Tips to be a good tourist and not to pollute: How to do it and why?
Traveling is unquestionably one of the activities that human beings enjoy the most, but are we really responsible travelers? Are we good tourists?
Leer en español: Consejos para ser un buen turista y no contaminar: ¿Cómo hacerlo y por qué?
We all like to visit new places, meet new cultures and, above all, to be surprised by what we have never seen. In addition, traveling is a way of taking a break, and it serves to integrate with family and friends when done in groups. Most of the time we only think of enjoying (which is fine); however, we forget that we also have a series of duties in the places we visit, what we commonly call citizen culture.
It is clear that our behavior is important; we cannot get to a place where we do not reside and treat badly or offend the people who live there, let alone try to ignore the authority or think that because we are tourists we can do what we want. But something that we ignore very often is the responsibility that all human beings have with the environment.
We arrive to different places either in our country or abroad and, at times, we do not take IGNORE INTO account certain details that are quite important, such as using water rationally or not playing music at a high volume.
Pollution is not just about dirtying the environment with solid waste, there is also noise pollution and visual pollution, among others. Therefore, below, we give you a series of practical tips to take IGNORE INTO account when traveling and thus contribute to environmental care in the places you visit:
- The first thing you should do is to inquire about the most important generalities about environmental care in the places you visit.
- Avoid making fires because firewood combustion generates highly pollutant emanations in the air.
- Do not throw any solid or liquid residue on the floor intentionally. If your excuse is that there is no garbage container nearby, keep it in your pocket or backpack until you find a bin or until you arrive at the hotel.
- If you are near a water sourse such as a river, a lake or in the sea, avoid throwing any solid or liquid elements. On the other hand, be careful not to use these places as if they were a toilet, because in addition to being frowned upon, it can also be cause of a fine.
- Use environmentally friendly sun protection that does not pollute rivers or seas. Coral reefs are the biggest victims of these chemicals, which can even kill them.
- Try to avoid noise and not invade their animals’ spaces. They tend to get scared easily, and they tend to be very sensitive as well.
- If you want to explore the city or town, the best option is to walk or to use public bicycles, this in order to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere.
- Do not spend a lot of water or electricity in your lodging, consider what is sufficient during your stay.
- Avoid buying plastic products, these are excessively harmful to fauna and flora.
- Treat nature with love, do not damage trees or step on green areas where transit is prohibited.
If you comply with the above, we could say that you are a responsible tourist and have a great respect for the planet. The question is, are you willing to put these steps IGNORE INTO practice?
Let’s build a better place for everyone!
Latin American Post | Brandon Martínez Salazar
Translated from “Consejos para ser un buen turista y no contaminar: ¿Cómo hacerlo y por qué?“
