Save Eco Destinations

Rainbow sunset off Miami Beach, FL

Here are two upcoming eco events for the greenies in Florida, U.S.:

Hands Across the Sand

Save the date: Saturday, February 13, rain or shine, head to your local beach (and if it’s not listed, go ahead and organize an event in your community) to hold hands with other Florida beach lovers to protest oil drilling from 1-2pm EST (get there a little early and plan for parking).

The event is called Hands Across the Sand and the idea is to push for the protection of Florida’s beaches and wildlife from oil drilling.

“This is an opportunity to show your opposition to oil drilling as close as 3 to 10 miles off our coast. This movement will be made of people of all walks of life. This movement is not about politics; it is about protection of our shoreline, our tourism, our valuable properties and our way of life. Let us share our knowledge, energies and passion for protecting our waterways and beaches from the devastating effects of oil drilling.”

Join their Facebook page for Love Tourists Not Drilling Coalition in Pinellas County, Florida, here.

Check it out on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. You can also sign up for the newsletter here.

It has already received public support from legislators and both governmental and non-governmental organizations like the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, the City of Sarasota, Pinellas County, and the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce.

It’s just one hour. You know you want to! Tell your friends!

Take a Hike!

The Florida Forever Coalition is organizing public hikes across the state of Florida to celebrate 20 years of public land acquisition on Saturday, February 20 at 10am EST. You can join or put a hike together in your area by filling out this form and emailing it to info@supportfloridaforever.org.

Already organized are hikes in Central Florida, Tampa Bay, the Panhandle, and Lake Okeechobee. There are none organized in the Everglades thus far, but you can go ahead and set one up!

The coalition is made up of over 125 nonprofits, public agencies and private groups and has protected over 2.4 million acres of Florida land since 2000, according to its website.

Among its successes, Florida Forever counts the preservation of

• 53,600 acres of springs and springsheds
• 5,190 acres of fragile coastline
• 300,000 acres of sustainable forest lands
• 158,700 acres of working agricultural lands

Learn about volunteering, sending emails to your legislators, writing op-eds for Florida newspapers, and more for the cause here.

The coalition is also organizing plenty of lobby days and other events across Florida.

Enjoy!

Comic by Gary Varvel

In the recent post Ecotourism in the Everglades of South Florida, Cinthia Pacheco touched on The Everglades Day Safari, which appears to be an example of a greenwashing company due to the vagueness of its eco claims and general dearth of information on its purported environmental responsibility.

Pete Corradino, a guide for the aforementioned Everglades safari and board member of the Society for Ethical Ecotourism (SEE), got in touch through this blog and wrote that his company is fully committed to preserving the Everglades. He also said that, even though SEE’s 2009 certification criteria is not yet available online, it will be in June 2010. At that time, anyone will be able to access it for self-assessment. Further, he’s offered to email me a copy. [EDIT: Corradino has apparently changed his mind!]

That’s doubly fantastic, and both Cinthia and I are very grateful that he has taken the time to talk to us about the Everglades Day Safari and SEE both in the comments section of the last post and via email, where we have continued our conversation.

As I pointed out to him, it would be useful for the safari website – and for the websites of all allegedly green companies – to detail its commitment to the environment and describe its certification, if any, to show why and how the company is genuinely eco/green/environmentally responsible and rule out any greenwashing.

At this time, the safari website provides very little data on its sustainability policy; there is no description of its efforts to preserve the Everglades, no criteria listed – nothing except a few vague phrases on the home page. Corradino said he’s now looking into updating the site to include the missing information on the company’s green initiatives.

Corradino was upset that Cinthia suspected his company was guilty of greenwashing – but without the appropriate information, how is one supposed to know that a company offers a truly eco-tour/lodge/etc.?

Being denied the necessary information, it is reasonable that people will respond to eco claims with skepticism, both because the term “eco” is often a cover for greenwashing and because the Everglades (in the case of the Everglades Day Safari) have been trampled on and polluted for decades.

To cement my point, here is a quote about the unreliability of the term “eco” that I noted in the post Fight greenwashing! (Wait, can we?) Pt. 2:

‘Already the word “eco” has lost all power and meaning,’ says Guyonne James, senior projects manager at Tourism Concern, a UK charity which campaigns against exploitation. ‘In Brazil, if a bed-and-breakfast has a back garden, they’ll call it an eco-lodge. There has been such a proliferation of claims and green labels that as a tourist you really have no idea what’s going on.’

So, companies, if you want us to learn about and believe your eco claims, be ready to make your environmental standards and certification process publicly available!

It’s not fair to expect us to give you a call or visit your premises when deciding on a tour/hotel/whatnot for our next adventure just because you don’t back up your eco claims online. If you’re selling a green product, it’s your job to prove it to consumers with all the documentation you’ve got to gain credibility, and to make it easy on us so we’re more likely to choose you over other companies. (Please note, also, that this move will also improve your reputation and banish any concerns of greenwashing!)

Until then, it is better for us all to be safe – and skeptical – than sorry by finding out when it’s too late that we’ve supported a greenwashing business.

A swamp in the Everglades

By Cinthia Pacheco

The Everglades of South Florida: an ecotourism hotspot to explore the unique mingling of subtropical wetlands, or another tourist frenzy disturbing serene wildlife?

The Everglades already have a dense history of human impact, and one is left to wonder if we can improve the situation or just make it worse by visiting this special environment – even from an ecotourism angle.

