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108-546: San Blas and its surrounding area is a haven for ecotourism because of its pristine environs. The area is also popular for sailing , as it is known for its beauty and lack of hurricanes . Notable locations in the Archipelago are the main capital Gaigirgordub , the densely crowded island village of Carti Sugtupu , and the two keys, Cayos Limones , and Cayos Holandeses , both renowned for their clear waters. The islands could be rendered uninhabitable by sea level rise in

216-411: A materials recovery facility , the materials must be sorted. This is done in a series of stages, many of which involve automated processes, enabling a truckload of material to be fully sorted in less than an hour. Some plants can now sort materials automatically; this is known as single-stream recycling . Automatic sorting may be aided by robotics and machine learning. In plants, a variety of materials

324-522: A tropical monsoon climate . Temperatures are hot all year round. There is a lengthy wet season from May to January and a short dry season in the rest of the year. Ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the conservation of the natural environment , generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conservation and environmental education . The definition sometimes also includes being financially beneficial to

432-410: A billion dollars of indirect income in the area and added thousands of indirect jobs between 2004 and 2005. However, even this form of tourism may require foreign investment for promotion or start-up. When such investments are required, communities must find a company or non-governmental organization that reflects the philosophy of ecotourism; is sensitive to their concerns, and is willing to cooperate at

540-648: A carrying capacity, site hardening, sustainable design, visitation quotas, fees, access restrictions, and visitor education. Many environmentalists have argued for a global standard that can be used for certification , differentiating ecotourism companies based on their level of environmental commitment, creating a standard to follow. A national or international regulatory board would enforce accreditation procedures, with representation from various groups including governments, hotels, tour operators, travel agents, guides, airlines, local authorities, conservation organizations, and non-governmental organizations. The decisions of

648-602: A certain amount of spending for recycled products; or "price preference" programs that provide larger budgets when recycled items are purchased. Additional regulations can target specific cases: in the United States, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency mandates the purchase of oil, paper, tires and building insulation from recycled or re-refined sources whenever possible. The final government regulation toward increased demand

756-445: A common practice for most of human history with recorded advocates as far back as Plato in the fourth century BC. During periods when resources were scarce, archaeological studies of ancient waste dumps show less household waste (such as ash, broken tools, and pottery), implying that more waste was recycled in place of new material. However, archaeological artefacts made from recyclable material, such as glass or metal, may neither be

864-411: A company based on how sustainable its operations are. CST evaluates the interaction between the company and the surrounding habitat; the management policies and operation systems within the company; how the company encourages its clients to become active contributors towards sustainable policies; and the interaction between the company and local communities/the overall population. Based upon these criteria,

972-574: A form of recycling. Materials for recycling are either delivered to a household recycling center or picked up from curbside bins, then sorted, cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials for manufacturing new products. In ideal implementations, recycling a material produces a fresh supply of the same material—for example, used office paper would be converted into new office paper, and used polystyrene foam into new polystyrene. Some types of materials, such as metal cans , can be remanufactured repeatedly without losing their purity. With other materials, this

1080-725: A genuine ecotourism experience when they see the higher star rating. In 2008 the Global Sustainable Tourism Council Criteria was launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The Criteria, managed by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, created a global standard for sustainable travel and tourism and includes criteria and performance indicators for destinations, tour operators and hotels. The GSTC provides accreditation through

1188-493: A lot of contention to the limit at which biodiversity preservation, local social-economic benefits, and environmental impact can be considered "ecotourism". For this reason, environmentalists, special interest groups, and governments define ecotourism differently. Environmental organizations have generally insisted that ecotourism is nature-based, sustainably managed, conservation supporting, and environmentally educated. The tourist industry and governments, however, focus more on

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1296-471: A more flexible option: Industries can meet their recycling targets at any point of their operations, or even contract out recycling in exchange for tradable credits. Opponents to these methods cite their large increase in reporting requirements, and claim that they rob the industry of flexibility. Governments have used their own purchasing power to increase recycling demand through "procurement policies". These policies are either "set-asides", which reserve

1404-405: A positive effect on the supply of recyclates when it specifies how and where the product can be recycled. "Recyclate" is a raw material sent to and processed in a waste recycling plant or materials-recovery facility so it can be used in the production of new materials and products. For example, plastic bottles can be made into plastic pellets and synthetic fabrics . The quality of recyclates

1512-464: A proportion of ecotourism profits are directed back into the community. Harsh survival realities and deprivation of traditional use of land and natural resources by local people can occur. Local Indigenous people may also feel strong resentment towards the change, especially if tourism has been allowed to develop with virtually no controls. Without sufficient control mechanisms, too many lodges may be built, and tourist vehicles may drive off-track and harass

1620-433: A stable supply. The post-processed material can then be sold. If profitable, this conserves the emission of greenhouse gases; if unprofitable, it increases their emission. Buy-back centres generally need government subsidies to be viable. According to a 1993 report by the U.S. National Waste & Recycling Association , it costs an average $ 50 to process a ton of material that can be resold for $ 30. Drop-off centers require

