Super Rad Organization II...

Hello loyal readers. Awhile back we profiled one of the many organizations (Invisible Children) that we make travel-related donations to for our clients. If you'd like to know more about how this program works, please click here. Today I want to draw attention to another one of our partners near and dear to our hearts: Surfrider Foundation. Like Invisible Children, Surfrider definitely falls into both Jessica and I's self-proclaimed "rad" category. This is an organization that started here in Southern California and has blown up throughout the country as a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide. Basically, Surfrider started as a bunch of surfers just wanting to make sure our beaches and waves are safe, clean and protected. Yes please.

Surfrider spearheads numerous projects, and if you'd like to see many of their recent successes click here, but I want to talk about one in particular today: their Rise Above Plastics Campaign. Now if you're like me, you hear facts about pollution etc all of the time and 99% are forgotten two seconds later. A lot of times I can't adequately understand or put into context the scope of the problem, and hence forget all about it. Jessica and I recently went to a Surfrider chapter meeting and were made aware of one of the most disturbing facts I have ever heard. Here it is (straight from Surfrider's site):

There is a section of the Pacific Ocean twice the size of the continental United States called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Within it, 100 million tons of plastic swirl in a vortex of currents. There is so much plastic in the water that it outnumbers zooplankton by six to one! This plastic ends up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals. In fact, one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die globally each year due to ingestion of or entanglement in plastics.

Twice the size of the U.S.!! I almost fell out of my chair. Worse still, this plastic dump was only the size of Texas four or five years ago. This situation has gone haywire; totally out of control. Surfrider needs help from each of us to help curb the madness. There's currently a member from their team touring with Jack Johnson (who backs Surfrider 100% and wants to get their word out to the masses), trying to educate the public. I was recently at a concert of his where he dedicated a song to Surfrider, and even wore one of their shirts throughout the whole concert (Save Trestles!). We donate a portion of any of our client's vacations that are coastal or onboard a cruise ship to Surfrider. Surfrider has a section of their Web site where you can pledge to help this massive problem with plastics, and get involved today:

- Using reusable bottles for my water and other drinks. By using just one reusable bottle, I will keep 167 single-use plastic bottles from entering the environment.

- Using cloth bags for groceries and other purchases. For each reusable bag I use, I will save approximately 400 plastics from being used.

- Recycling the plastic bags and bottles I already have. For every thirteen plastic bags I don't use, I will save enough petroleum to drive a car one mile. Read more...

Tikal, Guatemala

I just returned from a couple of weeks in Central America (Guatemala and Belize) and will be posting various things in the coming weeks about the trip. I thought I'd start with the Tikal ruins as, for anyone that has been there will know, it was a breathtaking experience.

Tikal is located in the Peten region of Northern Guatemala, deep in the humid jungles of Tikal National Park. My wife and I spent an entire day there with our guide, Hannibal, who was born and raised in a small village bordering the Park. His wealth of knowledge of the area was amazing. As a brief synopsis, Tikal was the capital of the vast Mayan Empire peaking in about 200 AD (the site has been dated as far back as 400 BC in some areas). The Mayans were a highly sophisticated group of the Classic Period with an empire stretching throughout present-day Mexico (Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Yucatán Peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán), and the northern Central American region, including Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras. As to an idea of their size, the Mayan empires in and around Tikal are said to have been populated with over a million and a half people (larger than present-day Barcelona, or San Diego). The Mayans are known for having the only fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, incredible art, monumental architecture rivaling that of the Egyptians, and sophisticated mathematical and astronomical systems. Tikal has thousands of structures, most still buried beneath trees, foliage and 1500 years of jungle growth. Tikal was long known to have existed by locals, but was "discovered" by Ambrosio Tut in 1848 who was roaming the jungles in search of chiclero - or gum, from the local gum tree.

Having spent the day there, I was most impressed with the area known as the Acropolis, and all six temples (I-VI). The six step-pyramids in Tikal are enormous pyramids, some exceeding 200 feet. Many of these pyramids can be climbed; the most memorable being temple five which must be ascended by a small, vertical, wooden ladder over 18 stories high. If you're afraid of heights, there's no chance you should try this. At the top of the pyramid you can see out miles over the jungle canopy and can spot three of the other pyramids peeking above the tree line. The view is unbelievable.