Geographically, the Everglades are an anomaly: a combination of swamps, mangrove forests, pine rockland, and other systems. This diverse environment contains a colourful array of plants and endangered animals that stretches 100 miles from Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee, around Disney World and through Florida Bay.

The strain of urban development has culminated in the draining and contamination of 50% of these wetlands.

Map from library.thinkquest.org

A peek at the history of the Everglades: in the 1950s, the land was considered for residential development. The U.S. Government started building canals and water control structures to improve flood control and drainage. The result: the natural flow of water from the ocean to the Everglades was ruined, and the water that did reach the wetlands was contaminated with chemicals, while fresh water became unable to circulate in the area.

Restoration Plans

Today, there is a number of restoration plans underway to turn around the damage. The CERP (Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers form the largest ecosystem restoration plan in global history. They work together to, among many other projects, restore water flow and rehydrate drained wetlands. The Corps are building a special pump to encourage natural water flow, as well as remove many miles of road.

On January 7, 2010 the CERP held a ceremony to reinvigorate the Everglades restoration plan.

“Over the past-century, South Florida’s explosive growth has absorbed half of the original Everglades,” Col. Al Pantano, Corps’ Jacksonville District commander stated. “Today, together, we are returning some of those lands that were prepped for development to their former, natural conditions.”

Regulations on Tourism

Amidst the myriad projects and initiatives, very little is being done about the human impact on the Everglades – including regulations on tourism.

A typical Everglades alligator

Large swarms of tourism bring noise and garbage to this delicate environment. And according to many self-proclaimed ecotourism companies, the Everglades are still considered an ecotourism hotspot.

The Everglades Day Safari defines ecotourism as ”responsible travel” – and then proudly announces its “six vehicles in the fleet” and exploration of the area by “airboat” or “pontoon boat.” These companies do not help preserve the stillness of an environment that is under threat.

Other more responsible projects have less impact.

Everglade Trail, a smaller tourist trail project, promotes individual trekking through the landscape, encouraging activities like canoeing, hiking, and biking. They also offer a CD for you to take along to listen to information and stories about the wildlife and history. This strategy is healthier for the Everglades, even if it is considered “slower” tourism.

One recent regulation set on human activity in the Everglades National Park is a Pole and Troll boating rule. In designated areas, boats are required to use push poles, paddles, or electric trolling motors to protect sea grass and wildlife.

But there is still a lot of work to be done.

David Reiner, president of Friends of the Everglades, wrote in a recent 2009 newsletter,

“In spite of our accomplishments and best efforts, the Everglades continue to degrade. Developers continue to be given permission to develop sprawl west of the Urban Development Boundary. Protections for the ecosystem which is the lifeblood of South Florida are hard won and expensive.”

Do tourists – even ecotourists – only make the matter worse? Or can public education contribute to saving these wetlands?

Studying the impact of human activity will help us better understand which restrictions must be established and how to properly enforce them.

Working hard to heal the damage done by urban sprawl is important, but we must also be attentive to our present actions. Taking responsibility in the present is a direct way to work on reviving the Everglades in the future.

Cinthia Pacheco is a Canadian-Argentine living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a feminist who spends her leisure time writing and playing basketball. You can connect with her via email and on Twitter at @rincon200.

Before it was damaged in 2005, people who visited the Everglades National Park would go there to stay the night. From now on and until who knows when, there will be nothing taking the Flamingo Lodge’s place.

The idea situation would be, of course, replacing it with a bright green establishment. The problem is, there’s no such thing as a free lunch-and we’re out of lunch money. It would cost at least $20 million to rebuild the marina and so on, and nobody’s bringing out their checkbook.

So now everyone, not just those who lack an adventurous spirit or are sane enough to demand AC in the searing heat of south Florida, will have to camp out and get bitten to near-death by mosquitoes (I hear there are 36 types in the area!) if they want to sleep amidst the gators. If only they had a sustainable wastewater management system with low-flush toilets. That’s all I ask for. A simple request. Right?

In any case, the Everglades Park is hell. Hot as hell, swampy as hell, buggy as hell, hell hell hell. But have fun if you go!

Hollywood Beach, FL

The Desoto Inn ($150-175)

With 4/5 green stars from EcoHotelsoftheWorld.com, you’ll sleep cozy and happy about your responsible choice in this slightly retro inn founded in the ‘60s. In ’99 they began implementing green energy, energy reduction, green housekeeping products, water gathering, low-flush facilities, and gray water consumption. You even get your own recycling bin in your room. That would make me smile. It’s sad that I lived in FL for 5 years and I never knew about places like this. (Becoming eco-conscious really broadens your horizons!)

Set close to the Everglades (watch out for the alligators!) and next to the Anne Kolb Nature Center on the Atlantic coast, you’ll be free to kayak, hike, take a boat tour, snorkel, swim, bike, and more for free or a low fee (which is especially nice when you’re paying so much per night!). For general area happenings, go here.

Also, Hollywood is close to Miami, which is a spectacular place to party (I’m not saying it’s green, but you won’t even remember…). So rent a hybrid and go reap the Miami nightlife until you get kicked out at 5am or later. Have your drinks in the rental car once you park and you will 1) keep plastic cups and straws from being tossed and never recycled, and 2) save money, because those trendy bastards can charge crazy amounts for cocktails. You can also buy beers and take the bottles back with you to recycle. There’s also Churchill’s Pub, a laid-back, seedy bar in Little Haiti where you’ll hear lots of local bands as well as some big acts (tip: you do not want to get lost there because it isn’t safe, so get your directions straight!) Check out what to do here: Miami New Times.

That’s one sweet spring break.