1728-425: A testament to the tremendous profits associated with being labeled as ecotourism. Ecotourism has become one of the fastest-growing sectors of the tourism industry. One definition of ecotourism is "the practice of low-impact, educational, ecologically and culturally sensitive travel that benefits local communities and host countries". Many of the ecotourism projects are not meeting these standards. Even if some of

1836-495: A third party to Certification Bodies to legitimize claims of sustainability. Environmental impact assessments could also be used as a form of accreditation. Feasibility is evaluated on a scientific basis, and recommendations could be made to optimally plan infrastructure, set tourist capacity, and manage the ecology. This form of accreditation is more sensitive to site-specific conditions. Some countries have their certification programs for ecotourism. Costa Rica, for example, runs

1944-506: A trend towards the commercialization of tourism schemes disguised as sustainable, nature based, and environmentally friendly ecotourism. According to McLaren, these schemes are environmentally destructive, economically exploitative, and culturally insensitive at its worst. They are also morally disconcerting because they mislead tourists and manipulate their concerns for the environment. The development and success of such large scale, energy intensive, and ecologically unsustainable schemes are

2052-563: A turnover of €24 billion. EU countries are mandated to reach recycling rates of at least 50%; leading countries are already at around 65%. The overall EU average was 39% in 2013 and is rising steadily, to 45% in 2015. In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly set 17 Sustainable Development Goals . Goal 12, Responsible Consumption and Production , specifies 11 targets "to ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns". The fifth target, Target 12.5 ,

2160-560: Is a concept that covers the complete tourism experience, including concern for economic, social, and environmental issues as well as attention to improving tourists' experiences and addressing the needs of host communities. Sustainable tourism should embrace concerns for environmental protection , social equity, and the quality of life, cultural diversity, and a dynamic, viable economy delivering jobs and prosperity for all. It has its roots in sustainable development and there can be some confusion as to what "sustainable tourism" means. There

2268-534: Is associated with geology. In contrast to nature tourism and sustainable tourism in general, ecotourism also usually intended to foster a greater appreciation in tourists of natural habitats and threats they experience, as well as local culture. Responsible ecotourism programs include those that minimize the negative aspects of conventional tourism on the environment and enhance the cultural integrity of local people. Therefore, in addition to evaluating environmental and cultural factors, an integral part of ecotourism

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2376-484: Is defined as substantially reducing waste generation by 2030, indicated by the National Recycling Rate. In 2018, changes in the recycling industry have sparked a global "crisis". On 31 December 2017, China announced its " National Sword " policy, setting new standards for imports of recyclable material and banning materials deemed too "dirty" or "hazardous". The new policy caused drastic disruptions in

2484-465: Is different from the experience of the residents; it commodifies the lives of Indigenous people and their land which is not fair to its inhabitants. Indigenous territories are managed by governmental services (i.e. FUNAI in Brazil , ...) and these governmental services can thus decide whether or not to implement ecotourism in these Indigenous territories. Ecotourism can also bring in employment to

2592-466: Is ecologically sustainable tourism with a primary focus on experiencing natural areas that foster environmental and cultural understanding, appreciation and conservation." The Global Ecotourism Network (GEN) defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and creates knowledge and understanding through interpretation and education of all involved (visitors, staff, and

2700-621: Is helping increase slag utilization, hence reducing wastage and pollution. Economist Steven Landsburg , author of a paper entitled "Why I Am Not an Environmentalist", claimed that paper recycling actually reduces tree populations. He argues that because paper companies have incentives to replenish their forests, large demands for paper lead to large forests while reduced demand for paper leads to fewer "farmed" forests. When foresting companies cut down trees, more are planted in their place; however, such farmed forests are inferior to natural forests in several ways. Farmed forests are not able to fix

2808-445: Is likely to be recycled, so higher amounts of non-target and non-recyclable materials can reduce the quantity of recycled products. A high proportion of non-target and non-recyclable material can make it more difficult to achieve "high-quality" recycling; and if recyclate is of poor quality, it is more likely to end up being down-cycled or, in more extreme cases, sent to other recovery options or landfilled . For example, to facilitate

2916-466: Is now broad consensus that tourism should be sustainable . In fact, all forms of tourism have the potential to be sustainable if planned, developed and managed properly. Tourist development organizations are promoting sustainable tourism practices in order to mitigate negative effects caused by the growing impact of tourism , for example its environmental impacts. Ecotourism in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems can benefit conservation, provided

3024-587: Is often difficult or too expensive (compared with producing the same product from raw materials or other sources), so "recycling" of many products and materials involves their reuse in producing different materials (for example, paperboard ). Another form of recycling is the salvage of constituent materials from complex products, due to either their intrinsic value (such as lead from car batteries and gold from printed circuit boards ), or their hazardous nature (e.g. removal and reuse of mercury from thermometers and thermostats ). Reusing materials has been

3132-442: Is often presented as a responsible form of tourism, it nonetheless carries several risks. Potential ecological, economic, and sociocultural benefits associated with ecotourism are described below. Ecotourism activities, or merely the presence of travelers in a particular region or location, may negatively impact the ecological integrity of protected areas . Local communities may be negatively impacted by ecotourism. For example, as

