U.S. – Mexico to create peace park along border?

by Kraig Becker on

The U.S. and Mexico have announced plans to move ahead with the creation of a peace park along their shared border. Presidents Obama and Calderon met last month to sign an agreement that would protect the wild and untamed wilderness along both sides of the border near Big Bend National Park in West Texas, although concerns about security along that border do remain.

Big Bend has been a bit of a hidden gem in the U.S. national park system almost since it was established back in 1944. Located in a remote region of Texas, it attracts an average of just 300,000 visitors per year. That makes for a rather uncrowded experience considering its size, which is in excess of 1250 square miles. The park has miles of hiking and backpacking trail, and falls along the Rio Grande River, which offers up excellent rafting at certain times of the year. The park is an interesting combination of both harsh deserts and rugged mountains, and is home to a wide variety of wildlife including mountain lions, black bears, coyotes, golden eagles, and more.

Reportedly the wilderness on the Mexican side of the border is even more untamed and seldom visited by travelers, with herds of Big Horn sheep and even more bears roaming the area. That region is currently mostly unprotected however and the creation of the international peace park would change that, making both sides of the border an ecological refuge.

There are challenges to overcome to make the park a reality however. Opponents to the idea say that it will create security issues and could allow illegal immigrants and drug traffickers better access to the border. Supports of the plan point to the the Glacier-Waterton park which falls along the U.S.-Canadian border, as a model of success for this type of park. Of course, there aren’t a lot of Canadians trying to sneak into the States either.

For now, the plan is just a very basic idea, and the details on how the park will be organized and operated, remain to be worked out. But if, and when, it is completed, the park will be a new and amazing destination for adventure travelers looking to visit one of the lesser known and untrammeled regions in all of North America.

[Photo credit: Eleutherosmartin via WikiCommons]

Win a Seacology Expedition with Trazzler!

by Stephen Greenwood on

Did the latest episode of Travel Talk inspire you to dive with whales? Love to travel and learn about the environment at the same time? Then break out your typewriter, because Trazzler has great opportunity for you!

Trazzler is partnering up with Seacology, an award-winning eco-friendly charity, to offer two contestants a 10-day trip on the South Pacific island of Tonga. The winners will voyage aboard one of the world’s top dive and snorkel boats, the NAI’A – in one of the few locations in the world where humans can swim with humpback whales.

So what do you need to do in order to win this trip of a lifetime? In less than 160 words, share an experience that highlights ‘smart travel’. As travelers, we have the opportunity to do good and go deeper; to volunteer, get embedded in local culture, pursue environmentally friendly modes of travel or lodging, or promote economic growth in developing regions. This is smart travel, and Trazzler wants to hear your smart travel stories.

There’s no official deadline; the contest will be over when the community reaches milestones that are measured by sharing, number of participants, and new facebook / twitter followers. Check out the official contest rules for complete information!

Photo courtesy of Seacology

The charitable side of social media: When your travels can make a difference

by Melanie Nayer on

There’s been a lot of discussion about the benefits of social media in the e-commerce marketplace. What’s the return on investment? Who is really listening? How can it really help? The answers aren’t always obvious, but over time they become clear. In the travel industry alone, more hotels and airlines have taken to Twitter and Facebook to communicate with their guests, engage their consumers and announce specials and promos that help drive business and repeat customers. But, it’s the charitable efforts that really drive home the emotion on social media sites. After all, there’s more to travel than fancy flights…

Trending topics on Twitter are a popular way to engage with others and start conversations, but when those ‘chats’ turn charitable, everyone wins. Enter: Tasty TwEats.

The first and only cookbook created by travelers and conceived from #TNI (Travelers Night In, a weekly Thursday travel conversation on Twitter at 3:30 EDT), Tasty TwEats is a mash-up of all the best food and recipes from around the world, as tried and tested by those who’ve traveled far on an empty stomach.

The best part? All the proceeds of Tasty TwEats go to charity. You can submit your favorite recipe with a donation, or sponsor a page of the book for a minimum donation of $25. All proceeds of Tasty TwEats goes directly to Planeterra, a global grassroots organization that matches your donations 100 percent. You can choose how your donation is used, either by selecting a specific project or submitting to a non-profit with the greatest need. (All submissions are completely voluntary and no money is exchanged between writers.)

This is the do-good side of social media, and where your travels and recipes can make a difference. For more information click here. And of course, don’t forget to follow @Gadling on Twitter and join the #TNI conversations every Thursday at 3:30 p.m. EST.

