UNWTO Sustainable Goals & Sustainable Development

Both the Gringo Trails and Vendemia had a long-lasting impact on the way I viewed traveling. Before watching the movies, I was aware that tourism doesn’t always have a positive impact on some travel destinations, but I was unaware of the extent it disturbed the local economy, ecosystem, culture, or even a combination of the three. There have been many times where I’ve been away on vacation and wondered how these destinations handled the increased trash and littering, such as big spring break destinations. Personally, I don’t know if I’ve ever contributed to some of the problems showcased in the movies, such as littering on the beaches and disturbing wildlife. Moving forward, I plan to be extra cautious to be sure not to support businesses that don’t have the best interest of the community in mind and be certain to do my best to make sure I leave wherever I am as clean, if not cleaner, than when I was there.

Reading through the list of “things you can do from your couch” is something I think everyone should take a moment to read. Simple things like energy conservation and waste reduction are huge impacts we could make on the world if everyone made a conscious effort to do so. I personally realized a little while back how much paper waste I introduce by printing study guides and materials I may only look at once or twice. To combat this, I went out and bought an iPad. Even though it wasn’t cheap, I’ve been using that for the past year to review sheets such as study guides, syllabuses, notes, and other documents that I don’t need to print. I liked having assignment rubrics next to me while I type them up so I now keep my iPad next to me. Even though it uses energy, it’s a far less impact than the amount of paper I was using up. Same with electricity conservation. All of my electronics now have large battery lives or are energy star certified. I’ve also slowly been adopting smart home electronics to help cut down on consumption. Tools such as the nest to set cycles of heat when they’re needed and to have it turned down or off when it’s not. I use smart bulbs that use less energy and can be controlled to avoid having lights left on. Small steps to solve a bigger problem.