Save Eco Destinations

Hello there!

In this post, I’m going to share with you some special dates for the month of October as well as something we can all practice today, September 28. Show your compassion for the planet and your fellow beings!

Here’s a list of events and celebrations for the next few weeks:

September 28: Green Consumer Day – Of course, the best way to be a green consumer is … tun tun tun … not to be a consumer at all! But if you must succumb, consider purchasing something used or recycled instead of a shiny new (even if “green”) gadget/garment/whatever-you-need. Unless it’s food. You probably shouldn’t buy used food, whatever that would be.

October 1: World Vegetarian Day – This one is particularly special for me, as I’ve been a vegetarian for the past 14 years and an on-and-off vegan. October is Vegetarian Awareness Month, although I’ll admit I’m not sure what that means. Anyway, take it a step further and celebrate Meat-Free Monday too for a happier planet and a happier you! Plus, it’s cheaper if you stay away from fake meats.

October 1-7: World Wildlife Week – Help raise awareness about the importance of preserving wildlife by “adopting” a wild animal or species for cheap to keep wildlife in the wild (choose from 100 species! Note: this makes a sweet present for birthdays and holidays), signing petitions, educating others on boycotting exotic animals and animal parts, and whatever else you can think of.

October 3/4: World Animal Welfare Day – Look for an event in your area, as this event is celebrated worldwide! I, for one, will be attending an event in downtown Buenos Aires on Sunday. There will be vegetarian food and general super-awesomeness! Here’s some info on events going on in New York City, Venezuela y Argentina. Dates might vary by a day, so make sure you go on the right one!

October 4: World Habitat Day – Held annually on the first Monday of October, the United Nations says this is a day to ponder the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of everyone to adequate housing and to remember our collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

“The United Nations chose the theme Better City, Better Life to highlight our collective vision of a sustainable urban world that harnesses the potential and possibilities, mitigates inequalities and disparities, and provides a home for people of all cultures and ages, both rich and poor.”

Read more here.

More events coming up in the next post.

Biodegradable skincare protects the environment – and you – from carcinogens e.g. parabens

When going to marine and wildlife reserves, many tour companies will ask that you slather on biodegradable sunblock and bug repellent for diving into the ocean and cenotes, going kayaking, and so on. It would be fantastic to adopt this preference constantly, though. It’s the same as littering: shouldn’t we refrain from littering all the time rather than only when we are asked to?

First of all, regular sunscreens bleach corals, which are already dying off at an alarming rate due to several factors, this one included, and also global warming, irresponsible human activities, and other types of pollution. So any time you get in the water — even into a pool, as all water ends up in the ocean eventually and it is not treated for toxic chemicals, and even less in remote areas such as Tulum and Xcacel Xcacelito — you would be helping to take care of the environment by using only environmentally-friendly products.

Last, I will reiterate that regular sunblock contains carcinogenic ingredients — that is, they cause cancer. You would thus be doing yourself a big favor by staying away from those products.

FYI: I found Hawaiian Tropic Biodegradable sunscreen in SPF 30 and 50 as well as a natural bug repellent in Tulum, on the road where myriad hotels are located on the coast. And you can, of course, find many such products online; for example, this bug repellent, this reef-safe biodegradable sunscreen, this deodorant, this shower gel, this shampoo, and this conditioner.  

Check your cosmetics and ingredients here for safety.

Have you asked yourself this—why people don’t care?

I  have.

Most often, I can only think that it is an issue of greed, selfishness, ignorance or—especially—outright denial (and greed).

We know that people in the South Pacific, such as the islands of Tuvalu, and other low-lying areas are living on land that is sinking (flooding really). Imagine sea water coming up to your knees, your hips…

Food can no longer grow, water is polluted, sewage systems are screwed, hygiene hazards are rampant, and ultimately people must be evacuated lest they die by drowning or other troubles. Elsewhere, droughts turn rich pasture turns into dead, barren land.

Already, 300,000 die yearly due to global warming (the vast majority of whom are women, by the way).

It is expected that millions of refugees will need places to go as global warming advances and water takes over the areas of Bangladesh, Calcutta, New York, Florida, and on and on.

