Recycle - What For?

All this talk about recycling, how about we go back to the why's of recycling? Too often I find myself wondering again what really happens to that beer bottle or aluminum can I separate for recycling, or how to best explain to my 6 year-old niece what it means and why it matters.

Though I'm glad it's not up to me to do the explaining to my niece; below are some great facts and reminders about where it all goes and why it really does matter - to you , to me and to the sea.

• We dump MOST of the magazines printed in the US each year (about 8 million tons) into landfills. If we recycled just HALF of them, we could save over 12 MILLION CUBIC YARDS of landfill space.
• More than two-thirds of the material going into the landfills is degradable. However, very little change occurs because moisture is the most important environmental variable of degradation. Landfills are kept as DRY as possible to help prevent groundwater contamination from runoff. For example, newspapers are still readable MORE THAN 20 years after being thrown away. Food, such as T-bone steaks and hot dogs, remains relatively unchanged for more than a decade.
• Americans discard 4 million tons of office paper every ear. That‘s enough to build a 12 foot-high wall of paper from New York to California.
• Americans throw away about 10% of the food they buy at the supermarket. This results in dumping the equivalent of more than 21 million shopping bags full of food into landfills every year. But does it just biodegrade – Negative, not nearly as quick as compost. See landfills above.
• Americans discard enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet every 3 months.
• Most bottles and jars contain at least 25% recycled glass. Glass never wears out and it can be recycled forever.
• Plastics are made from petroleum - a limited nonrenewable resource. It is predicted that by the year 2040, the Earth‘s usable petroleum reserves will have been depleted.
• Americans make enough low density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic every year to shrink-wrap the state of Texas. Most if it ends up in landfills.

Hotels and a Greener Planet - How to Choose? Ask the Idiot's Guide

According to the "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Greening Your Business," there is a lot businesses can do, and in many cases at very little cost, to bring sustainabiilty to the workplace.

"Our planet is in trouble, and businesses have the collective power to turn the tide on the environmental disaster we've created. If businesses don't become sustainable, we don't stand a chance," says Trish Riley, co-author of the book.

So what are some things hotels can do that qualify as sustainable, and how can the avergage person find out which hotels are doing them and legitimately keeping their promise to be more earth friendly. There are of course sites like igobela.com dedicated to listing properties with established track records in sustainable operations and initiatives.

There is also the possibility of calling ahead and asking how certain resorts or hotels are cutting back on their carbon footprint, such as weatherizing facilities, recycling waste products, reducing water usage, investing in alternative fuel fleets and supporting local organic gardens and farms.

Don't travel hoping someone else makes a difference. We can all start today.

Paradise Lost?

From 2002 to 2004 I decided to take the plunge and live my dream of beach bumming some of the most talked about beach destinations in the U.S. This included living for a stint on the island of Maui.

Actually, my first time to Maui only lasted three months, but I knew I'd soon be back. And I was. On my second trip in late 2002 I stayed for almost two years and brought along my girlfriend, Natalie, who incidentally was later so blindly captivated by the island's charms that she said yes to becoming my wife.

During our time there, we worked, not surprisingly, in the hospitality industry. I was a front desk clerk at the Aston Ka'anapali Shores and Natalie a pool attendant for the much better known Hyatt Regency. Located along the world-famous Ka'anapali Coastline, the Hyatt promises and actually delivers on just about anythings its guests could desire.

From man-made waterfalls and small water park, to exotic animals, fine dining, golfing, a spa and more - you would think there is very little left the Hyatt can provide to satisfy its guests -but there is.

One might also assume that the millions of dollars spent in design and construction of first-class resorts on an isolated island chain in the Pacific might include recycling reusable waste, such as aluminum cans and plastics bottles. But it didn't. Daily we watched hundreds of water bottles and styrofoam containers fill-up trash cans.

Or what about harvesting the ever abundant energy of the sun for the seemingly unlimited needs that the Hyatt and other resorts like it promise to offer 24-7. Nothing happened on that front either. Plenty of the sun was used to tan bodies but little, from what we could tell, was used to power an assembly line of washing machines or heat jacuzzis.

So what does sustainability have to do with pampering clientèle anyway? I suppose just as much as maintaining a trash-free oceanfront or reasonable prices on rooms and amenities.

Is Ka'anapali Beach known for being an okay beach, or Waikki famous for its overpriced rooms? No. So why must resorts that dominate the coastline invest in practices that help maintain their natural landscape pollution-free and their energy costs to a minimum? The answers are simple but, unfortunately, from my experience no so easily contrived by the powers-that-be among the top and even smaller hotel chains.

With a global economy driving prices down and prompting competitors to find new ways to differentiate themselves from the pack, sustainable tourism is primed for a surge in growth. But it is still the job of the knowledgeable tourist and traveler to demand these changes from hotels, either by seeking out the ones that are making these improvements or by asking that sustainability be practiced by those that aren't.

Who Cares? I'm on Vacation...

