Earth Day: make your trip more sustainable
Every year on 22 April, we rightly take a moment to reflect on Earth Day. Since 1970, and now in more than 190 countries, people have been working together to do something positive for Madre Tierra ( Mother Earth). As travellers, we all want a better future for our planet, whilst at the same time getting to know it better and experiencing its most spectacular places for ourselves. Is it actually possible to combine travel with sustainability? Can I travel without harming nature or having to worry about environmental issues?
At Sapa Pana Travel, we’re convinced it’s possible. We certainly do everything we can to ensure your carbon footprint is as small as possible. Local partners are carefully selected and trained with sustainability in mind, as are hotels and guides. We’re constantly exploring ways to improve our service in this area even further. What can you do yourself? With just a few simple tips, you can make a big difference!
1. Reduce your use of plastic or other items
This may sound like a cliché, but if you pay attention, there’s often a world of difference to be made! Just like in our supermarkets, you can bring reusable bags, a net bag or a small rucksack from home to put your locally bought fruit or souvenirs in. If you’re offered a plastic bag, politely decline it; this will also help raise awareness amongst the local population. We’ll provide you with a Dopper bottle to use during your trip for this very reason. If you’re offered a plastic water bottle locally, you can politely decline that too. If you’d like to go one step further, why not consider buying a water filter? There are water bottles with built-in filters available on the market, which you can fill with tap water at your hotel without any worries.
2. Support the local community
When you book a particular activity through Sapa Pana Travel, we ensure that you are provided with guides who are not only skilled but also fairly paid. This means that, whilst we may not offer you the cheapest option, you can be assured of receiving the services of a high-quality guide who will do their very best for you, partly because they are paid a fair wage. Locally, guides (or other service providers) are sometimes underpaid. If you wish to book an activity whilst you’re there, please ask our local partner where best to purchase this service. They can advise you on this and ensure that no one is exploited.
3. Ask questions about what you buy
If you happen to walk past a little shop full of colourful decorative items that you’d love to put on your bookshelf, do stop and think for a moment whether buying this item is really acceptable. It seems logical that protected animal and plant species should not be taken out of the country, but be aware: products of this nature are sometimes surprisingly easy to come by in these countries. With taxidermied butterflies or snakes, it’s obvious, but it’s not always clear what a product is made of. Consider, for example, figurines made from animal bones, shoes, bags or watch straps made from snake or caiman leather, decorative items made from coral, ornaments made from tortoiseshell, and the like.
4. Reduce your energy and water consumption
It’s precisely when you’re on holiday that you want to treat yourself properly. For example, by having a hot bath, or a relaxing massage followed by a visit to the sauna. Do bear in mind that, as a tourist travelling in developing countries, you sometimes use more water in a single day than a local resident does in a week. It’s something to think about, especially in places where water isn’t always readily available. By taking shorter showers, reusing your towel and avoiding unnecessary use of electricity, you’ll at least be doing your bit.
5. Try eating vegetarian meals more often, even when travelling
It is widely known that meat places a much greater strain on available food resources and land than vegetables do. A clear shift is also evident in Latin America. Although the continent is known for its meat-eaters, as a vegetarian or vegan you’ll certainly find a wide choice of restaurants – yes, even in Argentina. Below, we’ve listed five of our favourite vegetarian restaurants:
- Mexico City, Mexico: Forever Vegano. A household name in Mexico, it features on the list of the world’s best vegetarian restaurants
- Buenos Aires, Argentina: Naturaleza Sabia. Vegetarian food in Argentina: it’s possible! And how – because Naturaleza Sabia serves incredibly rich dishes.
- Santiago de Chile, Chile: El Huerto. Try their vegan burrito, with pineapple and a spicy kick.
- Cuzco, Peru: Greens Organic. Book in advance as the restaurant is particularly popular with both travellers and locals
- Bogotá, Colombia: Casa Leyte, known for its crispy vegetarian pizzas and cosy atmosphere, amongst other things
6. Travel slowly and off the beaten track
We understand that you travel to specific countries to see as many highlights as possible. This is also where you’ll find the largest gatherings of tourists, the most restaurants and fast-food chains tailored to tourist tastes, and a multitude of (cheap) service providers. Why not consider travelling at a slower pace and visiting some of the lesser-known spots too? You might see fewer places, but the benefits are countless. If you stay longer in one place, you’ll get to know the local customs, nature and people better. It is precisely then that you’ll create more vivid memories that will stay with you for longer. If you visit the lesser-known spots, you’ll experience the destination without the presence of hordes of other tourists, and so in a much more authentic way. At the same time, you’ll travel less, and the income from tourism will be spread more evenly across the destinations!
Black Jaguar Foundation
Another tip might be to offset the CO₂ emissions generated by your trip, but fortunately we’ve already taken care of that. The Black Jaguar Foundation is a reforestation project in the Brazilian rainforest. This project is creating a corridor in the Araguaia River basin, partly through the planting and replanting of trees. It covers a total area of over 10 million hectares, with 1 million hectares of forest being regenerated. Since the start of this year, we have been working closely with the Black Jaguar Foundation, including by investing at least 1 per cent of our annual turnover. In this way, we hope to make a positive contribution and give something back to the planet.
Find out more about the Black Jaguar Foundation
Would you like more information?
You can find more information about sustainable travel here. Do you have any specific questions? We’d be happy to provide further details over the phone about the initiatives being undertaken locally – please feel free to call +31 73 610 62 04, or send an email to info@sapapanatravel.nl.