3240-420: Is one of the principal challenges for the success of a long-term vision of a green economy and achieving zero waste . It generally refers to how much of it is composed of target material, versus non-target material and other non-recyclable material. Steel and other metals have intrinsically higher recyclate quality; it is estimated that two-thirds of all new steel comes from recycled steel. Only target material

3348-547: Is rarely harvested for paper because of their heterogeneity. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change secretariat, the overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is subsistence farming (48% of deforestation) and commercial agriculture (32%), which is linked to food, not paper production. Other non-conventional methods of material recycling, like Waste-to-Energy (WTE) systems, have garnered increased attention in

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3456-431: Is recycled product labeling. When producers are required to label their packaging with the amount of recycled material it contains (including the packaging), consumers can make more educated choices. Consumers with sufficient buying power can choose more environmentally conscious options, prompting producers to increase the recycled material in their products and increase demand. Standardized recycling labeling can also have

3564-676: Is regarded as waste. Environmental impact of slag include copper paralysis , which leads to death due to gastric hemorrhage, if ingested by humans. It may also cause acute dermatitis upon skin exposure. Toxicity may also be uptaken by crops through soil, consequently spreading animals and food sources and increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, cognitive impairment, chronic anemia, and damage to kidneys, bones, nervous system, brain and skin. Substituting gravel and grit in quarries has been more cost-effective, due to having its sources with better proximity to consumer markets. Trading between countries and establishment of blast furnaces

3672-652: Is sorted including paper, different types of plastics, glass, metals, food scraps, and most types of batteries . A 30% increase in recycling rates has been seen in areas with these plants. In the US, there are over 300 materials recovery facilities. Initially, commingled recyclates are removed from the collection vehicle and placed on a conveyor belt spread out in a single layer. Large pieces of corrugated fiberboard and plastic bags are removed by hand at this stage, as they can cause later machinery to jam. Next, automated machinery such as disk screens and air classifiers separate

3780-467: Is taking place, more than 90 percent of ecotourism revenues are expatriated to the parent countries, and less than 5 percent go into local communities. The lack of sustainability highlights the need for small-scale, slow-growth, and locally-based ecotourism. Local peoples have a vested interest in the well-being of their community and are therefore more accountable to environmental protection than multinational corporations, though they receive very little of

3888-1075: Is the case with other forms of tourism, ecotourism may result in friction between tourists and local community members, and may potentially increase the cost of rent, rates, and property values , thereby marginalizing local community members. Ecotourism carries known health risks for tourists and local community members, along with wildlife and ecosystems. Travelers may bring pathogens to ecologically sensitive areas, putting wildlife as well as local communities at risk; ecotourism activities may also place travelers at risk of health problems or injuries. Ecotourism may also have positive ecological consequences, and some of them are listed as follows: For some decision-makers, economic factors are more compelling than ecological factors in deciding how natural resources should be used. Potential ecotourism economic benefits are presented below: A holistic approach to ecotourism must promote socio-cultural as well as economic and ecological practices. The direct and indirect socio-cultural benefits are outlined as follows: When assessing

3996-578: Is the other extreme, where each material is cleaned and sorted prior to collection. It requires the least post-collection sorting and produces the purest recyclates. However, it incurs additional operating costs for collecting each material, and requires extensive public education to avoid recyclate contamination . In Oregon , USA, Oregon DEQ surveyed multi-family property managers; about half of them reported problems, including contamination of recyclables due to trespassers such as transients gaining access to collection areas. Source separation used to be

4104-408: Is the promotion of recycling , energy efficiency , water conservation , and the creation of economic opportunities for local communities. Ecotourism is a sub-component of the field of sustainable tourism . Ecotourism must serve to maximize ecological benefits while contributing to the economic, social, and cultural wellbeing of communities living close to ecotourism venues. Even while ecotourism

4212-626: Is the third component of the " Reduce , Reuse , and Recycle" waste hierarchy . It promotes environmental sustainability by removing raw material input and redirecting waste output in the economic system. There are some ISO standards related to recycling, such as ISO 15270:2008 for plastics waste and ISO 14001 :2015 for environmental management control of recycling practice. Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, cardboard, metal, plastic, tires , textiles , batteries, and electronics . The composting and other reuse of biodegradable waste —such as food and garden waste —is also

4320-451: Is treated using inferior activities, it can release as many as 1000 different chemical substances ... including harmful neurotoxicants such as lead .” A paper in the journal Sustainable Materials & Technologies remarks upon the difficulty of managing e-waste, particularly from home automation products, which, due to their becoming obsolete at a high rate, are putting increasing strain on recycling systems, which have not adapted to meet

4428-559: The profits . The lack of control, westernization , adverse impacts to the environment, and loss of culture and traditions outweigh the benefits of establishing large-scale ecotourism. Additionally, culture loss can be attributed to cultural commodification , in which local cultures are commodified to make a profit. The increased contributions of communities to locally managed ecotourism create viable economic opportunities, including high-level management positions, and reduce environmental issues associated with poverty and unemployment. Because