Being the amateur archaeologist that I am, I was most intrigued by the nearly 23 square mile residential area that is yet to be excavated. I'd love to be a part of the team that someday can dive into the ruins and everyday lives of the many that lived in Tikal, and built it's mighty empire.

Finally, I was more than impressed with the extent to which the Guatemalan government has gone to protect and conserve the site. Truly, the Cambodian, Egyptian and Jordanian governments (among others) would serve themselves well to take a page out of the Guatemalans book to do MUCH more to preserve their respective sites. Sure, this site is designated a UNESCO site, but for those of you that read my post on the issue, you know that this does little to no good in my eyes and much more is necessary when it comes to conservation/preservation of these magical ruins. The Guatemalan's have gone further designating the 222 square mile Tikal National Park protected land. In addition, there are adequate signs and safety measures in the Park. The government has gone so far as recording (through two checkpoints at the entrance to Tikal) every driver's speed through the Park leading up to the site to prevent drivers from speeding, and putting the native animals (jaguars included) in jeopardy of being hit. Fantastic stuff. Read more...

Protecting Our Marine Environment

Keeping with our recent eco-statistics posts, I thought I'd present two issues today: Some stats on the damage cruise ships do to our oceans, and some interesting points regarding off-shore drilling. Now, some of you may be scratching your heads as to why I'd present these stats while being in the travel business. It's simple: Both Jessica and I are travelers, want to promote it and take part in it, but we want to do so responsibly. For this reason, we have created a program that reinvests money in eco-friendly, sustainable, and conservation-based non-profits. We give money from every trip to help protect our world. You can read more about this program, here.

Our statistics on cruise ship pollution are well-documented on our Web site here, so please check the link out when you get a chance. To start with offshore drilling, I received an interesting e-mail from a partner of ours (Surfrider Foundation) today regarding offshore drilling. In our quest to lower the price of oil this is a pretty hot topic, and Surfrider pointed out the following:

Regarding calls to restart coastal drilling:

1. Lifting the moratorium will not provide immediate relief from high gas prices.
If the moratorium was lifted it's estimated that it would take about a decade before any oil could even be extracted. And it's safe to assume that drilling might reduce gasoline prices by merely 6-7 cents per gallon. Obviously, this would not have any effect on prices at the pump this summer or anytime in the near future. But it would affect the coastline you love.

2. Drilling for oil offshore threatens the coastal & marine environment, recreation and coastal economies.
Increased spills and industrialization associated with drilling offshore will result in devastating damages for coastal and marine environments for decades - not to mention putting your enjoyment of the beach at risk! Although improved technology may limit the likelihood of catastrophic spills, there are still hundreds of thousands of documented "small" spills in areas heavily used for oil drilling. In one study of a proposed drilling site it was predicted that over the next 40 years there could be up to 870 spills of 2,000 gallons or less - that's over 1 million gallons from just one site.

3. Increasing oil production worsens global warming.
You and I both know that global warming is threatening our planet, our coasts and us. And fossil fuel consumption is a major culprit. It is time to look for alternatives not further our addiction to oil.

Now I'm not sure it's as simple as these points make it out to be, but at a macro level the point is this: Coastal drilling does substantially more harm than good. Drilling does unimaginable harm to our coasts and oceans, and the places we love to visit. As with cruise ships, the solution is not necessarily to just not partake, but rather look for ways to give back and promote legislation that protects these environments. There is a great example of a company working with such legislation for cruise ships called Blue Water Network. They, like us, are seeking to not stop people from taking cruises but to work with governments to pass legislation holding cruise ship companies accountable for how they dispose of their waste. If you'd like to read more about this, please see the following article. Read more...

Eco statistics that make me sad

I am always overwhelmed by some of the environmental statistics I read, especially when it seems like this overwhelming problem will never be solved. However, when statistics are broken down into my daily activities I can actually see where my small effort can really make a difference. So today I thought I would share some interesting eco facts to inspire us all to make small changes:

1. If 10,000 people drink only organic beverages for one week, we'll avert 32 full cocktail shakers of pesticides from pouring into the environment. (Source: Ideal Bite)

2. The US has less than 4% of its forests left and equally devastating is that 80% of the total world's forests are gone. (Source: Bikeroute.com)

3. Recycling 1 ton of paper saves: 17 trees, 2 barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for 6 months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution. (Source: Trash to Cash)

4. The U.S. is 5% of the world's population but uses 25% of its natural resources. (Source: Environmental Protection Agency)