So, this is enough to make people care, right? To get a Nalgene bottle and refill it daily instead of wasting myriad resources on purchasing pricy bottled water, to recycle instead of tossing cans in the garbage, to appreciate things more and be less wasteful, to become conscientious.

You’d think so.

So why isn’t it?

Language

Some people think it’s all in the language. The New York Times article claims that environmentalists worry the term “global warming” repels conservatives and others because they associate it with hippies and cutting spending.

The firm conducting the study suggested discussing “our deteriorating atmosphere” to make it, um, more universally relevant. I know, pathetic.

Drop discussions of carbon dioxide and bring up “moving away from the dirty fuels of the past.” Don’t confuse people with cap and trade; use terms like “cap and cash back” or “pollution reduction refund.”

Whatever. Language? If this is truly the case, it’s so funny I forgot to laugh—and chose to ram my head into the wall instead.

“We know why it’s lowest. When someone thinks of global warming, they think of a politicized, polarized argument. When you say ‘global warming,’ a certain group of Americans think that’s a code word for progressive liberals, gay marriage and other such issues.” – ecoAmerica

Oh no! Liberals!

Plus, screw global warming—it will only affect them.

Did I mention “ram my head into the wall”?

So we can’t say global warming, energy efficiency or the environment. Are you kidding me? Ridiculous.

Listen, if your problem is that anything that sounds liberal spooks you, you’ve got more problems than one—particularly when the issue at hand is as imminent as global warming. Swallow and digest it.

Make it personal

Perhaps (and this is my opinion) the point is making the issue clearly and directly relevant to everyone.

Whether it’s threatening that your favorite Caribbean hotel where you spend your ritzy summers will shut down due to flooding or that your beloved ski resort will shut down due to a lack of snow, that is, no matter what kind of selfish jerk you are, the answer lies in making the issue relevant to you.

It makes sense. Not everyone is the underdog type who cares about others because of justice. Most people need to be directly affected by something to even blink. And it really seems that it is most people who need to be shaken up out of their catatonic state.

Changes to make to drive others to change

(FYI: My thoughts are in parentheses.)

Instead of global warming, try climate change (hey, it wasn’t my idea).

Substitute energy efficiency with the purportedly more positive saving money for a more prosperous future.

Drop the environment in favor of the air we breathe, the water our children drink—which right here is an example of making the situation directly relevant to people. Put them in the picture.

Remember to speak in TALKING POINTS aspirational language about shared American ideals, like freedom, prosperity, independence and self-sufficiency while avoiding jargon and details about policy, science, economics or technology – NYT

Switch environmentalists with conservationists (ooh, that feels sleazy).

Forget scientific arguments and stress common sense. (Listen, you need both.)

Use moral arguments—people need to feel guilty to get off their asses, it’s true.

A modest example:

As a conservationist, I urge you to consider saving money for a more prosperous future by turning off the tap when you brush your teeth to conserve water, leaving more for our children and their children to drink. It is our responsibility as Americans/Germans/Brazilians/etc. Think of your family and your friends. Climate change is something we can all collaborate to control through simple common sense.

Yeah, but let me tell you why I don’t like it. Because people should already be concerned and on the go. Because “climate change” sounds less severe than “global warming” (which, already, doesn’t sound critical enough). Because our priorities should lie on mitigating global warming instead of changing our rhetoric to make asshats care.

FYI, here’s a related article I just found while browsing for pictures:  Eco-semantics

Here you go. Now go call yourself a conservationist.

Tourists’ noise pollution doesn’t only harm endangered sea turtles—it also harms hoatzins. It’s to be expected, right? …Except this noise pollution comes from ecotourists.

Bird watching can have its perils, it seems, since even quiet conversation among bird watchers can cause extreme stress to some species of wild birds. Daniel Karp of Stanford University has researched three species of hoatzins (Opisthocomus hoazin) in areas surrounding various eco lodges within the Peruvian Amazon.

Even library conversation-volume chats induced defense mechanisms in the birds, causing them to cluck and defecate. Wow. The birds were found to climb and fly away as well. The hoatzins’ behavior was contingent on how loudly people spoke.

What’s most troublesome is the fact that stress disturbs these birds’ rearing capabilities, thwarting the chicks’ training to become self-sufficient and leading to “heightened mortality rates.”