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4536-620: The 1970s due to rising energy costs. Recycling aluminium uses only 5% of the energy of virgin production. Glass, paper and other metals have less dramatic but significant energy savings when recycled. Although consumer electronics have been popular since the 1920s, recycling them was almost unheard of until early 1991. The first electronic waste recycling scheme was implemented in Switzerland , beginning with collection of old refrigerators, then expanding to cover all devices. When these programs were created, many countries could not deal with

4644-503: The GSTC-Recognized Certification of Sustainable Tourism (CST) program, which is intended to balance the effect that business has on the local environment. The CST program focuses on a company's interaction with natural and cultural resources, the improvement of quality of life within local communities, and the economic contribution to other programs of national development. CST uses a rating system that categorizes

4752-748: The South-East Asian Tourism Organization (SEATO), is bringing together these diverse players to discuss resource management concerns. A 2002, summit held in Quebec led to the 2008 Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria–a collaborative effort between the UN Foundation and other advocacy groups. The criteria, which are voluntary, involve the following standards: "effective sustainability planning, maximum social and economic benefits for local communities, minimum negative impacts on cultural heritage, and minimum negative impacts on

4860-719: The arrival of Europeans, the Guna wore few clothes and decorated their bodies with colorful designs. When encouraged to wear clothes by the missionaries, they copied these designs in their molas , which they wore as clothing. The Guna worship a god named Erragon, who they believe came and died just for the Guna people. Driven off Panama during the Spanish invasion, the Guna fled to the surrounding 378 islands. Today their chief lives on an island called Acuadup, which means "rock island". Many Guna are hunters and fishermen. Many families live close to

4968-419: The benefits of ecotourism; there is effective collaboration with stakeholders in the area; and there is proper use of the money generated by ecotourism to conserve the local ecology. They conclude that ecotourism works best to conserve predators when the tourism industry is supported both politically and by the public, and when it is monitored and controlled at local, national, and international levels. Because

5076-423: The board would be sanctioned by governments so that non-compliant companies would be legally required to disassociate themselves from the use of the ecotourism brand. In 1998, Crinion suggested a Green Stars System, based on criteria including a management plan, benefits for the local community, small group interaction, education value, and staff training. Ecotourists who consider their choices would be confident of

5184-491: The compaction of materials can also make this more difficult. Despite improvements in technology and quality of recyclate, sorting facilities are still not 100% effective in separating materials. When materials are stored outside, where they can become wet, can also cause problems for re-processors. Further sorting steps may be required to satisfactorily reduce the amount of non-target and non-recyclable material. A number of systems have been implemented to collect recyclates from

5292-500: The company is evaluated for the strength of its sustainability. The measurement index goes from 0 to 5, with 0 being the worst and 5 being the best. Over 50 ecolabels on tourism exist. These include (but are not limited to): An environmental protection strategy must address the issue of ecotourists removed from the cause-and-effect of their actions on the environment. More initiatives should be carried out to improve their awareness, sensitize them to environmental issues, and care about

5400-411: The complexities of history, culture, and ecology in the affected regions are successfully navigated. Catherine Macdonald and colleagues identify the factors that determine conservation outcomes, namely whether: animals and their habits are sufficiently protected; conflict between people and wildlife is avoided or at least suitably mitigated; there is good outreach and education of the local population into

5508-586: The container is returned to a collection point. These programs have succeeded in creating an average 80% recycling rate. Despite such good results, the shift in collection costs from local government to industry and consumers has created strong opposition in some areas —for example, where manufacturers bear the responsibility for recycling their products. In the European Union, the WEEE Directive requires producers of consumer electronics to reimburse

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5616-502: The crisis. According to the WHO (2023), “Every year millions of electrical and electronic devices are discarded ... a threat to the environment and to human health if they are not treated, disposed of, and recycled appropriately. Common items ... include computers ... e-waste are recycled using environmentally unsound techniques and are likely stored in homes and warehouses, dumped, exported or recycled under inferior conditions. When e-waste

5724-417: The demand for recycled materials: minimum recycled content mandates, utilization rates, procurement policies, and recycled product labeling . Both minimum recycled content mandates and utilization rates increase demand by forcing manufacturers to include recycling in their operations. Content mandates specify that a certain percentage of a new product must consist of recycled material. Utilization rates are

5832-580: The early 19th century to at least 1914. Industrialization spurred demand for affordable materials. In addition to rags, ferrous scrap metals were coveted as they were cheaper to acquire than virgin ore. Railroads purchased and sold scrap metal in the 19th century, and the growing steel and automobile industries purchased scrap in the early 20th century. Many secondary goods were collected, processed and sold by peddlers who scoured dumps and city streets for discarded machinery, pots, pans, and other sources of metal. By World War I , thousands of such peddlers roamed

