When development starts taking on the “more is better” mantra, some communities opt to take a breather, declaring a moratorium on development until county and municipalities can get a handle on what its residents want and what the environment can handle. That’s exactly what almost happened in 1996 in Wisconsin’s Door County, one of the most scenic and alluring places in the state with over 300 miles of scenic shoreline.  The then Door County Chamber of Commerce called for a development moratorium for all townships (except the City of Sturgeon Bay) in Door County until careful study was made as to exactly how new large-scale construction development would impact the quality of life for all those who reside in the county.  Surprisingly, it never gained traction, and the initiative died.

Yet years later, on a recent trip with my family and friends, we savored an authentic “fish boil” prepared with white fish caught just off the tip of the peninsula, hiked in one of the many state parks, sampled plenty of Door County’s famous cherry juice and pie, and meandered through postcard perfect small towns with names like Fish Creek, Sister Bay and Baileys Harbor.  As a credit to its natural beauty and cultural richness, the county was among the original pilot communities for Travel Green Wisconsin, having earned somewhat of a reputation for being green before green was the thing to be.

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Given the bears in the area, my son and I had quite the adventure: he made a “bear stick” to defend ourselves on the rare chance we might encounter one. After dinner, we wandered down to Overlook Park, featuring the River Spirit sculpture, before continuing along the riverfront on yet another trail to the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway Visitors Center – spotting a bald eagle soaring overhead along the way.  Ecopreneurial enterprises filled up many of the storefronts we peaked into downtown.

Getting around town without touching a car is completely possible in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, rightfully earning its moniker, “the city of trails.” While some places aspire to be something they’re clearly not, nor ever have been, St. Croix Falls is a place that features what they have in abundance: their network of walking, jogging, biking and hiking trails – and nature.

In St. Croix Falls’ historic downtown area, you can park the car and spend the rest of the time on foot or bike as you discover a segment of the 1,000-mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail or the more than 10 miles of hiking trails in the Interstate State Park. Thanks to the spectacular St. Croix River, stunning coulees and “dalles” (ancient rock outcroppings), the community has emerged from its extractive history as a logging town and fur trading post to one of the premier places in the Midwest for the enjoyment of the outdoors, on foot, bike or in a kayak on the river.

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I’m coming to the conclusion pretty fast that just about every hotel will eventually be walking the talk when it comes to going green – though some are walking slowly while others are galloping as if there isn’t a minute to waste. While ecotourism continues to grow internationally, more American companies are grasping that going green can save some green too, which is also a point I make in ECOpreneuring.

A recent trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin (to enter a few food items in our Wisconsin State Fair) found my family and I bedding down at the Hotel Metro, a boutique, high-rise luxury 63 room hotel that features numerous green aspects, from energy efficient lighting to a rooftop hot tub spa kept clean by using a salt-water system, rather than chlorine. Metro Hotel is the first Milwaukee hotel to be certified by Travel Green Wisconsin, racking up 67 points in total.

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Current laws in Thailand make it easy for live elephants - including infant elephants stolen from their mothers in the wild - to be traded unscrupulously for “entertainment” purposes.

For many people, thoughts of Thailand conjure up romantic notions of being transported to various tourist attractions on the back of an elephant. But tragically, many of the captive elephants used for the Thai tourist trade, and as zoo and circus exports, are the victims of an insidious, illegal market that threatens the survival of endangered Asian elephants, and is responsible for widespread exploitation and abuse of these intelligent and sensitive mammals.

Thankfully, a recent report published by TRAFFIC Southeast Asia exposes the loopholes and reporting inaccuracies that have been providing a smokescreen for Thailand’s illegal trade in endangered, wild-caught Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

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But not the Green Earth Agri Card Keys made by USFI GreenWorks. It’s made of a durable, but completely biodegradable corn-based (or plant based) plastic, providing the same appearance and performance, but without the chemicals and waste. The product does, however, require industrial composting and not the backyard variety. Printing on the cards employs soy-based inks. The card is meant to be reusable, not to just be thrown away after one use. However, truth be told, millions of hotel card keys never find their way back to the front desk for reprogramming.  According to some in the industry, fewer than fifty percent are returned.  Some key cards get worn out and have to be replaced.

As I write about in ECOpreneuring, green businesses do not want to do less harm to the environment. They want to create products or services and operate in ways that make the world a better place. In much the same way as T.S. Designs re-invented the concept of printing on t-shirts using a completely ecologically safe process, USFI GreenWorks reinvented the form the cards take by creating the cards using plant-based plastics.  To the extend we can, we need to support these companies and push them to continue to innovate.

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Photo-hungry tourists are killing Croatia’s Eurasian Griffon Vultures by rousing them from nests perched on vertical cliffs.