To gather information, Karp approached hoatzin habitats by canoe and experimented between being silent and playing recordings of conversations at different volumes from different distances, keeping track of when birds became stressed enough to fly away. Karp first tried playing the conversations at 50 decibels (library conversation volume), then at 60 (actual volume of typical tourists’ chats in bird watching zones), and at 70 (the loudest conversations he was able to record). The study was conducted last year and lasted one month.

While Karp says “ceas[ing] all conversation” and staying far enough away should be sufficient to prevent freaking out hoatzins, behavioral ecologist and conservation biologist at UCLA Dam Blumstein says that, although we think being ecotourists is awesome, we’re being careless and irresponsible anyway.

Moral of the study: ecotourism is not as green as we may have thought.

No kidding. (Yes, I am bitter.)

Apparently, even when quietly hiking through undergrowth, [eco]tourists cause wildlife extreme stress. Bird watching, wildlife watching, and hiking are all harmful to carnivores’ survival and/or reproduction rates. The victims are dolphins, dingoes, penguins, and polar bears, among many other species.

Well, crap.

Not only should we keep from being destructive when in natural areas, but we should also not even go there.

Well, at least now I have evidence to back up my theory that ecotourism and eco hotels within fragile natural areas do more harm than good.

With so many tourists making the idyllic beaches of Quintana Roo-Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, etc. their destinations, they are taking a toll on the local endangered sea turtles.

As well, it’s become fashionable to celebrate weddings and honeymoons on these coasts. (Hey, I don’t blame these people – those coasts are gorgeous!)

In packed places like Cancun and Playa del Carmen, beaches are swamped with hotels, condos, restaurants, and other tourist attractions that exude bright lights and noise pollution. Severe beach erosions have also damaged or destroyed many of the turtles’ nesting sites.

Some biologists have shown laudable dedication and worked to coax some establishments into adopting certain turtle-friendly measures (ok, less turtle-hostile measures). These include putting out or redirecting their lights, withdrawing camastros, chairs and other portable furniture, and advising guests and employees to stay away from the turtles altogether. These measures are crucial, as anything that hinders turtles’ reproductive activities further endangers these animals.

Fortunately, these serene turtles can still count on Tulum and nearby beaches for respite. Since this part of the coast is less ridden with resorts and other buildings, the area provides turtles with a more tranquil habitat.

It is still necessary, however, for turtles to have pristine and peaceful havens if they are to reproduce at normal rates (which are already low!). For this purpose, there do exist certain restricted areas, although they do remain largely unsupervised.

How coastal weddings harm turtles

Habitually, weddings and their corresponding celebrations take place at night – turning normally dark, deserted, and quiet beaches into bright, loud, and chaotic spaces. These wedding practices screw with turtles’ spawning rituals, causing the animals to return to sea without taking care of their reproductive business.

Exacerbating this is the fact that both turtle spawning season and low tourist season (during which flight and hotel reservation costs drop, which draws tourists in) coincide. Both seasons begin in April-May.

As you’ve probably already guessed, no legal restrictions exist in Mexico to protect sea turtles from such situations. Celebrations may legally take place any time of the year on any beach at any time. Sweet, huh? Not for the turtles!

At one point, Tulum was under the influence of rules that protected turtles during spawning season. But now they are obsolete. Many greedy hotel owners choose to invite their guests to do whatever the hell they please as long as they pony up the money, instead of respecting Mother Nature.

At the same time, there are some conscientious hotel owners make efforts to protect local ecosystems and thus prohibit noisy and bright events that would take place after dark. This is another reason to stay at an eco-hotel wherever and whenever you travel.  (Please check the “Lodging” category for posts with links to some eco-hotels around the world and peruse our blogroll, directories, and organizations lists on the right-hand column.)

Sea turtle populations on the Mexican Caribbean have already declined drastically from their original numbers. We owe it to our planet to play eco-nice.

You can read more on the issue here, and about the Xcacel-Xcacelito red alert here, here, here, and here.

What a surprise – we’re again looking at Scandinavia! This post focuses on Malmö, the home of almost 300,000 Swedes in the southern province of Skane, Sweden.

