Earth Promise, a online community that’s dedicated to bringing people together who want to take better care of the environment, is running a “21 in 21″ Interview Series in Honor of Earth Day.
Our own Tim Leffel, editor of Perceptive Travel Magazine and guiding light for this blog, was chosen as one of the 21 to be interviewed. Tim has been writing about environmentally friendly travel way before it was in vogue to do so, so it was great to read more about his ways of green living and traveling.
Excerpts from the interview:
Earth Promise: What was your first, ah ha! Green moment?
Tim: Seeing a pile of plastic water bottles six feet high and about 40 feet across on an otherwise pristine island in Thailand. Most of those were consumed in an hour by tourists and then tossed. I’m sure they’re all still there, but the pile is much bigger.
Earth Promise: Do you feel that companies related to the travel industries such as airlines, hotels, cruise ships, etc. are behind the green movement?
Tim: Now they finally are, but only because they’ve been whacked upside the head with it and forced to act. Last year the Explora hotel on Easter Island opened as the first LEED-certified hotel in South America. I think they’re still the only one. As of last fall there were only 13 of them in the whole U.S. What have they been waiting for? Airlines didn’t start thinking about efficiency until oil hit $100 a barrel. Cruise ships have been dragged kicking and screaming into making changes to their wasteful method of travel.
Tim’s got some interesting and informative things to say about green travel, so I’d suggest you head on over and have a read of his Earth Promise interview.
Other interviewees so far include Stefani Newman (Eco-Writer and Founder of teensygreen), Raquel Fagan (Executive Editor at Earth911.com), and Traver Gruen-Kennedy (Chairman at Alliance for Sustainable Air Transportation) with more to come.
Pity, but this is our reality. Some people don’t care about the environment. i remember i was hiking with my friends at a 2220 meters hight in the mountains and was gethering candies wraps left by some “conscious” tourists!!!!!!!
Thanks for pointing to this Liz! And readers should check it out today because one of my heroes is on there. There’s an interview with George Newall, creator of Schoolhouse Rock. (There’s a new project Schoolhouse Rock Earth.)