5940-539: The ecotourism experience is marketed to a different lifestyle from large-scale ecotourism, the development of facilities and infrastructure does not need to conform to corporate Western tourism standards, and can be much simpler and less expensive. There is a greater multiplier effect on the economy, because local products, materials, and labor are used. Profits accrue locally and import leakages are reduced. The Great Barrier Reef Park in Australia reported over half of

6048-506: The environment and the impact of tourism, it is recommended to use an operator that is endorsed by a reputable ecotourism organization. In the case of the Galapagos, IGTOA has a list of the world's premiere Galapagos Islands tour companies dedicated to the lasting protection and preservation of the destination. Natural resource management can be used as a specialized tool for the development of ecotourism. There are several places throughout

6156-510: The environment. However (according to Buckley), very few organizations make a net-positive impact on the environment overall. Ecotourism has also been criticized for often using the same infrastructure and practices of regular tourism under a different name. Like most long-distance travel, ecotourism often depends on air transportation , which contributes to climate change . Generally, ecotourism deals with interaction with living parts of natural environments, in contrast to geotourism , which

6264-406: The environment. Ecotourism can be a sustainable and job-creating alternative for local populations. Depending on how protected areas are set up and handled, it can lead to local people losing their homes, usually with no compensation. Pushing people onto marginal lands with harsh climates, poor soils, lack of water, and infested with livestock and disease does little to enhance livelihoods even when

6372-465: The environment." There is no enforcing agency or system of punishments for summit. Valorization of the Indigenous territories can be important for designation as a protected area , which can deter threats such as deforestation . Ecotourism can help bring in revenue for Indigenous peoples. However, there needs to be a proper business plan and organizational structure, which helps to ensure that

6480-586: The expense of profit. The basic assumption of the multiplier effect is that the economy starts with unused resources, for example, that many workers are cyclically unemployed and much of industrial capacity is sitting idle or incompletely used. By increasing demand in the economy, it is then possible to boost production. If the economy was already at full employment, with only structural, frictional, or other supply-side types of unemployment, any attempt to boost demand would only lead to inflation. For various laissez-faire schools of economics which embrace Say's Law and deny

6588-403: The form that a certain percentage of a material must be diverted from the city's waste stream by a target date. The city is responsible for working to meet this target. Container deposit legislation mandates refunds for the return of certain containers—typically glass, plastic and metal. When a product in such a container is purchased, a small surcharge is added that the consumer can reclaim when

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6696-423: The general waste stream, occupying different places on the spectrum of trade-off between public convenience and government ease and expense. The three main categories of collection are drop-off centers, buy-back centers and curbside collection. About two-thirds of the cost of recycling is incurred in the collection phase. Curbside collection encompasses many subtly different systems, which differ mostly on where in

6804-417: The generated money from ecotourism indeed flows towards the Indigenous peoples themselves, and the protection of the Indigenous territory. Debates around ecotourism focus on how profits off of Indigenous lands are enjoyed by international tourist companies, who do not share back with the people to whom those lands belong. Ecotourism offers a tourist-appealing experience of the landscape and environment, one that

6912-571: The global recycling market, and reduced the prices of scrap plastic and low-grade paper. Exports of recyclable materials from G7 countries to China dropped dramatically, with many shifting to countries in southeast Asia. This generated significant concern about the recycling industry's practices and environmental sustainability . The abrupt shift caused countries to accept more materials than they could process, and raised fundamental questions about shipping waste from developed countries to countries with few environmental regulations—a practice that predated

7020-458: The goals desired." Recycling—or "salvage", as it was then usually known—was a major issue for governments during World War II , where financial constraints and significant material shortages made it necessary to reuse goods and recycle materials. These resource shortages caused by the world wars , and other such world-changing events, greatly encouraged recycling. It became necessary for most homes to recycle their waste, allowing people to make

7128-762: The government cut off their funding. Hence, they are obligated to make money on their own. Private natural parks and sites are looking for their own advantage by advertising the soundness of natural parks or coastal marines in the Caribbean. They try to show they are protecting nature and attract people interested in ecotourism. However, they will focus on the phenomenon that might be more interesting for tourists and neglect other aspects of nature when they prioritize their profits. Consequently, this policy will result in abandoning rich ecological sites or destroying those valuable sites. For example, in Montego Bay, hotel staff cut

7236-414: The guidelines are being executed, the local communities are still facing many of the negative impacts.The other negative side of ecotourism is that it transforms nature and the environment into commodities people are interested in paying and visiting. When the environment becomes a product with economic value, people try to advertise and sell it. Some of the ecotourism sites are turning to private sectors, and

7344-612: The host community or making conservation financially possible. There are a range of different definitions, and the correct definition of the term was an active subject of debate as of 2009. The term is also used more widely by many organizations offering nature tourism, which do not focus on being beneficial to the environment. Since the 1980s, ecotourism has been considered an important endeavor by environmentalists for conservation reasons. Organizations focusing on ecotourism often make direct or indirect contributions to conservation or employ practices or technology that reduce impacts on

