The Ethical Traveller

by Imogen Lepere

Travel can be life-changing, but there are hidden costs to our trips that go deeper than our pockets. Whether it's impacts on the environment or the communities we visit, we all have the power to make a difference. Conscious decisions along our journeys can positively change the planet we share with all of our human and animal friends. The Ethical Traveller offers one hundred tips, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, that help us protect the planet, support communities, and explore the world while preserving everything that makes it so very special.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

107 pages, Hardcover

Published September 6, 2022

Reviews

[Sarah]

The Ethical Traveller is an accessible and thought-provoking small volume, setting out "100 ways to roam the world, without ruining it!". Entries are categorised according to the 17 goals of the UN's 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, which include considerations such as gender equality, education, sanitation, innovation and community.

Many of the suggestions will seem fairly common-sense to seasoned international travellers who are already mindful of the impact of mass western tourism on popular destinations. However, it never hurts to remind ourselves of the impact our activities can have, directly or indirectly, on other people, animals and places. Several of the sections that particularly resonated for me included:

Taking stock prior to leaving home:

#15 (Sanitation) Eco-Proof Your Home Consolidate all the effort you've put into planning an ethical holiday by giving your home a once over before you go. As a start: find the stop tap and turn it off to prevent leaks (as well as defend against floods if there were some sort of plumbing failure); unplug electronic devices, especially those with a standby mode as these guzzle energy; and put the thermostat on eco mode or turn it off if it isn't winter. (p.22)

Actively supporting operators who employ locals without discriminating on gender, sexuality or racial grounds:

#46 (Gender) Spot the Invisible Women Look out for opportunities to support women employed in travel jobs that have stereotypically been seen as 'belonging' to men, such as porters, guides and drivers. It might take a little extra digging but seek and ye shall find. (p.53)

...and the importance of reinforcing great work through online reviewing and recommendations:

#98 (Gender) Make Them Proud by Being Loud ... When hotels and tour operators shout about their equal opportunity recruitment policies, make sure you take to the rooftops - or internet - to spread the word. Lavish them with praise on social media. Leave glowing Tripadvisor reviews online. Not only does this encourage their efforts, if competitors see that customers care, they're more likely to follow suit. (p.105)

Taking steps to minimise environmental impact on fragile places:

#96 (Land) Beware Sneaky Seeds Even travellers who are careful to tread lightly can end up unwittingly transporting invasive species on their shoes and gear. ... Make sure you give your boots, bag wheels, bikes and car a good scrub before leaving a destination. If you want to be extra safe, carry a small bottle of disinfectant to spray on the soles of your shoes just before entering a protected area. (p.103)

A couple of important considerations for those visiting threatened coral reefs:

#57 (Sea) Understand the Coral Code ... Make sure you practise your finning technique before heading to the reef so you don't end up having a costly accident (by inadvertently brushing live coral with a hand or flipper and thus triggering a bleaching response). (p.64)

#59 (Sea) Try Reef-Safe Sunscreen Beware snorkellers: most sunscreen contains harmful chemicals that seep into the water when you swim and interfere with coral's reproduction and growth cycles. Unfortunately, the term 'reef-friendly' isn't regulated and you'll find many brands using it, despite the fact that their products contain nasties like oxybenzone, octinoxate and octocrylene. The answer is rash vests and micro-sized (or non-nano) mineral sunscreens. Check out savethereef.org for further details. (p.66)

Other entries touched on subjects such as:

- the importance of seeking out ethical wildlife experiences and avoiding those that exploit animals for tourism (#50). Our tourism dollars are better directed to ethical sanctuaries (#61), certified rewilding projects (#51) and those experiences that don't disrupt wildlife through manipulation with food (#60) or heavy use of fossil fuels and noisy motors (#58).

- avoiding potentially exploitative experiences "volunteering" or visiting foreign orphanages or schools. If we're not qualified to work with children in our own country, we shouldn't presume to do so overseas (#40). Similarly, voluntary "teaching" roles where the tourist pays the operator for the privilege may not result in significant funds reaching those in need (#45).

- respecting local customs and etiquette (#90), treating locals with dignity and courtesy (#91), respecting indigenous and other spiritual sites (#66), asking permission and respecting refusal before photographing other people or within certain precincts (#65) and behaving appropriately in sites associated with tragedy (#63). This should seem pretty obvious, yet people persist in taking those posed Auschwitz selfies...

- in terms of commercial dealings, reconsidering the ethics of haggling down the price of goods and services in developing countries. While the difference to a western traveller might be paltry, it might represent a significant difference in income to a local (#75). And don't waste money on tacky - often plastic - mass-produced souvenirs - opt instead for locally-produced handicrafts or other items (#78).

- considering the skewed perspective of travel writing, which has historically been overwhelmingly white and western. Explore the work of local and/or minority travel writers for a different perspective (#82).