Ritz-Carlton to put environmentally-friendly water bottles in hotel rooms

by Melanie Nayer on

There’s a human element to hotels that often goes unnoticed by its guests. Beyond the check-in desk and past the steel “Staff Only” doors are employees with real feelings and concerns about the communities in which they live, and those emotions are apparent in the social efforts made both inside and outside the hotel. From clean-up programs to rescue efforts, hotels have consistently offered ways their staff and guests can give back. Simply put: I love when good brands do good deeds.

The Ritz-Carlton announced today it will offer environmentally-friendly water bottles at its North American hotels and select properties in the Caribbean. This news comes at a time when many travelers are seeking information on the oil spill clean-up efforts, and is another example of how the hospitality industry is working hard to help build social awareness around our top environmental issues.

According to a statement from the hotel, an estimated 5 million, 16oz-plastic water bottles are used every year at Ritz-Carlton properties. Armed with this information, Simon F. Cooper, president and chief operating officer of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, challenged his team to find a more environmentally-friendly solution.”Four years ago I realized that we were sending 10 million plastic bottles to landfills in North America, and we have been working with suppliers ever since to change that,” Mr. Cooper told me.

Fast forward to today, and guests at Ritz-Carlton’s North American hotels and select properties in the Caribbean will now drink from a 16oz all-natural water bottle made entirely from plants. The co-branded water bottle, part of a new partnership between The Ritz-Carlton and Prima, can decompose in 30 days in a commercial composting facility, or can be reprocessed and remade 100 percent into new bottles.

Manufacturing the new bottle requires 49 percent less fossil fuels, 45 percent less energy, and 75 percent less greenhouse gases than a classic plastic water bottle. The renewable Prima water bottle is made from Ingeo, a performance plastic comprised of 100 percent renewable resources.

“Plastic bottles are made from crude oil, take a significant amount of energy to produce, and less than 20 percent are sent to recycling facilities. Even when recycled, these bottles cannot be used to make the same quality of plastic,” Cooper said.

Earlier this year, Marriott International (which includes The Ritz-Carlton Hotel brands) announced the launch of a water conservation project in China. The new Prima water is expected to transition to all North American and select Caribbean properties within the next few weeks.

From the shores of Louisiana: The Louisiana Environmental Action Network

by Jon Bowermaster on

When Marylee Orr started what has become Louisiana’s most effective environmental organization she thought it would be a six-month commitment. “I realized how dirty our air and water were at that time and felt it was my civic duty to try and raise awareness of the problems. But I didn’t realize that it would become my life.” That was twenty-four years ago.

I’ve known Marylee for the past 15 years; we worked together initially on stories about how the big petrochemical plants lining the Mississippi were poisoning local aquifers … and not telling anyone once they learned. Standing in her Baton Rouge driveway two weeks into the spill she rests her arm on a 35-foot-long rowboat that was delivered to her last summer, rowed the length of the Mississippi from its source in Minnesota. Among the many hats she wears as executive director of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, she is also the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, part of the international Waterkeeper Alliance. The rowboat was gifted to her as a way for her local team to get out onto the river they help protect.

But since the Gulf oil spill, she’s been far too busy to do anything but man the telephones, 12, 13 hours a day. “We are all suffering from disaster fatigue,” she admits, “from sleeping just four and five hours a night for weeks now.

“We are responding just as we did after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Documenting everything that’s going on, trying to keep people informed, especially our fishermen. Being a conduit for information, like about what’s going on with the dispersants that BP is putting in the water and claiming are not harmful. We went to court on a Sunday to force BP to forego the contracts they were trying to get the fishermen who were going to help with the cleanup to sign. They basically said if they got hurt their own insurance would have to cover them, that BP wouldn’t cover their boats if they were damaged and that they wouldn’t be able to speak about what was happening out there, essentially giving away all their rights. We got that stopped in with a lawsuit.

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“But we are also working on getting food to the fishermen because many of them are not going to be making any money for awhile and will have lots of needs.”

“You have to understand that the fishing communities love the sea like they love a child. Part of our duty is to make sure whatever they are doing to try and help save and protect that ‘child’ is safe and fair for them.”

I ask what she considers the worst-case scenario. She doesn’t have to think long: “That this way of life, that these Gulf Coast communities may not exist anymore, that this life as we know it … is finished.

“My own sons, who are now young men, are really concerned about their own future. I mean, Is Baton Rouge going to be lakefront property in their lifetimes? Is the seafood going to be healthy? Are there even going to be any fishermen left in Louisiana? We smile, but it is a little bit like whistling through a graveyard here. If you don’t have a little sense of humor, you’re never going to survive. “