Oh, Malmö, let me count the ways that you are green:

• Between 2008 and 2012, you are cutting your CO2 emissions by 25% (!), essentially giving the Kyoto Protocol the finger as you obscenely surpass the Protocol’s meager 5% goal
• You lead the way in green electricity practices
• You consist of eco-friendly neighborhoods that contain hundreds of smart energy homes!
• Western Harbour runs on 100% renewable energy (solar, wind, hydropower, and biofuels from organic waste)
• Your buildings are energy-efficient and were built with sustainable, recyclable materials
• Your streets encourage walking and cycling instead of driving – and it works: about 35% of the population travels by bike
• The restoration of Sege Park will power the neighborhood with solar (photovoltaics*), wind, and biofuels power
• Malmö, you renovate shipyards and industrial areas, transforming them into green residential communities
• Your district known as Augustenborg uses green roofing that reduces runoff and insulates buildings
• Augustenborg has the first-ever emissions-free electric steel trains (swank!)
• Another one for Augustenborg: more than a dozen recycling houses process 70% of collected waste

Brilliant.

Malmö, oh, Malmö – your vibrant dedication, your grass-stained fingers, your cool, clean breath, your practical ingenuity – you are so wonderful I would give up certain sweets for you.

Oh, Malmö, with your canals, beaches, parks, and your harbor you remind me of the aesthetics of the Middle Ages and the distant future in spirit.

My love, oh, Malmö, is yours.

And I’m not the only one raving about this city: check out this BBC article on Sweden’s eco-awesomeness.

* What the hell are photovoltaics? I’m glad you asked. Why, they’re a solar energy technology. Photovoltaics cells transform solar light directly into electricity. Learn more here.

This is one of the most amazing things I have ever known about – if you live in Germany or Scandinavia, you could be living in a house that keeps you comfortable without heat or AC, no matter the temperature. You’d be saving more energy (and money) than you’d know what to do with!

Passive houses, as they are called, adjust to temperature. These homes use one-twentieth the heating energy of typical German homes. While architects outside of Germany and Scandinavia are working to achieve something similarly spectacular, barely any passive houses have been built in other countries. So far, these houses cost just 5-7% more to build than typical ones. This system is also being implemented in Frankfurt schools. I am swooning.

The key to the amazingness of passive houses is ultra-thick insulation and doors and windows with complex airtight mechanisms that keep cold and heat from entering and exiting the structure. The house heats up via sunlight, the use of appliances, and bodies! The central ventilation system keeps mold and stagnant air out.

“The European Commission is promoting passive-house building, and the European Parliament has proposed that new buildings meet passive-house standards by 2011,” the New York Times reports.

Sweet. And the U.S. Army might build passive house barracks. Who would’ve thought the army would be this progressive? Not me, that’s for sure.

Hey, Obama! Turn the White House into a passive house!

More:

Passive Houses FAQ

Check out passive houses resources and builders around the world

The Passive House Institute US

Promotion of European Passive Houses

Passive House (Passivhaus) Standard for Energy Efficient Design

How to design a passive house in a specific climate

Photos of beautiful passive houses!

More photos (Weberhaus)!!

And more still!

I find this issue fascinating, so I wanted to delve into it deeper. Here we go –

Corals:

Scientific studies ascertained a relationship between the approximately 4,000 to 6,000 tons of sunscreen melting off swimmers’ skins and the quickly increasing decline in corals. It turns out that four common sunscreen ingredients (octinoxate, oxybenzone 4-methylbenzylidene camphor, and the preservative butylparaben) activate dormant viruses in corals, which go on to destroy algae—what corals feed on, and without which corals turn white and die.

About 60% of reefs around the world are currently in danger of dying due to global warming, excess UV radiation, and human activity—whether because anchors and boats tear through them, we pollute them with our garbage, or we drown them in our skincare products.

According to the European Commission, the chemicals in sunscreen and other skincare products are so harmful that areas such as marine eco-parks in Mexico straight-out ban them. These chemicals “can accumulate in aquatic animals, have an estrogen-like effect and biodegrade into toxic by-products.”

When they added low quantities of sunscreen to water around coral reefs, they found that “large amounts of coral mucous … was (sic) released within 18-48 hours. Within 96 hours, complete bleaching of corals had occurred.” Previously dormant viruses residing within the corals came alive and triggered widespread infections, effects also caused by pesticides and other pollutants.It only takes 20 minutes in the water for 25% of the harmful ingredients in your sunscreen to be released into the water.