7452-746: The labels of "green" and "eco-friendly", while behaving in environmentally irresponsible ways. Although academics disagree about who can be classified as an ecotourist and there is little statistical data, some estimate that more than five million ecotourists—the majority of the ecotourist population—come from the United States , with many others from Western Europe , Canada , and Australia . Currently, there are various moves to create national and international ecotourism certification programs. National ecotourism certification programs have been put in place in countries such as Costa Rica, Australia , Kenya , Estonia , and Sweden . Sustainable tourism

7560-504: The late 19th century both invented new materials (e.g. Bakelite in 1907) and promised to transform valueless into valuable materials. Proverbially, you could not make a silk purse of a sow's ear —until the US firm Arthur D. Little published in 1921 "On the Making of Silk Purses from Sows' Ears", its research proving that when "chemistry puts on overalls and gets down to business [...] new values appear. New and better paths are opened to reach

7668-512: The late 21st century. The government of Panama predicted that several islands in the archipelago could be completely submerged by 2050, causing significant displacement requiring plans to move the indigenous residents to the mainland. The island of Carti Sugtupu is currently in the process of having its residents relocated due to frequent floods and rising sea levels, making the community the first in Panama to be displaced by climate change. Before

7776-561: The local people (which may be Indigenous people). Protected areas for instance require park rangers, and staff to maintain and operate the ecolodges and accommodation used by tourists. Also, the traditional culture can act as a tourist attraction, and can create a source of revenue by asking payment for the showing of performances (i.e., traditional dance, ...) Ecotourism can also help mitigate deforestation that happens when local residents, under economic stress, clear lands and create smallholder plots to grow cash crops. Such land clearing hurts

7884-471: The mainland in villages and the families will rotate their time living on the islands. On some of the islands, children can attend school. Most of the men now speak Spanish , although the women carry on older traditions. From 1679 to 1681, William Dampier started and ended his first journey with privateers and pirates in these islands which he called "The Samballoes," a rendezvous-place for pirates, convenient for hiding and privacy. The San Blas Islands have

7992-468: The money and spend the rest on consumer goods. These expenditures, in turn, will generate more jobs, wages, profits, and so on with the income and spending circulating the economy. The multiplier effect arises because of the induced increases in consumer spending which occur due to the increased incomes – and because of the feedback into increasing business revenues, jobs, and income again. This process does not lead to an economic explosion not only because of

8100-620: The most of what was available. Recycling household materials also meant more resources were left available for war efforts. Massive government campaigns, such as the National Salvage Campaign in Britain and the Salvage for Victory campaign in the United States, occurred in every fighting nation, urging citizens to donate metal, paper, rags, and rubber as a patriotic duty. A considerable investment in recycling occurred in

8208-524: The original object nor resemble it, with the consequence that a successful ancient recycling economy can become invisible when recycling is synonymous with re-melting rather than reuse. In pre-industrial times, there is evidence of scrap bronze and other metals being collected in Europe and melted down for continuous reuse. Paper recycling was first recorded in 1031 when Japanese shops sold repulped paper. In Britain dust and ash from wood and coal fires

8316-489: The parks' beaches used by nesting endangered sea turtles . The underdevelopment theory of tourism describes a new form of imperialism by multinational corporations that control ecotourism resources. These corporations finance and profit from the development of large-scale ecotourism that causes excessive environmental degradation, loss of traditional culture and way of life, and exploitation of local labor. In Zimbabwe and Nepal's Annapurna region, where underdevelopment

8424-583: The places they visit. Tour guides are an obvious and direct medium to communicate awareness. With the confidence of ecotourists and intimate knowledge of the environment, tour guides can actively discuss conservation issues. Informing ecotourists about how their actions on the trip can negatively impact their environment and the local people. A tour guide training program in Costa Rica's Tortuguero National Park has helped mitigate negative environmental impacts by providing information and regulating tourists on

8532-457: The possibility of Keynesian inefficiency and under-employment of resources, therefore, the multiplier concept is irrelevant or wrong-headed. As an example, consider the government increasing its expenditure on roads by $ 1  million, without a corresponding increase in taxation. This sum would go to the road builders, who would hire more workers and distribute the money as wages and profits. The households receiving these incomes will save part of

8640-513: The potential positive impacts of ecotourism, it is necessary to mention that ecotourism can have unintended negative effects as well. Negative impacts can be mitigated through regulations and codes of conduct that effectively and persuasively impart messages about appropriate visitor behavior. Ecotourism is a late 20th-century neologism compounded eco- and tourism . According to the Oxford English Dictionary , ecotour

8748-407: The preferred method due to the high cost of sorting commingled (mixed waste) collection. However, advances in sorting technology have substantially lowered this overhead, and many areas that had developed source separation programs have switched to what is called co-mingled collection . At buy-back centers, separated, cleaned recyclates are purchased, providing a clear incentive for use and creating

8856-532: The process the recyclates are sorted and cleaned. The main categories are mixed waste collection, commingled recyclables, and source separation. A waste collection vehicle generally picks up the waste. In mixed waste collection, recyclates are collected mixed with the rest of the waste, and the desired materials are sorted out and cleaned at a central sorting facility. This results in a large amount of recyclable waste (especially paper) being too soiled to reprocess, but has advantages as well: The city need not pay for

