| Dear
EarthTalk: What is “community based tourism”
and how does it purport to safeguard pristine places?
-- Erin O’Neill, Tukwila, WA
| |
Community-based
tourism generates lucrative revenues for poor or native
communities in developing countries while enabling
travelers usually accustomed to chain hotels and beachfront
resorts to learn about traditional cultures. Pictured:
A room at the Posada Amazonas lodge in Peru’s
Esé-eja community of Infierno.
© Doug&Robyn, courtesy Flickr |
Community
based tourism refers to situations in which local people—usually
those that are poor or economically marginalized in very
rural parts of the world—open up their homes and communities
to visitors seeking sustainably achieved cultural, educational
or recreational travel experiences.
Under
a community-based tourism arrangement, unique benefits accrue
to both the traveler and the hosts: Travelers usually accustomed
to chain hotels and beachfront resorts discover local habitats
and wildlife and learn about traditional cultures and the
economic realities of life in developing countries. And
the host communities are able to generate lucrative revenues
that can replace income previously earned from destructive
resource extraction operations or other unsustainable forms
of economic support.
Locals
earn income as land managers, entrepreneurs or food and
service providers—and at least part of the tourist
income is set aside for projects which provide benefits
to the community as a whole. And just as important, says
ResponsibleTravel.com, which promotes community based tourism
in a partnership with Conservation International, the communities
become “aware of the commercial and social value placed
on their natural and cultural heritage through tourism,”
thus fostering a commitment to resource conservation.
Travelers
indulging in a community based tourism trip might follow
a local guide deep into his tribe’s forest to spot
otherworldly wildlife, eat exotic regional delicacies around
rough-hewn tables, watch and even take part in celebrations
of local culture, and sleep on straw mats at the homes of
local families.
In
many cases, local communities partner with private companies
and nonprofits that provide money, marketing, clients, tourist
accommodations and expertise for opening up lands to visitors.
In 1997, eco-travel operator Rainforest Expeditions wanted
international visitors to learn about threats to the rainforest.
Natives in Peru’s Esé-eja community of Infierno
wanted to generate income without destroying their rainforest
home, central to their subsistence lifestyle. So the two
joined forces and the resulting Posada Amazonas lodge to
this day offers visitors an exotic way to learn about rainforest
ecology directly from English-speaking Esé-eja staff,
who in-turn earn a living sharing their local knowledge
and traditions.
Another
example is the partnerships that the nonprofit Projeto Bagagem
(Project Baggage) has forged with several Brazilian communities
to bring in tourist dollars to support sustainable choices.
A third of the cost of every Projeto Bagagem trip goes to
the villagers and another third to a local nonprofit. Last
year the group won a Seed Award from the United Nations
and the non-profit World Conservation Union for its efforts
to translate “the ideals of sustainable development
into action on the ground.”
Extreme
poverty coupled with abundant natural resources makes the
Amazon basin an ideal place for such programs to thrive,
but community based tourism can be experienced anywhere.
To find qualifying, pre-vetted trips that contribute to
local economies all over the world, visit ResponsibleTravel.com.
CONTACTS:
ResponsibleTravel.com;
Rainforest
Expeditions; Projeto
Bagagem.
Dear
EarthTalk: How often do I really need to change
my car’s oil? Conventional wisdom has always put it
at every 3,000 miles to prevent engine wear, but isn’t
changing oil that frequently wasteful and unnecessary? Also,
what is the "greenest" and longest-lasting oil
I should use?
-- Vic Roberts, Lincoln, MA
| |
Quick-lube
centers usually recommend changing your car's oil
every 3,000 miles, but many mechanics say that's overkill.
Most car owner‚s manuals recommend changing
out the oil less frequently, usually after 5,000 or
7,500 miles.
© Dystopos, Courtesy Flickr |
There is much
debate in the automotive world over how often drivers of
typical passenger cars or light trucks should change their
oil. The quick-lube chains usually recommend it be done
every three months or 3,000 miles, but many mechanics would
tell you that such frequent changes are overkill. Indeed,
most car owner’s manuals recommend changing out the
oil less frequently, usually after 5,000 or 7,500 miles.
According to
the automotive website Edmunds.com, the answer depends more
on driving patterns than anything else. Those who rarely
drive more than 10 miles at a time (which doesn’t
get the oil hot enough to boil off moisture condensation)
or who start their car frequently when the oil isn’t
hot (when most engine wear occurs) should change their oil
more often—at least twice a year, even if that’s
every 1,000 miles, according to Edmunds. But commuters who
drive more than 20 miles a day on mostly flat freeway can
go as far as their owner’s manual recommends, if not
longer, between changes. As a car ages, more frequent changes
might be in order, but that’s for a qualified mechanic
to decide on a case-by-case basis.
“The necessity
of 3,000 mile oil changes is a myth that has been handed
down for decades,” writes Austin Davis, proprietor
of the website TrustMyMechanic.com. He says that the economics
of the oil change industry demand pushing customers to get
their oil changed more frequently—purportedly as “cheap
insurance” against problems cropping up—whether
they need it or not. One of the largest oil change chains,
Jiffy Lube, for instance, is owned by Pennzoil-Quaker State,
and as such has an incentive to sell as much of the company’s
traditional petroleum-based oil as possible.
One way to reduce
trips to and money spent unnecessarily on quick-lube outlets
is to switch to synthetic oils, which last longer and perform
better than their traditional petroleum-based counterparts.
Davis says that educated drivers should opt for longer lasting,
better performing synthetic oils, which are “most
likely good for 10,000 to 15,000 miles or six months”
whether or not their manufacturers recommend more frequent
changes or not. Some synthetic motor oils, like Amsoil,
NEO and Red Line, to name a few, are created specifically
to last 25,000 miles or one year before needing a change.
While neither
conventional nor synthetic motor oils are good for the environment
if disposed of improperly or spilled, most environmentalists
would opt for the latter since it lasts three or more times
longer and thus reduces waste (or energy use if recycled).
Researchers have been experimenting with producing greener
motor oils—one pilot project out of Purdue University
has produced high-quality, carbon-neutral motor oil from
canola crops—but consumers should not expect to see
such products on store or garage shelves anytime soon, as
the costs of production are high and the availability of
cropland is limited. But the very existence of such alternatives—no
doubt more are in the offing—bodes well for the future
as oil becomes more scarce and expensive.
CONTACTS:
Edmunds.com;
TrustMyMechanic.com. |
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