5. If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save: 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 155 million gallons of water. (Source: Seventh Generation Company)

6. Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for 3 hours. (Source: Eco-Cycle)

7. Recycling collection and processing, and manufacturing with recycled materials employed
952,614 people in 2001, and paid $34 billion in wages. (Source: National Recycling Coalition, 2001)

8. The average American home contains more synthetic chemicals today than the average
chemical plant of 100 years ago. (Source: Windstar Foundation)

9. Globally, 58% of coral reefs are imperiled by human activity such as overfishing, sewage runoff, sedimentation, and dredging. (Source: Environmental Defense Fund)

10. Tropical rainforests in the Amazon store 75 billion tons of carbon dioxide in their trees and plants. When the forests are burned, carbon dioxide is released into the air. It has been estimated that 25% of total global CO2 emissions are from the burning of tropical rainforests. (Source: Rainforest Action Group) Read more...

Volunteer Travel - Would you do it?

So, I would like to take a poll. Since I think Chris and I might be the only two people that read this blog, the results might be a little misleading, but regardless, I would like to find out how many people would take a volunteer trip?

For anyone who has not heard of volunteer travel or do not know what it entails, let me break it down for you. Basically, you travel to the country of your choice where you work for a specified amount of time on a volunteer project. The nations and projects are extremely varied so that participants can chose a program which they are passionate about. The participants are required to pay for their flight, accommodation and sometimes food and are (obviously) not paid for their work. In the past, volunteer travel has mostly been regulated to church groups or medical teams, however volunteer travel has become a more mainstream form of travel.

The advantages to volunteer tourism is the unique way of giving back. Many have described the experience as life-altering and extremely rewarding. The only real question would be, would you use a week of your vacation to travel abroad and volunteer? I know that some people would have a hard time with this prospect. Personally, I love the idea and plan on going sometime next year, but not everyone has the flexibility I do.

So would you? Read more...

Do you have helmet hair today?

Happy National Ride your bike to work day! Today is the day where company bike racks are full, people are a little more sweaty than usual and the earth is just a little happier. Since helmet hair is today's fashion statement, here are a few ways to make sure all your co-workers know you rode in today:

1. Just wear your helmet around the office all day and when people ask why, just say it is for their benefit.

2. Ride your bike around the office.

3. As you walk around, use hand signals to tell everyone which way you are turning.

4. What other hairstyle would go with my cool florescent bike shorts?

5. Clip a bell to your pants and if people get in your way, ding it loudly.

6. Purposely walk behind people and tell them you are drafting to preserve strength.

Any of these methods will give people the message that you did your part and rode your bike to work today. Good job!
Read more...

Responsible Travel

Pop quiz: Who has ever traveled with one of the following two people?

The first, is the "once on vacation, I take advantage of everything/everyone person." This is the type of person who may or may not be an otherwise responsible individual in every day life.... Point is, they go to some country not their own and suddenly think it's okay to litter, tramp on priceless archaeological ruins, and/or become some obnoxious shell of themselves. Yep, this is the guy/gal who gives all travelers a bad name; shortening the life of foreign attractions, and giving a sometimes unforgiveable impression of our culture to other cultures abroad. Thanks for nothing.

The second person is the "site conquering, spastic, list person." Yep, you all know this type. This is the person who the second they arrive in a foreign country is operating off of some invisible list, which apparently gives high marks for crossing off as many sites/destinations as possible (in turn, not actually experiencing any of them). This person is the type who having stood for mere seconds in front of the awe-inspiring site before them is trying to rally the group to head off to the next place on their list. Talk about frustrating. The worst part about this type, is they're also the ones that return from a trip and talk about their "amazing experiences" despite the fact that they didn't take a chance to soak any of them up, learn a thing about the cultures in front of them, or take a deep breath before trying to jam another site in before closing time. As an aside, this is also the person that claims to have been to about 40 countries until you find out that 38 of them are just airports on layovers. Same mentality I suppose.

So, I have a few public service announcements to these two travelers:
1. Eating at a McDonald's in another country does not constitue a foreign cuisine.
2. Staying at a Holiday Inn and taking tours in which you never step foot off an air-conditioned bus, does not constitute traveling anywhere, let alone experiencing culture.
3. Embrace different.
4. If you can't in your own country: Throw garbage on the ground, touch pictures in a museum, climb all over priceless artifacts, don't do it abroad either.
5. Checklists are only good for buying groceries. Read more...