8964-607: The product aspect, treating ecotourism as equivalent to any sort of tourism based in nature. As a further complication, many terms are used under the rubric of ecotourism. Nature tourism, low impact tourism, green tourism, bio-tourism, ecologically responsible tourism, and others have been used in literature and marketing , although they are not necessarily synonymous with ecotourism. The problems associated with defining ecotourism have often led to confusion among tourists and academics. Many problems are also subject of considerable public controversy and concern because of green washing ,

9072-442: The properties it had in its original state. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions . It can also prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy use, air pollution (from incineration ) and water pollution (from landfilling ). Recycling is a key component of modern waste reduction and

9180-574: The properties of recycled waste plastic and sand bricks. The composite pavers can be sold at 100% profit while employing workers at 1.5× the minimum wage in the West African region, where distributed recycling has the potential to produce 19 million pavement tiles from 28,000 tons of plastic water sachets annually in Ghana , Nigeria , and Liberia . This has also been done with COVID19 masks. Once commingled recyclates are collected and delivered to

9288-402: The quality of final recyclate streams, and require extra efforts to discard those materials at later stages in the recycling process. Different collection systems can induce different levels of contamination. When multiple materials are collected together, extra effort is required to sort them into separate streams and can significantly reduce the quality of the final products. Transportation and

9396-569: The recent past due to the polarizing nature of their emissions. While viewed as a sustainable method of capturing energy from material waste feedstocks by many, others have cited numerous explanations for why the technology has not been scaled globally. For a recycling program to work, a large, stable supply of recyclable material is crucial. Three legislative options have been used to create such supplies: mandatory recycling collection, container deposit legislation , and refuse bans. Mandatory collection laws set recycling targets for cities, usually in

9504-897: The recyclates by weight, splitting lighter paper and plastic from heavier glass and metal. Cardboard is removed from mixed paper, and the most common types of plastic— PET (#1) and HDPE (#2)—are collected, so these materials can be diverted into the proper collection channels. This is usually done by hand; but in some sorting centers, spectroscopic scanners are used to differentiate between types of paper and plastic based on their absorbed wavelengths. Plastics tend to be incompatible with each other due to differences in chemical composition ; their polymer molecules repel each other, similar to oil and water. Strong magnets are used to separate out ferrous metals such as iron, steel and tin cans . Non-ferrous metals are ejected by magnetic eddy currents : A rotating magnetic field induces an electric current around aluminum cans, creating an eddy current inside

9612-485: The recyclers' costs. An alternative way to increase the supply of recyclates is to ban the disposal of certain materials as waste, often including used oil , old batteries, tires , and garden waste. This can create a viable economy for the proper disposal of the products. Care must be taken that enough recycling services exist to meet the supply, or such bans can create increased illegal dumping . Four forms of legislation have also been used to increase and maintain

9720-409: The recycling needs posed by this type of product. Copper slag is obtained when copper and nickel ores are recovered from their source ores using a pyrometallurgical process, and these ores usually contain other elements which include iron, cobalt, silica, and alumina. An estimate of 2.2–3 tons of copper slag is generated per ton of copper produced, resulting in around 24.6 tons of slag per year, which

9828-592: The recycling process. The 2000s saw a boom in both the sales of electronic devices and their growth as a waste stream: In 2002, e-waste grew faster than any other type of waste in the EU. This spurred investment in modern automated facilities to cope with the influx, especially after strict laws were implemented in 2003. As of 2014, the European Union had about 50% of world share of waste and recycling industries, with over 60,000 companies employing 500,000 people and

9936-487: The regulations of ecotourism may be poorly implemented, ecologically destructive greenwashed operations like underwater hotels and helicopter tours can be categorized as ecotourism along with canoeing, camping, photography, and wildlife observation. The failure to acknowledge responsible, low-impact ecotourism puts legitimate ecotourism companies at a competitive disadvantage. Management strategies to mitigate destructive operations include but are not limited to establishing

10044-586: The remanufacturing of clear glass products, there are tight restrictions for colored glass entering the re-melt process. Another example is the downcycling of plastic, where products such as plastic food packaging are often downcycled into lower quality products, and do not get recycled into the same plastic food packaging. The quality of recyclate not only supports high-quality recycling, but it can also deliver significant environmental benefits by reducing, reusing, and keeping products out of landfills . High-quality recycling can support economic growth by maximizing

10152-408: The seagrass that appeared to drive back tourists; conversely, they are crucial for local nutrient cycles. Recycling This is an accepted version of this page Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials . The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire

10260-428: The separate collection of recyclates, no public education is needed, and any changes to the recyclability of certain materials are implemented where sorting occurs. In a commingled or single-stream system , recyclables are mixed but kept separate from non-recyclable waste. This greatly reduces the need for post-collection cleaning, but requires public education on what materials are recyclable. Source separation

10368-545: The sheer quantity of e-waste , or its hazardous nature, and began to export the problem to developing countries without enforced environmental legislation. (For example, recycling computer monitors in the United States costs 10 times more than in China.) Demand for electronic waste in Asia began to grow when scrapyards found they could extract valuable substances such as copper , silver , iron , silicon , nickel , and gold during