What happens when we stay at a hotel? What I mean is, do most of us use the same, more, or less electricity? Do we generate more garbage? If yes, how much more would you guess?

Well, if your hunch tells you we use more and waste more when on a trip, then yes, you're right. But exactly how much more, see here.

And if given a choice between staying at a more environmentally friendly - or let's simply say "less wasteful" - hotel, would you choose it over a lesser one? You'll be surprised at how many people wouldn't.

Coral Reefs - A Thing of the Past?

According to a study commissioned by Australia's government of Queensland, 95% of the living coral along the Great Barrier Reef will be gone by 2050 due to warming ocean temperatures (projected +1.5 degrees Celsius)! That's less than 50 years from today.

How can this be? Well, coral reefs are particularly sensitive to changes in water temperature. They consist of tiny animals that live in colonies constructed of hard calcium carbonate and have a symbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship with algae called zooxanthellae. Coral reefs may able to weather a few warmer years and bounce back from the effects of "bleaching," what happens when the corals lose much of their symbiotic algae. But "an increase in frequency of coral bleaching may be one of the first tangible environmental effects of global warming," says Dr. Arnold Dekker of Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. In other words, too many bleaching events and the affected coral reefs don't bounce back.

In 1998 when tropical sea temperatures where at record highs, 16% of the world's coral reefs were severely threatened if not irreparably harmed. And in 2002, even warmer sea temperatures bleached some 60-95% of individual reefs along the Great Barrier Reef.

So what can be done? Well, the stark reality is that climate change is underway, like the coming rains of autumn. Evidence all over the planet points towards a warming trend. However, we should definitely continue to research and better understand this complicated and vital ecosystem of the sea. According to some researchers, there is new technology being developed that may even allow us to moderate some of the ill effects of climate change on corals.

Learning, appreciating and enjoying the colors, diversity and variety of coral reefs isn't and shouldn't be limited to scientists. In fact, it is the income generated by the beach going public to these parts of the world that indirectly funds much of the research and protection afforded by local governments to the coral reef populations they border.

So go and visit the coral reef destination of your dreams! And do so through resorts and hotelsthat put a premium on protecting these wonders of the sea. Not all beach accommodations are the same. Be sure to understand how your resort or hotel interacts with these delicate ecosystems and the local communities that depend on them for tourist income and a healthy marine habitat year after year.

Custom or Corporate?

What do you see when you imagine your ideal beach accommodations? Are they small and quaint, where the owners are there to greet you and the number of rooms can be counted with one hand? Or do you dream of a larger complex, spacious lobby, uniformed staff and floors of rooms?

Now, lets take that one step further. You have your dream place in mind - so what about its ecological footprint? In other words, how much of the local habitat do your fantasy digs require to operate. How detrimental might they be to the very place, the very paradise you have paid so much to experience.

Is Custom or Corporate better?

The answer may seem obvious. More rooms require more resources therefore smaller, i.e. custom, is better. But not so quick. What about a corporate resort powered by renewable energy and operating a rain harvesting and recycling program. Suddenly, the ecological impact per room is reduced substantially were these practices not implemented.

Big is not by definition exclusionary of sustainable. Yet there is an advantage to the small. The customizable.

Owner operated properties are not hindered by their size. Implementing and even funding a recycling program may be as simple as slapping down the proprietors' credit card at a local hardware store for collection containers.

The same program at a larger property, well, may require much more: a budget plan, several phone calls and finally a check authorization by the corporate office. This may be the case for a recycling program, imagine what it might be for installing solar panels or an organic garden.

While custom may not be the only option for effective eco hotels, it is certainly more adaptable to change and responsive to the needs and wants of the earth conscious traveler.

In the meantime -what can be done to persuade the Corporate Chains to take the time and spend the money to implement eco practices? Ideas?

To Eco or Not To Eco

What is an Eco Hotel and why does it matter?

Eco accommodations are a growing niche industry within the mega world of toursim.

If we don't start to take notice of the importance of eco travel and it's powerful effect on resource conservation, then hotel owners and managers won't either.

View my most recent article on Examiner.com for a deeper look at this important issue in travel.

What have been your experiences with eco travel or eco hotels? How would you recommend mainstream hotels address the increasing importance of energy conservation or waste management?

What are Eco Hotels and Do They Really Make a Difference

Plenty can be said about eco this and eco that. It seems everything is going green these days. So, how can you tell what is really good for the environment and what is not?

Good question. For starters, when it comes to hotels and the travel industry, there are few truly well recognized accreditation sources. Green Globe is probably the most common, but not so among U.S. based hotel companies, where getting the story straight gets even trickier than in Western Europe, Southeast Asia or Central and South America.

My best advice: research the particular area or property you are interested in visiting. Find out what they do in regards to waste management, energy management and local environmental conservation. These are usually the most common identifiers in determining a property's true eco colors.

First blog for go-bela.com - the world's first booking engine for eco beach properties worlwide!

Here is a beautiful picture of the Big Lagoon, kayaking distance from the amazing El Nido - Lagen Eco Resort.