On the Croatian islands of Cres, Krk, Plavnik and Prvić, protected Eurasian Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) nest just above the sea on vertical cliffs. Tourists flock to the area in boats, and upon reaching the areas below the nests, they clap and shout in order to startle the birds into taking flight - hoping to photograph these majestic raptors.

Tragically, many of the birds are young and do not yet know how to fly. Once they are frightened from their nests, they fall into the water and drown.

The Croatian Times reported that five vultures have been killed so far this year, and another five are under the care of Eco-Center Caput Insulae-Beli (ECCIB), a non-profit and non-governmental organization established to protect the natural and cultural-historical heritage on the Croatian Island of Cres.

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Melaka’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has shocked WWF-Malaysia by announcing that Pulau Upeh - the hawksbill turtle’s primary nesting beach in Peninsular Malaysia - is to be developed. Will this be another Rantau Abang disaster?

A WWF-Malaysia release has stated that despite Pulau Upeh’s role as the primary nesting beach for endangered hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), Melaka’s Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has decided to develop the beach. This significant area provides 20% of Peninsular Malaysia’s nesting sites.

It is a slap in the face to conservationists, especially since it was just last month WWF-Malaysia met with the Chief Minister regarding the “crucial importance of Pulau Upeh and other prime nesting beaches for the hawksbill turtles.” In addition to legal protection of all turtle nesting sites, WWF-Malaysia emphasized that only “low-impact turtle-based ecotourism is feasible.”

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Isalo National Park, Madagascar (photo: Bernard Gagnon)

160 million years ago, what is now called Madagascar–the world’s fourth largest island–broke free from its parent continent (Africa), allowing evolution to do some of its most creative work.

The Island, located just off the Southeast coast of Africa and roughly the size of California, is home to an amazing array of life-forms found no where else: bats (with suction cup “elbows”), the Silky Sifaka lemur (an ancient line of primate relatives), dozens of “new” species of scorpions and spiders, and an estimated 200 - 400 new species of frog (most of which have yet to be named). There are also numerous, unique species of plants. An estimated 80% of these new species (especially the frogs) exist only in protected areas of Madagascar’s remaining rain forests.

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You could say that Ecovolunteer is a travel agent. But the trips we organize are not your average holidays. They bring you to places that are not accessible to tourists. Where you get the possibility to protect nature and its inhabitants.

A friend told me that she was planning an eco-vacation, so I did a little research on the subject. As it turns on, a lot of eco-tourism is more about the tourism and less about the “eco.” Then, there are companies like Ecovolunteer.

You aren’t going to relax on your “vacation” though this company. Instead, think if it like a missioin trip. You can search for options by location or by species that interests you most. You apply for the trip, rather than just booking it, and although costs are fairly low, you won’t be sipping mojitos on the beach at any of these locations.

It’s a once in a lifetime experience, though. If you can afford it, consider travel that saves the earth, not just travel that looks at the natural environment and comments on how pretty it is! To learn more, check out the Ecovolunteer website.

Picture via sxc.hu

Are you already greening up your life? Ready to take some green challenges for a chance to win an ecotourism adventure? The rules are pretty easy, and you might end up with a $5000 ecotourism package for 2.

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Tourism is the world’s largest and most promising industry. The concept of ‘eco-tourism’ is perhaps the most abused, little understood and least explored. Going to the mountains or a National Park and all other forms of natural tourism are often, though not always, marketed as ‘eco-tours’. While Ecotourism can be distinguished from nature tourism by its emphasis on conservation, education, traveler responsibility and active community participation, there is a severe paucity of efforts and attempts in the right direction for conducting such eco-tours.

Now, a youth led organization and an urban think tank in Delhi, India has taken to itself to research and explore ‘urban ecotourism’ as a means to connect the citizens back to their city, and raise awareness about the ‘nature in the city’. Underlying to this initiative is also the understanding that for the first time in human history, a majority of people live in cities or towns and that cities are the future of the world!

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Based in England, Eco Hotels of the World searches the globe for leading examples of hotels that appeal to the eco-adventurer in us all.  Who doesn’t want to bivouac in style on the Dark Continent with elephants passing near by at a safe distance — and where the money paid to the hotel helps conserve the habitat, support the local community, and protect the elephants?  There’s a dizzying range of size, scope and degree of comforts and amenities for hotels included in Eco Hotels of the World, so you’re not just getting a listing of the ultra-swank-eco-hotels that will break your bank (even if some of the funds do, in fact, go to helping preserve the environment or benefits the local community).  It’s all about choice with a conscience, and Eco Hotels of the World is a great place to plan your green getaway.

