Green by Design

Green by design is a site dedicated to sustainability. It contains ‘guides’ about the design of water heaters, filters, insulation, linens, paints and ecotourism. Interestingly, there are also a series of blogs which examine ‘products’ in our modern environment in order to determine whether they are really ‘green’.

Ecotourism is the latest attraction to those who want to have a minimal impact on the environment. I think the point Hubert Den Draak raises in his blog is incredibly valid.

We’d all like ecotourism to be popular, but if this means more tourists’ visiting more fragile environments, it also means they will adversely affect the local ecology simply on account of the sheer impress of numbers. Ecotourism does not work when it gets so popular it destroys the very environment it seeks to protect. An interesting paradox…

So how are we to become eco-friendly in our travels? Hubert Den Draak describes how he defines ecotourism below.

- Minimal negative impact (of any kind).
- Positive experience for both visitor and host.
- Direct financial benefits for conservation and the local people.
- Sensitivity to the host’s political, social and environmental situation

It’s all about minimising the impact man has on the environment. But like in some of my other blogs the issue of environment vs economy seems to come up. In order for ecotourism to prosper as business it needs tourists. And the more tourists, the more money it makes. But when does ecotourism become standard tourism?

I think that as soon as a profit mentality is developed, the environment suffers. In order for the ecotourism industry to survive the focus must be on ecology, and not purely on tourism…