BMUN Sustainability Blog

Hi everyone, I’m Rachel Whyte. I’m on the sustainability staff, and am here today to share with you an interesting new trend in world travel, known as eco-tourism. I like to think of Berkeley Model United Nations as not only an amazing MUN conference, but also as a convergence of global thinkers, visionaries and wanderers all in one place. In fact, I bet that between all of our students, faculty members and members, we have traveled to most of the 192 member nations of the UN. So when I heard that we were creating a new World Tourism Committee, I thought that this was probably the most relevant committee to our current lives. For example, while I might not be working for the World Health Organization this summer, I will most definitely be flying to Guatemala to visit my Aunt Maritza.

In honor of my trip and the creation of our new World Tourism Committee, AND in further celebration of BMUN’s going green, I have decided to share with you some ways in which you can make your summer’s travels a little easier on the planet.

Environmentally friendly travel, better known as ecotourism, is defined by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) as, “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people,” and in its purest form, ecotourism should try to minimize the cultural and environmental impact of its operations as much as possible. These operations can come in many forms, ranging from hotels to travel agencies to tours. On a global scale, ecotourism is the fastest growing branch of the tourist industry. Although this may seem as like a great development, some of these new operations are using techniques like green washing to appear ecologically friendly, when in reality they are far from it.

Intrigued? Check out the International Eco-Tourism Society’s Five Easy Steps to eco-friendly travel.

Here is another website I found helpful: The Discovery Channel’s Planet Green travel tips.

And just in case the articles are not cool enough, here’s a quiz! Take it to find out if you are a “green globetrotter…”

Enjoy!

–Rachel