United Nations takes a stab at eco-friendly travel with Green Passport campaign

by Anna Brones on

With 900 million international travelers in 2007 alone, the strain of tourism on the environment is becoming more and more apparent. Travel has such an impact on the global climate that the United Nations launched its Green Passport campaign this past weekend at the Berlin Tourism fair. Intended to inform travelers on how to consciously plan and execute their holidays in the greenest way possible, Green Passport is the UN’s attempt at raising tourists’ awareness of how they can positively affect sustainable development through their travel choices.

Launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the internet-based campaign, available in English, French and Portuguese, will hopefully offset the effects that the growing industry has on the global environment. “By browsing the Green Passport web site consumers will be able to find practical tips to help them reduce their environmental and social footprint while they are on vacations. Tourists will discover that traveling green is not as hard as they imagined,” said Stefanos Fotiou, head of UNEP’s tourism unit.

The Green Passport website is designed to look fun and user-friendly, and you can even submit your own green travel tips. Browsing through the website it’s easy to see the UNEP did their travel homework, they have links to popular sites like Seat61 — the train traveler’s bible. But Green Passport isn’t just about greening your travel transportation, a large part of the program is focused on traveling responsibly. In other words, educating yourself about your destination and culture before going and while there, respecting the local population and customs.

My favorite quote from the online passport however, has to be this one: “And remember, when appropriate, balloons, horses, donkeys, sailboats and dog sleds are also transport solutions.” Never doubt the UN’s sense of humor.

Australians worst at preserving wildlife

by Iva Skoch on

These statistics are pretty surprising, especially if you consider how much Australians love their animals.

Of all the mammal species that have become extinct in the past 200 years, nearly half are Australian, reports The New Zealand Herald. Since the British arrived, 27 mammals (about 10 percent of the total) have disappeared. Australians apparently have have the worst record on the planet for conserving their wildlife.

There seem to be several different reasons for this: land clearing, with the resulting habitat destruction, and a change in fire regimes – from the patchy, selective burnings carried out by Aborigines to today’s devastating bushfires. By far the worst harm has been done by the introduction of exotic predators, especially feral cats and foxes. Their impact has been compounded by the culling of dingoes, which otherwise keeps the cat and fox population down. Dingoes, however, have been virtually eliminated in sheep-raising areas.

Species already lost include: the lesser bilby, a delicate marsupial that burrowed in desert sand dunes and the pig-footed bandicoot, which looked like a miniature horse.

Obesity in Australia now requires larger ambulances

by Grant Martin on

Any health professional will tell you about the epidemic of obesity that is sweeping the country. With over thirty percent of the populous in this category, health care costs are skyrocketing, diabetes is becoming more common and the situation is spiraling out of control.

Apparently we’re not the only country with these problems. The crisis in Australia has gotten so out of hand that they had to start ordering “mega-lift” ambulances to accommodate patients. Apparently, the occurrence of passengers too large to fit inside of the vehicles became so common that they had no choice but to get larger units. Each mega-lift ambulance is fitted with reinforced stretchers, special wheelchairs and wider cabins, all at three times the cost of a regular vehicle.

Looking through the statistical data on obesity around the world, I was surprised at the percentages of Australians in this category. This year, over half of the adult population in the country is classified as obese, a staggering 7.4 million individuals.

I wonder when the airlines will catch on and start making wider seats?

Forget flying around Europe. Take the train

by Iva Skoch on

For the eco-sensitive traveler, there is no excuse now for not taking the more environmentally friendly route through Europe, writes The Independent, among others. Rail companies are starting to advertise to the eco-conscious traveler as well. Who knew they cared so much about the environment, wink wink.

The truth is, Europe has been pumping a lot of money into upgrading its railways and encouraging people to take the train, rather than flying, especially if traveling only a short distance. With the budget airlines making it affordable, it is not uncommon for Europeans to fly from place to place even if it is only as little as 150 miles away because it is cheaper than taking the train.

Some of these new upgrades, however, might really make it better to take the train:

  • High-speed link between Madrid and Barcelona now only takes 2 and a half hours
  • The new east-west, Paris-toward the Rhine TGV route cruises at over 200mph and offers WI-Fi from Paris-Frankfurt
  • The new Lotschberg Base Tunnel through the Alps cuts an hour off the time of Basel-Milan trains

More upgrades, such as the long awaited Moscow-St. Petersburg fast train should be done next year.

American Airlines flight crosses the Atlantic with five passengers aboard

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Environmental activists are outraged by a recent American Airlines flight from Chicago to London which only carried five passengers. The aircraft, a massive Boeing 777, used approximately 22,000 gallons of fuel, or 4,400 gallons per passenger. The five people on board were all upgraded to business class and waited on by two flight attendants, in what was surely the most comfortable flight of their lives.

Despite the criticism from environmental groups, American Airlines is defending its decision to go ahead with the nearly empty flight. According to a spokesperson, hundreds of people were waiting in London for the flight to land so that they could leave for the US.

“With such a small passenger load we did consider whether we could cancel the flight and re-accommodate the five remaining passengers on other flights,” said the spokesperson. “However, this would have left a plane load of west-bound passengers stranded in London Heathrow who were due to fly to the U.S. on the same aircraft.”

The airline did note that, despite the scarcity of passengers, the plane did carry a full load of cargo. No word on whether it, too, was moved to first class.