I often inspire objection in other eco-folk because, along with the blogging, magazine articles and books I write guiding people through treading more lightly on the planet, I also write a column on..well…on treading on the planet. As in traveling.
It was an accidental career. Though I loved to travel in my youth, my lack of disposable income largely kept me homebound. I did manage to wangle my way into a university in France for a half-year, followed by a solo stint of backpacking around Europe, a sort of rite-of-passage for any self-respecting 20-something grad in the 80s. And I saved up my paltry pay as an editorial assistant to finance a three-week trip to Thailand shortly after, satisfying my wanderlust for a few years anyway.
Then I got married. And had a child. Then another. And another. And if I was able to travel to my local grocery store without incident, I considered it a holiday.
But a funny thing happened on my way to sustainable living. I got offered a job as a travel writer. Not just any travel writing, but sustainable travel writing. Now there are those who argue vehemently and often persuasively that there is no such thing as sustainable travel. And I don’t entirely disagree.
However, I’m such a firm believer in the power of travel – to change perceptions, to alter the trajectory of our lives, to contribute in ways large and small to making this world a better, kinder place – that I took the job. And I continue to write about travel. As often as possible, I include my children. I’m currently in Georgia with them, on a 10,000-acre island called Little St. Simon’s, which has an overnight guest maximum of 30. Thirty people on 10,000 acres barely registers on the eco-system. What’s more, the company is committed to keeping the island as pristine as possible – allowing it to evolve naturally.
The result? My kids and I spotted alligators in their natural habitat – from behind a wooden board with holes cut into it. We saw an oystercatcher incubator, which the staff naturalists are using to help the bird population grow again as Georgia’s oystercatchers have been decimated in recent years. Staff place “dummy” eggs in the bird nests, remove the real eggs to the incubator, then – just before hatching – return the eggs to the nest. The proud parents figuratively pat themselves on the back and eggs that would have perished, release healthy chicks.
The island’s organic gardener grows much of the food eaten in the kitchen.
The seven-mile beach bears few footprints, unless you count those of the countless crabs.
It’s a magical place – and one that encourages a connection or reconnection with the natural world. There is no television. No radio. Just the sounds of songbirds. The sight of a yellow rat snake winding it’s six-foot length around a tree in search of eggs. The rustle of an armadillo in the brush.
My children have gained an appreciation of the natural world and a genuine awe for its diversity, beauty…and fragility. They’ve learned that we humans have spectacular differences but are all pretty much the same once you look past the costumes and the ceremony – and regardless of race, religion, socio-economic status. I’m convinced they’re truly children of the world – who recognize that what happens across the planet matters to them.
So yes, I travel. And I encourage others to do the same. Respectfully. Responsibly. And, yes, sustainably.
Leslie Garrett is a national award-winning journalist, author and editor, based near Toronto, Canada. She is the author of The Virtuous Consumer: Your Essential Shopping Guide for a Better, Kinder, Healthier World and she has also written a dozen children’s books, including a biography of renowned environmentalist David Suzuki and “EarthSmart”, a book for young children on protecting the environment.
Visit: http://www.virtuousconsumer.com/
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