"You Said It" Survey

It might be vacation season, but that didn’t stop a record number of Leaf Litter readers from participating in our survey on sustainable travel and vacation.

On the whole (and not surprisingly), you seem to be an eco-minded group of travelers. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being as eco-friendly as possible), a quarter of you give yourselves an “8” when it comes to traveling sustainably. About 58% of you think of yourselves as more like a “5, 6 or 7.” A few of you (13%) confessed to being on the very low end of the scale, while only a handful of you (6%) rated yourselves as a 9 or 10.

Rating % of LL Readers
• 1 0%
• 2 2%
• 3 7%
• 4 4%
• 5 17%
• 6 22%
• 7 17%
• 8 25%
• 9 4%
• 10 2%

At least half of you regularly take the following steps when planning and taking a vacation:

• Eliminate paper waste by booking travel and hotel on-line and canceling delivery of any newspaper delivery while you're gone
• Reduce the heat on the hot water tank, lower the thermostat, and unplug all electronics before you leave home
• Pack lightly
• If driving a car, check tire pressure before leaving and drive conservatively
• Turn down heat or AC and unplug electrical appliances in your accommodations
• Avoid individually wrapped and one-use items
• Use rechargeable batteries for electronics
• Make an effort to improve the environment you’re visiting (from picking up trash to volunteering)
• Choose/arrange recreational activities that involve minimal or no adverse environmental impact

Fewer of you (22%) say you make an effort to select the most eco-friendly mode of transportation possible, and 13% of you select accommodations with eco-friendly practices

When asked about other things you do while traveling/vacationing to make your trip more sustainable, here’s what some of you had to say:

• Ask housekeeping at our accommodations to change the linens at the end of our stay instead of every night.
• Recycle materials.
• Use mass transportation rather than single traveler mode of transportation.
• Bring home compostables and recyclables.
• If camping, try to leave site in better condition than arrival condition.
• Choose the most-fuel efficient rental car available.
• Choose vacation destinations that I can drive to rather than fly.
• We try to stay in places that offer a kitchenette so we can cook our own food.
• Stay in hostels, which cater to biker/hiker travelers, share space with bunkmates to reduce heating costs, tend to recycle more. Also take my recycling with me, cook in when possible, share rides with people, walk in cities.
• We try to walk and bike as much as possible on our vacations.

Nearly 73% of you say you have taken a vacation that you consider to have been “ecologically sustainable.” Here’s what you have to say about some of these trips and why you consider them to be sustainable:

• A month-long trip to Ecuador to learn about environmental issues and stayed either in hostels, small family-run inns, jungle biological station with ecotourism approach; traveled by bus and walked a whole lot; ate lots of vegetarian food.
• Trip into Mantario Wilderness zone (Canada) with a backpack, no packaging and so on.
• Biked to campsite and camped. Made little trash and hauled it all out.
• We often go back-packing for our holidays. This year we are planning a canoe trip on a local lake circuit.
• Urban vacations using mass transit and walking.
• Several backpacking trips in the western U.S. and Alaska.
• Hilton Head is an ideal place to walk and bicycle due to its numerous trails and compact development.
• We camp. We clean with non-pollutible soaps, use out houses and showers efficiently. Keep area clean, and clean up after others. We hike, enjoy nature and focus on the beauty of where we are by caring for the area. This year we're camping at Gov. Dodge State Park (Wisconsin) where there are Bat Houses in place to reduce mosquitoes, thereby negating the need for bug spray, even environmental ones. We bring organic food.
• Travel to Malawi in Africa to help with sustainable economic development for their country and missions work with the Malawi Lutheran Church.
• Tent camping in national parks/national forests and on other public lands.
• Costa Rica - I took an eco-friendly trip to the rain forest where we used no electricity and very little energy for over a week. We did hiking in the rain forest and we were very careful to stay on trails and not disturb the wild life or the ants...
• Snowmass, CO uses wind derived energy for ski lift system.
• Camping trip: fixed fresh food so that we would not be using a cook stove or fire.
• We traveled for nine months in Europe living and working on organic farms, also in North Carolina for about six months.
• Camping, three miles from home. Left no trace behind.
• Went horse camping. Helped keep the trails clean.
• 1990 Thru Hike AT - used prepackaged bulk co-op food, bought fresh food locally, volunteered time to help with trail rehabilitation.
• I consider the biking trips taken from home to have the least impact, followed by those where driving was kept to a minimum via carpooling with others. The same for kayaking trips, but those usually involve more driving and vehicles since they're often one-way trips on the water/river and a vehicle is needed at both ends.
• Backpacked through Central America by public transport ("chicken bus").
• Vieques, Puerto Rico. Room had kitchen, went to beaches and bioluminescent bay, spent money with locally owned businesses (no big chains).
• Chose area rich in wildlife to enjoy nature activities and low-impact backpacking/camping to promote natural areas.
• Eco tents in St John - Stanley Selegut's resort Used Solar water and electricity, composting toilets, built on boardwalk so that the flora would not be disturbed.
• Maho Bay Camps in USVI (green resort) camping (drove there, did not use air travel).
• Stayed in a tent with no electric hookups, used solar shower and packed out all trash/recyclables.
• Trail work as a volunteer.
• At Ocean Haven in Yachats, OR, they recycle everything and ask people to use as little as possible and donate a portion of the room rate to environmental organizations which is great, but I drive 200 miles to get to it so even that is not quite sustainable.
• Sailing trip…minimal combustible engine use, shop local foods, reuse of many items.
• My wife and I spent a week at a humble cabin at the beach, ate locally-grown food, and traveled little.
• Sort of by definition, several EarthWatch sites, including the Galapagos.
• I don't know of any transportation to a destination that I would consider ecologically sustainable. Once at my destination I have continued my travels on several vacations by rowing a kayak or raft and camping while practicing leave no trace minimal impact techniques.
• Trip to Honduras (long stay). I stayed with friends living there, volunteered for eco-tourism lodge, worked for environmental NGO, instilled recycling practices in an office, reduce carbon consumption through biking and carpooling (norm).