Fish:

All the way back in 2006, the University of Applied Sciences in Basil, Switzerland, found endocrine disruptors (UV filters) in fish—male fish with not only sperm, but also female eggs. Read more here.

Humans:

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) conducted research on 1,031 common brands of sunscreen last year. They found that:

• 4 out of 5 do not offer adequate protection from the sun’s harmful rays
• many include ingredients that may be unsafe
• best-selling sunscreens (e.g. Coppertone, Banana Boat, and Neutrogena) proved to be the worst offenders. Here is the best and worst list: Find your sunscreen.
• many sunscreens only protect against UVB radiations (which cause sunburns), and not UVA radiations (which cause skin damage, aging, immune system problems, and skin cancer)
• 46% of sunscreens contain ingredients that break down under UV rays within minutes or hours, letting UV rays damage your skin
• sunscreens in the form of powder and spray make it easier for toxic nano-scale ingredients to get into your body than lotion sunscreens containing the same ingredients
• some sunscreens—and their toxic ingredients (namely, oxybenzone and other UV filters)—enter the bloodstream. These ingredients may exude free radicals in the sunlight, disrupt the endocrine system, cause allergies, and build up in the body
• the FDA is not currently taking care of these issues, so you must do so for yourself

Read more here.

SOLUTION: wear biodegradable sunscreens without questionable ingredients, apply the sunscreen repeatedly to the skin, wear a hat, and wear UV-resistant clothing (e.g. Solartex and No Zone).

All over the planet—from the Caribbean to Australia’s coasts—coral reefs are withering from the stress swimmers and tourism-related chemicals impose on them. According to WarmIslands.com, during the last 10 years alone the Caribbean’s reefs have been under strenuous attack.

The culprits:

• Snorkeling and diving – swimmers astonished by the reefs’ beauty touch the fragile corals, causing serious damage. SOLUTION: stay away from those reefs! And if for whatever reason you find yourself down there, hands off, kids!
• Sunscreen – chemicals in the sunscreen dissolving off swimmers’ skins intensifies the decline of coral populations. SOLUTION: choose biodegradable sunscreen or wear a t-shirt.
• Disturbed sediment – unnaturally strong currents (caused by swimmers, yachts, motorboats, and so on) can alter sediment and provoke the diaspora of animal life as the animals lose their home. Another consequence is sand settling onto coral formations. SOLUTION: stay off those boats!
• Anchors of motorboats, yachts, etc. – these can destroy corals and thereby their entire ecosystem, which results in animals losing their homes. SOLUTION: just say no!
• The collection of specimens – despite the seemingly infinite abundance of marine life, the removal of species is not only detrimental to the ecosystem, but may also result in the accidental removal of rare and endangered species. SOLUTION: refrain from collecting any specimens and do your best to discourage others from doing so.
• Increase in sedimentation – as tourism grows, so does the construction of hotels and other developments used to accommodate travelers. With construction comes pollution in the form of noise, contaminated air and water, and copious sedimentation both natural and synthetic. Higher amounts of sedimentation close to the shore encourage ocean species to move farther offshore, where lower levels of nutrients are available for their consumption and they are more vulnerable to the pernicious attacks of motorboats, etc. SOLUTION: consider going somewhere else for the holidays, or remain strictly green and encourage others to follow your lead – which should be a perpetual tactic for us eco travelers anyway!
• Waste – more people equals more waste. While proper waste disposal methods are usually available, many tourists are ignorant of environmentally friendly ways to dispose of their waste. Another problem is the myriad tourists who just don’t care about the environment enough to change their destructive habits. Their garbage then winds up floating on the water and sticking to coral reefs. SOLUTION: speak up when you see someone littering and kindly point them in the right direction.
• Pollution – While some vacation spots aren’t located within industrialized areas, it is usually inevitable that pollutants will be released into the air, land, and water in the forms of fuel, oil, paint, sewage, and so on. SOLUTION: go green or don’t go at all!

It is imperative that we continue to raise awareness about green tourism to inspire respect for our precious planet. As we continue to devise new ways to mitigate humans’ effects on our planet, we owe it to ourselves to compassionately educate those around us.