While the majority of the information contained seemed reliable, one entry did cause me some concern:

#39 (Energy) Tap Into Your Own Green Energy What's the cleanest energy you can use to explore a new place? Your own of course! Whether 'bikepacking' Tasmania's Arthur Range, cycling around Taipei, or spending a long weekend in one of Portugal's many strollable cities, the fact is that getting around under your own steam is always preferable from an environmental point of view. (p.46)

Mountain biking is not permitted in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA), where the Western Arthur Range is located. The track through fragile alpine moorland is completely unsuitable for bikes. I suspect the author confused the Western Arthurs with the Arthur River area on Tasmania's far-north West Coast, where there are mountain biking tracks.

[Diana]

Cute pictures, but not what I was looking for. Some of the advice is a real stretch, like “Meet people on Tinder!” as a way of aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Community. Really?

[Tjebeats]

It’s a interesting book to show you the basic ways of thinking when you’re talking about traveling in a ethical way. So it’s definitely a good starting point.

On the other hand, if you’re already accustomed with and knowledgeable about the subject, it probably won’t teach you a lot of new things.

Nevertheless it’s a beautiful book with a good message.

[Fiona]

Beautifully illustrated by Julia Murray.
Each of the 100 travel tips for the ethical traveller in this book is linked to one or more of the seventeen SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) created by the United Nations in 2015. So if you are interested in a particular goal, you can skip to the pages containing the tips for that goal.

The SDGs are
1: No Poverty
2: Zero Hunger
3: Good Health and Well-Being
4: Quality Education
5: Gender Equality
6: Clean Water and Sanitation
7: Affordable and Clean Energy
8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10: Reduced Inequalities
11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
12: Responsible Consumption and Production
13: Climate Action
14: Life Below Water (Sea)
15: Life on Land
16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institution
17: Partnerships for the Goals

For example: the tips for SDG 11 (Community) include ethical alternatives to AirBnB (as short-term rentals in some cities have caused rents to sky-rocket), and Access travel to make travelling easier for those with disabilities

[Cameron Christoffel]

Loved this book for what it was— a thought provoking and awareness-spreading tool to get folks who travel a lot (such as myself) to think twice and reconsider /HOW/ we travel. I think Imogen does a beautiful job directly addressing the inherent hypocrisies of travel + sustainability and also publishing a book for profit + spreading “ethical awareness”. If you take it for what it is, I think having read this will make a positive impact on my life.

I am curious to see how these tips evolve over time and what of the SDGs are actually accomplished or not by 2030. Would be neat to see a 2nd edition of this after 8 years of change.

[Mandii DiNozzo]

Mostly, common sense. The book is short and sweet and can be read in one sitting.

The accompanying images are beautiful.

Overall, cute but if you're already into sustainability you're likely doing all of this stuff anyway.

[Jalisa]

Easy to read and actionable tips for being a more responsible and intentional traveler. Just a few tips I took away:

For accessible travel:
Gowheeltheworld.com organizes multi-day trips in partnership with local tour operators with a focus on accessible travel and they also have a large directory of accessible hotels including details like bed heights.

Planet Abled arranges customized tours for people with differing abilities throughout India and Southeast Asia.

Alternatives to Airbnb:
Fairbnb Host must be local and can only list one property each while 50% of the platform fees go towards community projects.

Ecobnb offers accommodation that fulfills 10 criteria including car, free access, 100% renewable energy, organic food, and recycling more than 80% of their waste.

Grab the book for other tips for how to be more environmentally friendly, keep more tourism dollars in local communities, avoid harmful voluntourism practices and more.

[Oona]

This would work well as a brief introduction to ethical travelling! As I already am somewhat familiar with the topic, some tips seemed pretty obvious to me (like to not flush tampons or to use your money to small businesses rather than huge companies), but I still managed to get some new information out of it (for example about ethical airbnb alternatives)! Also the illustrations were really cute :)

[Alessia]

A great introduction to ethical travelling and understanding as tourists what our impact may be, both negatively and positively. Easy to understand infographics with tangible examples, resources andself reflection. Would reccomend this to any westerner who wants to travel while keeping cultural and ethical standards in tact on holiday.

[Beth]

98 ways, not 100.

[Kayle Morris]

It was a pretty basic what to do and what not to do while traveling. It had a few new suggestions. It was a quick read, and the illustrations were beautiful.

[Rachel]

This is a cute little travel book with quick tips on how to travel ethically. I found some useful and others just very unrealistic. Nice illustrations and easily read in an hour!

[Nicky]

This book offers practical and helpful advice for ethical travel.

[Hannah]

A good gateway into learning more about ethical traveling! I'm reading this as I prepare for a long-trip, and it gave me quite a bit of resources and questions to consider as I begin.