The 131 hotels now featured in Eco Hotels of the World have been personally selected by the website’s editors to ensure that they meet the standards required to be considered an eco-friendly hotel, including stewardship of the natural environment, ecological sustainability, proven contribution to conservation, provision of environmental training programs, incorporation of cultural considerations and provision of an economic return to the local community.   A departure from most other eco-hotel review processes, hotels cannot pay for inclusion in the listing, nor does Eco Hotels of the World accept commissions on bookings in order to remain independent and objective.

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Tucked in forest, perched alongside coastal sand dunes and a brief stroll from the California surf in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula rests the Asilomar Conference Grounds.  It’s owned by the people of California as a California State Park, but the conference facilities and lodging is managed by Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts, the same company that manages other accommodations in some spectacular environs including the Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks.

You don’t need to be a conference-goer to experience the grounds or even bed down in the rustic, immaculately clean, and camp-like accommodations.  Besides being a conference hot spot, ecotravelers can stay as leisure guests.  Many also come to Asilomar to celebrate their wedding, share a family reunion or host a corporate retreat — especially if they’re trying to do it more green.

Upon arriving with my family, two Black-tailed deer greeted us just before we passed between Asilomar’s welcoming stone columns at the entrance.  The hub of Asilomar Conference Grounds — which includes 313 secluded guest rooms housed in a unique collection of historic cabins and lodges, many with fireplaces, balconies or private decks — is their Social Hall, with outdoor seating, wireless access, board games and ping pong.  During our stay, a complimentary Jazz ensemble in the Social Hall provided a relaxing way to wind down the day.  The spacious guest rooms are designed for the tranquil enjoyment of nature, so TVs, radios and telephones are refreshingly absent.

Rightly deserving its “refuge by the sea” namesake, the 107-acre Asilomar Conference Grounds both inspires our appreciation of nature and is inspired by it. The grounds got its start in 1928 as a Young Women’s Christian Association (YMCA) camp, created, built and funded by women.  California’s first registered female architect, Julia Morgan, designed the buildings on the grounds in the Arts and Craft style which embraced harmony, community and natural beauty.  Every building has a face to the ocean.  I found every door opened to the outdoors (try that at your typical convention center).

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In order to capitalize on the up-and-coming ecotourism business, Bonaire agreed to the installation of a 11MW wind farm, 14MW biodiesel plant and a 3.5MW backup battery in 2007 with the end goal of completely unyoking itself from fossil fuel dependence.  Spearheading this project are Ecopower Bonaire BV, a consortium of Dutch-German companies, Evelop, Enercon, and the local Bonaire water and energy company. 

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“I started to see two Americas: the mythic America and the real America. There was a harsh reality to America as well as the dream. I wanted to describe this era of prosperity and Savings and Loans scandals as a spiritual drought. I started thinking about the desert.” - Bono, from the rock band, U2

There’s “a place, high on a desert plain, where the streets have no name,” a place marked by bizarre rock outcroppings and the almost magical forests of the crooked and spiky Joshua trees — a metaphor U2 adeptly used for America’s prosperity and greed of the 80s, as relevant then, as it is today. In December of 1986, the four members of U2 and photographer Anton Corbijn captured the rocky and mountainous terrain and a lonely Joshua tree, summoning us with their The Joshua Tree to call upon our inner spirit to come together for peace, harmony, and love.

Here we are today, more than twenty years later, where such a commitment for change is never more needed. Perhaps a little time in the desert might clear my mind, settle my soul, I thought. Perhaps I can muster the strength we need to move toward a more sustainable and just tomorrow. Located 140 miles east of Los Angeles and just north of Palm Springs and west of Death Valley, the 792,726-acre Joshua Tree National Park provides an escape from urban pressures, a place to experience solitude and wilderness, to reconnect with our hopes and dreams.

The photogenic Joshua trees are neither tree nor cactus; they’re a giant version of a species of yucca, belonging to the lily family, many living for hundreds of years.  Unfortunately, if the U.S. Geological Survey scientists are correct in their modeling, the Joshua trees may not be around in fifty to a hundred years from now thanks to climate change altering the fragile desert ecosystem, average temperatures, and precipitation patterns. The trees they need cool winters and freezing temperatures in order to produce flowers, release their seeds, and reproduce.

To experience the park, my family and I meandered but a few of the 191 miles of hiking trails for our own spiritual walkabout roughly the same time as President-elect Barack Obama was sworn into office. The desert foray was a dramatic ecotourism adventure — a safe one, so long as you bring lots of water with you.  There are also four visitor centers positioned to help guide your enjoyment of the park, depending on where you enter it. Many argue that the best time to visit is during the spring bloom of wildflowers and other plants.

My bet is that U2 never anticipated the global impacts of climate change, now calling into question the long term survival of the namesake Joshua Trees in the Joshua Tree National Park. That Joshua tree made famous by U2 is gone. Others will likely follow.  Besides climate change, invasive exotic species, increasing incidence of wildfires, and nitrogen deposition originating from emissions hundreds of miles away in Los Angeles are also impacting the trees, according to Alice Miller who is involved with on-going research in the park.  “There is no single cause of their decline,” says Miller.  “Everything is interconnected.”

