your travel is not eco-friendly. Fly eco-friendly airlines, recycle, and check whether your hotels and hostels are eco-friendly. Spend the money you’ve earned without causing detriment to the environment and you can enjoy all the luxury you want.
3. Eco-Friendly Travel Is Always Expensive
What matters with eco-friendly travel is that you understand your responsibility towards the environment wherever you go. You can budget your travel, choose economic destinations and stretch your expenses as far as your pocket allows. You don’t have to blow big bucks to travel responsibly.
4. Eco-Friendly Travel Not Possible With Kids
In fact, taking an eco-friendly trip is a great way to make your kids aware of the planet and its distress. Plan your trip in such a way that you don’t use or carry plastic items, reduce paper consumption, reuse materials and teach your kids to recycle, not litter and not collect shells and beach stones.
5. If You Fly Somewhere, It’s Not An Eco-Friendly Trip
Flying is unavoidable if you want to travel long distances. However, you can make up for the carbon footprint by traveling airlines that employ eco-friendly practices. Buy local products on holiday to abet rural incomes. Sponsor local support groups and volunteer for community service so that the rural communities benefit from your travel.
6. One Cannot Travel Responsibly In Cities
Cities do have a larger carbon footprint than rural areas do. However, you can enjoy a responsible trip to a city, by staying at locally owned homes, respecting the local heritage and culture, sponsoring local craftspeople and following eco-friendly travel practices.
7. Eco-Friendly Travel Is Just Marketing Blah Blah
Responsible travel is all about minimizing the negative impacts of travel on our environment, and increasing the possible impacts. Eco-friendly tourism is a way to enjoy different places while respecting and preserving the environment for our future generations.
8. One Has To Stay In Basic Accommodations
Just because eco-friendly travel encourages local home stays, it does not mean you have to forgo luxury. Many hotels, lodges and hostels follow eco-friendly practices while providing high standards of luxury and quality. Make sure you enquire about their eco-friendly practices before you sign up.
9. Eco-friendly Travel Is Just Too Much Bother
If you have the right feel for the environment, you will see it as a huge pleasure to plan, book and execute eco-friendly travel. It’s all about how much you care.
10. Eco-travel Means Backpacking Through Jungles
On every continent, you’ll find environmentally responsible travel and tour packages, destinations and accommodations. It’s not necessary to go trampling on a forest floor.
11. Eco-tourists Have To Volunteer For Social Work
You can always volunteer to help preserve the culture and ecology of your destinations, as nature lovers do. However, there’s no obligation to volunteer for social work, as long as you use energy-efficient means of travel, conserve water, recycle and reuse materials.
12. Eco-travel Means Too Many Rules
Responsible travel is fairly simple; be respectful, buy local products, do not waste natural resources, do not litter and try to reduce your carbon footprint. It’s about being responsible, not remembering rules or feeling pressurized.
13. Eco-travel Robs Travel Of Spontaneity
If traveling means cleaning out natural beaches of stones and shells, trampling in tide pools, littering, scribbling on historical sites, buying animal products and wasting water, then yes, eco-travel certainly robs travelers of their spontaneity.
14. Eco-travel Is A New Concept
This is not at all true; people have been traveling responsibly for ages, even before all the new-found knowledge about our compromised environment. If you are responsible about one’s home and use of natural resources, you will be able to implement the same practices wherever you go. Eco-travel is more important than ever now, considering the large carbon footprint each individual contributes.
Teena works for gifts for men company Adrenalin that offers a large range of unique and thrilling gift ideas all across Australia.
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