Responsible Tourism

Fortunately for us, we can now venture to the most remote corners of the earth for a holiday. Unfortunately for them, we tend to leave behind a bit more than we should.

Responsible tourism is a phrase that is heard more and more in the world today. With eco-friendly systems being introduced on a daily basis at home, far more of us are thinking of the environmental impact we make whilst visiting abroad.

Recycling abroad

Whilst holidaying in hotter climates we obviously drink more, and convenience, along with a lack of trust in the tap water in many countries means we buy bottled water whilst we are there. That's more plastic bottles being made, bought, used and inevitably dumped by tourists, day in and day out, in countries that do not have the waste infrastructure for such abuse, let alone an efficient recycling scheme.

Environmental Issues

Unfortunately little thought is often given to recycling aboard and the toxic damage created by our waste, especially PET bottles, that cause major environmental issues when dumped in landfill sites.

Landfill Sites

Even in the UK, our recycling scheme is not as effecient as we would like. A disturbing amount of waste is not recycled in the first place, and of that which a large portion is exported to countries like China because we do not have the facilities or manpower to process it. Where is the logic in that? The pollution caused and costs involved in shipping it to China will cause enough damage to the ozone as it is, what is worse is that there is no way of knowing what actually happens to our recycled waste once it gets to China.

If that happens here, where there is a conscious eco-friendly push towards being green, what happens to the waste we create in other countries?

Holiday Figures

Lets look at the math for a moment:

A family of four takes the holiday of a lifetime to a sunny destination.

If each family member drinks 2 litres a day (government advised) then they will each use and discard 4 500ml plastic bottles each and every day.

That means that the whole family will use 224 bottles during a two-week holiday.

Dehydration

And that figure is a minimum, when you factor in the dehydrating effects of a hotter climate, a more adventurous outlook and, dare I say it, an increase in alcohol consumption that figure could easily double, which results in yet more PET bottles ending up in landfill sites.

Plastic Bottles

When we start imagining how many families are travelling abroad then it's easy to see why there is such a problem. Maybe the most sickening thing of all is that these bottles will not biodegrade for hundreds of years meaning that problems like this are just going to get worse.

Save Our Countryside

This concept of responsible tourism is not only relevant whilst travelling in other countries. We should not really be addressing the problem of 'How should we dispose of our waste?' We should really be looking at not producing the waste in the first place.

Aquapure Traveller

With the Aquapure Traveller you can negate the need to buy bottled water by purifying local tap water or even get water from a stream or pond. Our unique filtration technology removes bacteria, viruses, pathogens, chemicals, odours, tastes & sediment to mention just a few. Have a look at our Filtration Technology pages to read more.

So now you don't have to buy hundreds of bottles, you can buy just one and bring it home with you. Thus we all have a great holiday and, like all responsible tourists, we leave no trace.