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Here are three things that always land in my family’s suitcase. Lightweight and small, these items are easy to pack and offer multiple uses throughout the trip:

1. Something to Chase
Pack one small piece of sports gear that gets you moving, such as a Frisbee, foam football or hacky sack.

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While there are some who say we will (or should) travel less in the coming years — and perhaps some of us will — let’s not forget that the travel industry is the second largest industry on this planet after the industrial-military complex. It’s vitally important to many communities, businesses and organizations, ours included. We operate Inn Serendipity Bed & Breakfast, completely powered by the wind and sun.

My first post on ecotourism presented an approach to travel that sustains, enhances or restores diverse ecological systems, preserves the economic and social well-being of the local and global community, and fosters a greater understanding on the part of the traveler of nature, culture or the community visited. It’s the “triple bottom line of profits, planet and people” I write about in ECOpreneuring, applied to the travel industry.

This type of travel usually provides the ecotravelers with authentic experiences (read: not merely heads on beds) and the travelers themselves participate in the renewal, restoration or revitalization process underway by the community, business or organization. Ecotourism is a departure from the consumption and luxury focus of the mainstream tourism industry that touts all-inclusive resorts and 4-star amenities with little or no thought given to paying livable wages to employees or producing some of their own energy on site.

Since piloting a green travel program in 2007, the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Tourism, through their Travel Green Wisconsin program, has provided a framework by which already green tourism related businesses can be more easily found while those enterprises that recognize that there’s more green in going green can follow detailed certification requirements to embark on their journey to evolve, as all organizations will need to do sooner, or later, as a restorative enterprise that follows not just the laws of supply and demand, but also the laws of nature.

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The 112-degree Fahrenheit hot springs, one of six distinctive pools of varying temperatures, are the centerpiece of Harbin Hot Springs, a center to experience nature’s beauty while exploring our potential as human beings. A Mecca for healers, sun-worshippers, intentional community seekers, yoga practitioners, over-wired Silicon Valley wizards in need of a break, and droves of people who seek a therapeutic and restorative soak in the springs, embraced by nature.

Historically, the springs have drawn Native American shamans and LSD-tripping hippies. In the 1880s, invalids journeyed to the Harbin Hot Springs Health and Pleasure Resort by stagecoach. Today, Harbin Hot Springs is a thriving intentional community of 175 year-round residents and a growing crowd of over 100,000 visitors each year who come for a soak in the waters, a massage, some bodywork and healing, educational workshops, hikes on some of the 1,160 acres of hiking trails that meander the 1,700-acre property, or some lounging au naturale on the sun decks after cooling off in the pristine, spring fed pool. This is a place to embrace nature, reconnect with your inner self, and enjoy the convivial community.

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While visiting a good friend in Baltimore, Maryland, my family and I wandered the narrow streets of Fell’s Point, the eclectic and artistic enclave and community that offers a more laid back vibe than the festive and equally bustling Baltimore Inner Harbor, peppered with national franchised restaurants and retail chain stores. As travelers, we recognized how the “buy local” movement echoes the growing ecotravel movement, allowing us to experience an authentic sense of place, supporting the restoration and redevelopment of neighborhoods and preserve one-of-a-kind businesses that create one-of-a-kind communities.

We ended up spending most of our day in Fell’s Point where the somewhat Bohemian community seemed to soak up its reputation not just for its retail district and overall attractiveness to hang out or go jogging, biking, or strolling. It’s one of the places where buying local thrives as Buy Local Baltimore, a project of the Chesapeake Sustainable Business Association. Buy Local Baltimore is an educational and marketing campaign designed to encourage area residents to patronize local independent businesses in an effort to improve the quality of life in Baltimore neighborhoods and enhance the economic vitality of the greater Baltimore region. Baltimore’s take on building a more vibrant local economy with small business entrepreneurship reflects the larger movement afoot nationally which often emerges from such organizations as the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE).

We ducked into artisanal shops, learned about the history of the area at the Fell’s Point Maritime Museum and sipped a cafe mocha at the Daily Grind, featuring coffee roasted right in town and served up with a smile and a discount for bringing in my own mug. For dinner we savored locally harvested steamed mussels at Bertha’s — even my young son enjoyed one.

We picked up a card from the Buy Local Baltimore which nicely summarizes some of the many reasons why we could do a little more commerce in our communities (instead of shopping at big box stores where most of the money, especially those profits, leaves our community):

1. Keeping money in the neighborhood.

On average, for every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $45 stays in the community according to Buy Local Baltimore. For a chain store, less than $14 stays in the community.

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