10476-415: The situation. Researchers from Jadavpur University are presently working in this area for the development of ecotourism to be used as a tool for natural resource management. In Southeast Asia government and nongovernmental organizations are working together with academics and industry operators to spread the economic benefits of tourism into the kampungs and villages of the region. A recently formed alliance,

10584-486: The soil as quickly as natural forests. This can cause widespread soil erosion and often requiring large amounts of fertilizer to maintain the soil, while containing little tree and wild-life biodiversity compared to virgin forests. Also, the new trees planted are not as big as the trees that were cut down, and the argument that there would be "more trees" is not compelling to forestry advocates when they are counting saplings. In particular, wood from tropical rainforests

10692-678: The streets of American cities, taking advantage of market forces to recycle post-consumer materials into industrial production. Manufacturers of beverage bottles, including Schweppes , began offering refundable recycling deposits in Great Britain and Ireland around 1800. An official recycling system with refundable deposits for bottles was established in Sweden in 1884, and for aluminum beverage cans in 1982; it led to recycling rates of 84–99%, depending on type (glass bottles can be refilled around 20 times). New chemical industries created in

10800-445: The supply-side barriers at potential output (full employment) but because at each "round", the increase in consumer spending is less than the increase in consumer incomes. That is, the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) is less than one so that each round some extra income goes into saving, leaking out of the cumulative process. Each increase in spending is thus smaller than that of the previous round, preventing an explosion. Some of

10908-531: The value of waste material. Higher income levels from the sale of quality recyclates can return value significant to local governments, households and businesses. Pursuing high-quality recycling can also promote consumer and business confidence in the waste and resource management sector, and may encourage investment in it. There are many actions along the recycling supply chain, each of which can affect recyclate quality. Waste producers who place non-target and non-recyclable wastes in recycling collections can affect

11016-491: The visited)". Ecotourism is often misinterpreted as any form of tourism that involves nature (see jungle tourism ). Self-proclaimed practitioners and hosts of ecotourism experiences assume it is achieved by simply creating destinations in natural areas. According to critics of this commonplace and assumptive practice, true ecotourism must, above all, sensitize people to the beauty and fragility of nature. These critics condemn some operators as greenwashing their operations: using

11124-892: The waste producer to carry recyclates to a central location—either an installed or mobile collection station or the reprocessing plant itself. They are the easiest type of collection to establish but suffer from low and unpredictable throughput. For some waste materials such as plastic, recent technical devices called recyclebots enable a form of distributed recycling called DRAM ( distributed recycling additive manufacturing ). Preliminary life-cycle analysis (LCA) indicates that such distributed recycling of HDPE to make filament for 3D printers in rural regions consumes less energy than using virgin resin, or using conventional recycling processes with their associated transportation. Another form of distributed recycling mixes waste plastic with sand to make bricks in Africa . Several studies have looked at

11232-557: The wildlife. Vehicle use may erode and degrade the land ". There is a longstanding failure by the Peruvian government to acknowledge and protect Indigenous lands, and therefore the Indigenous peoples have been forced to protect their own land. The land has a better chance of staying safe and free from deforestation if the people who care about the land are the ones maintaining it. In the continuum of tourism activities that stretch from conventional tourism to ecotourism, there has been

11340-739: The world where several natural resources are abundant, but with human encroachment and habitats, these resources are depleting. Without the sustainable use of certain resources, they are destroyed, and floral and fauna species are becoming extinct. Ecotourism programs can be introduced for the conservation of these resources. Several plans and proper management programs can be introduced so that these resources remain untouched, and there are many organizations–including nonprofits–and scientists working on this field. Natural resources of hill areas like Kurseong in West Bengal are plenty in number with various flora and fauna, but tourism for business purpose poised

11448-520: The world's most exceptional biodiversity is located in the Galapagos Islands. These islands were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, then added to UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger in 2007. IGTOA is a non-profit dedicated to preserving this unique living laboratory against the challenges of invasive species, human impact, and tourism. For travelers who want to be mindful of

11556-638: Was collected by " dustmen " and downcycled as a base material for brick making. These forms of recycling were driven by the economic advantage of obtaining recycled materials instead of virgin material, and the need for waste removal in ever-more-densely populated areas. In 1813, Benjamin Law developed the process of turning rags into " shoddy " and " mungo " wool in Batley, Yorkshire, which combined recycled fibers with virgin wool . The West Yorkshire shoddy industry in towns such as Batley and Dewsbury lasted from

11664-645: Was first recorded in 1973 and ecotourism , "probably after ecotour ", in 1982. Some sources suggest the terms were used nearly a decade earlier. Claus-Dieter (Nick) Hetzer, an academic and adventurer from Forum International in Berkeley , CA, coined ecotourism in 1965, according to the Contra Costa Times, and ran the first ecotours in the Yucatán during the early 1970s. The definition of ecotourism adopted by Ecotourism Australia is: "Ecotourism

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