Travel, in general, greatly impacts the environment, be it through transportation, our day-to-day activities, or mass housing. Since there are so many benefits to traveling (exposure to history, discovering new traditions and customs, becoming more open-minded, personal growth and development, etc.), the goal is obviously not to avoid travel, but instead to greatly minimize our negative impact on nature.
That’s why at Mexikoo, we are committed to create more balance by offering a more responsible way to travel. Responsible tourism involves reducing one’s impact on the environment by adopting best practices and supporting the economic and social development of local communities. In fact, all of these “small gestures” combined have a significant impact on the environment.
Here’s an overview of our initiatives which are aimed at reducing our environmental impact.
Reducing Waste
We choose to work with environmentally responsible partners, advocates for the reduction of waste, and more specifically, plastic, one of the things that impacts oceans the most. As a result, our partners:
- Use flasks instead of plastic bottles
- Offer customers homemade granola bars served in cloth napkins to reduce packaging
- Organize beach cleanup outings to pick up trash
- Recycle and reduce their waste
Controlling water pollution
Ocean pollution leads to the destruction of wildlife. As a result, we:
- Prefer to use biodegradable sunscreen, since the chemicals used in sunscreen are one of the contributing factors to ocean pollution and the destruction of coral. Here are some ideas for biodegradable sunscreens.
- Offer you hotels that treat their wastewater at treatment plants. These facilities supply oxygen to the bacteria, converting organic matter into mineral substances and nutrients while also absorbing harmful elements, such as nitrates, or heavy metals.
- Offer you hotels with dry toilets. This often terrifies some, but using dry toilets is a real asset as it helps to avoid wasting water and produces compost.
- Offer you hotels that provide biodegradable shampoo and shower gels that reduce water and land pollution and also provide biodegradable bug-repellent products.
Oil pollution control
Oil discharges and the emission of nitrogen oxide, both onto land and into oceans, lead to land and water pollution, as well as the destruction of ecosystems and wildlife. To combat this, we prefer (if possible) motor-free transportation options:
- Tours via catamaran, canoe, kayak and sailboat
- Walking and biking excursions
- Motorboat travel in small groups (overloaded boats consume more gasoline)
Reducing energy consumption
Energy consumption (fossil, nuclear) has a direct impact on our environment through greenhouse gas emissions polluting the air and the earth. The overconsumption of energy logically contributes to global warming. To combat this phenomenon, we prefer hotels that:
- Use solar panels
- Don’t use air conditioning or offer air conditioning using solar energy
- Use energy-efficient lamps
- Use candles in place of electrical power as a more eco-friendly solution
Social development
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In addition of fighting to protect the environment, we are also committed to foster the economic and social development of local communities. For our excursion options we:
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offer local certified guides who share their knowledge and love for Mexico.
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offer you day tours and workshops in local communities or ecotourism projects in order to promote the sharing of culture, knowledge and customs. Tours within these communities also support economic development, thus allowing these communities to be self-sufficient through tourism.
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Protecting animals
Many tourist attractions exist today where animals are used to entertain tourists, at the expense of their freedom or their health. You should know that with these types of attractions, animals are often removed from their natural habitat and abused (dolphin shows, petting turtles and tigers, riding on the backs of elephants…). If you’d like to observe animals, we strongly recommend that you opt for more responsible excursions, which consist of observing animals in their natural environments where they are free to move about. As a result, we conduct our tours:
- solely with cage-free animals that are free to roam
- by observing animals from a respectful distance so as not to disturb them
- without touching the animals
- in small groups
- without collecting shells or living organisms (e.g. starfish).
Partnership with Sea Shepherd Mexico
Some human actions make some animal species disappear, et destroy their habitat. For every reservation, Mexikoo gives away a part of its benefits to the Sea Shepherd Mexico association in order to protect, defend and conserve ecosystems and marine wildlife. This association carries out different types of actions such as :
- Creating legislative initiatives for the rights and defense of marine animals
- Protecting nature reserves from illegal fishing
- Cleaning beaches
- Organizing conferences to raise awareness about the conservation and protection of marine fauna and flora ….
Every decision you make during your trip makes a difference, and will have an impact on the environment.
You’re probably wondering what you can do to become a more responsible traveler. Don’t worry, we had you in mind when we created this little article with tips on how to travel more responsibly.
If you’d like to learn more about our eco-friendly tours, look no further: Our Eco Tours.