We were curious to know just how important ecological sustainability is to you when you travel. A whopping 94% of you say sustainability matters, but you will not rule out a trip if it is not “green.” Three per cent of you say you strive for 100% sustainability when you travel, but admit you don’t always achieve it. Two Leaf Litter readers don’t take “greenness” into consideration at all when they travel, while one reader will not even consider a trip if it is not entirely ecologically sustainable.

Surprisingly, 60% of you say you have never sought out ecologically sustainable or “green” lodging when you travel. Many of you said you did not know how and where to find such lodging. (We’re happy to provide some resources in this issue.) Of the 40% who have attempted to find such lodging, most did so using the Internet, while some went by word of mouth. Very few of you (4%) received help from a travel agency. One reader recommends Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, , an organization that can help people combine their interests in travel and organic farming by connecting them with farms where they can stay while volunteering.

When we asked what you consider to be the single most important factor to consider when attempting to plan an ecologically sustainable vacation, here’s how you responded:

click picture to enlarge

• 35% Lodging facility’s management practices (recycling, composting, laundry, etc.)
• 25% Method of travel to/from destination
• 21% Leisure activities exploration/appreciation of the natural environment without any impact
• 11% Lodging facility’s use of local goods & labor
• 7% Leisure activities involving ecological restoration volunteer work.
• 1% Lodging facility’s marketing materials are eco-friendly

Happily, only four of you have experienced “greenwashing” while traveling. Two of you described the experience…

• A trip to Belize to check out their eco-tourism programs ended up being completely bogus. Belize is still a third world country and no one was paying attention to the ecology there.
• The trip was branded as "green" but one of the methods of transporting us to our destination involved power boats that were two cycle engines that used a lot of fuel and polluted the water... although many other things were truly green, that one thing alone prevented the journey from being green.

When we asked what you want to know about ecologically sustainable travel/vacation, most of you requested guidance in finding eco-friendly lodging, transportation, travel services, etc. We have provided many links addressing this request in the Resource Section of Leaf Litter. Several of you say you’d like information on how you as individuals can improve your travel habits. We hope you find the tips peppered throughout this issue helpful. Lots of Leaf Litter readers requested information on carbon offsetting. You’ll find Resources on this as well. A few of you offered additional comments:

• More locations of interest, but practical. I'd love to see the Rain Forests of Costa Rica, but I think that's a dream I won't achieve. I think the worst travel is Cruise Ships. I think the pollution to the reefs of the world is tragic. I'd like to see this end. The reefs are changing, and I can't even think what will be left for my grand children. I'm a diver and some of the people who go down on dives are as greedy and ignorant as the people who trash the streets of the cities. In fact, they are probably the same people. Bonaire has a very practical educational training mandate before you're allowed to "go down." You can't wear gloves, because you're not allowed to touch the coral, and the protection of gloves protects you, not the coral. You can kill the coral by being careless and touching it or brushing against it. But if you aren't wearing gloves, you'll be more careful because it could injure you. The educational tape and training that "all" divers must go through before the first drop is a good beginning. I saw less inconsiderate behavior diving in Bonaire than other places I've been.
• Who offers valid eco-friendly services that are affordable and comfortable and not just geared for young, athletic, wealthy, vegetarians?
• I find that the statements included here of "100% sustainable travel" to be a bit misleading and generalized. I think we should all be aware that "100%" is rarely possible, but much can be done. When one considers the materials and energy used to produce a vehicle, or even a bike, it is obvious that we all make an impact on the environment. Even walking involves shoes and clothing, but I'm not suggesting we abandon everything. I like the approach your questions took in asking if folks had done the simple things that so many overlook, like turning down the thermostat, etc. These are just the kind of things we all can do everyday, to at least some extent, and the collective result of many doing a little is enormous.
• I have gone on two eco/justice vacations with Foundation for Self Sufficiency in Central America and participated in mangrove restoration and re-forestation projects in El Salvador. They sponsor a delegation that does this in July each year.

As with sustainability in general, the big question is…is the greening of the tourism industry a short-term trend or a real movement? If 94% of Leaf Litter readers are correct, then it’s the beginning of a lasting change. Right on.