{"id":1412,"date":"2010-07-16T12:10:34","date_gmt":"2010-07-16T17:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/hungerrumblings\/?p=1412"},"modified":"2010-07-16T12:10:34","modified_gmt":"2010-07-16T17:10:34","slug":"no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/","title":{"rendered":"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m on vacation. I\u2019m having a great time. And it\u2019s surprisingly sustainable.<\/p>\n

Sustainable travel <\/em>or green travel<\/em> are expensive-sounding terms that imply vacations in exotic places like Bhutan or Costa Rica, places with jungles or peaks or dangerous rivers, places you fly to (earning fistfuls of carbon-offset credits) to do a dash of volunteering and engage another culture, preferably with a competent indigenous guide. In short, something other people do\u2014other people with a whole lot more money.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The sun sets over the meadow<\/p><\/div>\n

No jungles here. My brother and I only drove up to South Lake Tahoe to spend the week at a family member\u2019s unrented rental house. It was a cheap \u2013 okay, make that free \u2013 opportunity to hang out in the mountains in exchange for a little midsummer cleaning.<\/p>\n

The big surprise has been how the car has stayed put as we have explored Tahoe\u2019s greatly expanding bike trails and public transportation system.<\/p>\n

Like many cities, South Lake Tahoe is working on sustainability. As it implements a sustainability plan<\/a> designed to \u201cincrease its livability and prosperity, reduce the ecological footprint of its residents and improve human and ecological health,\u201d it is beefing up \u201cincreased mobility options\u201d to \u201creduce dependence on the automobile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The trolley waits for us at the South Y Transit Center<\/p><\/div>\n

Their work shows. One day we biked to Camp Richardson and Fallen Leaf Lake on safe, quiet roads and separate paths, loading our bikes onto a water taxi when we traveled back to town. We spent another day swimming, hiking, and exploring the Emerald Bay area thanks to the BlueGo #50 bus route and the summer-only \u201cNifty 50 Trolley.\u201d The $5 all-day bus pass meant we didn\u2019t have to compete with thousands of other people for the few parking spots along Highway 89.<\/p>\n

Every evening I have walked along the beautiful Upper Truckee Marsh, a 513-acre wetlands restored by city and state agencies in order to filter out nutrients and pollutants that threaten Tahoe\u2019s clear blue water. During the day I have walked past heavy equipment operators upgrading the stormwater management system\u2014part of South Lake Tahoe\u2019s plans for \u201cinfrastructure that improves water and air quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just about the only stated sustainability goal I haven\u2019t seen much evidence of is local food. As the city\u2019s plan says, \u201cClimate and elevation make local food production a challenge.\u201d So do tourist expectations of abundant, gambling-subsidized meals. And I confess, I enjoyed every last non-local, non-organic, completely unsustainable bite of the ample Forest Buffet at Harrah\u2019s Stateline!<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t expect to live sustainably at Tahoe. In fact, I was thinking, oh well, we\u2019re driving there and back, and this is the land of the RV and the jet ski, so for a week, I\u2019ll just set aside my own practices and enjoy what\u2019s available, and maybe we\u2019ll drive the recycling back home. What a delight to discover that South Lake Tahoe is going more than half way to meet me, doing the hard work of envisioning, planning, and setting up systems that make it easier for people to live or visit sustainably.<\/p>\n

So, entirely by accident, I ended up taking my principles with me on vacation. You can do it on purpose. Where are you vacationing this summer? How are you getting there? Can you avoid flying, and drive or take the train instead? When you get there, what kind of systems can you participate in to avoid driving, generating waste, polluting or overusing water, and overconsuming local resources?<\/p>\n

Do your research ahead of time, because alternatives may still be \u201calternative\u201d and underpublicized. I had to work to find the Nifty50 Trolley schedule, in part because, with only one an hour, the transit system really can\u2019t handle a big passenger load. It\u2019s a great first step, but it will take many more riders and lots of publicity to make it grow.<\/p>\n

If you can’t find any alternatives to the tried-and-true, to individual transportation, to unsorted garbage, to chain-store purchases, then you can spend your vacation politely asking <\/em>for them. Create the demand.<\/p>\n

May all of our vacations help nurture another community\u2019s sustainability goals along with our own commitments, so that sustainable travel becomes the way all of us go on vacation.<\/p>\n

Anne Basye, Sustaining Simplicity: A Journal <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m on vacation. I\u2019m having a great time. And it\u2019s surprisingly sustainable. Sustainable travel or green travel are expensive-sounding terms that imply vacations in exotic places like Bhutan or Costa Rica, places with jungles or peaks or dangerous rivers, places you fly to (earning fistfuls of carbon-offset credits) to do a dash of volunteering and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNo jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits - ELCA World Hunger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits - ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m on vacation. I\u2019m having a great time. And it\u2019s surprisingly sustainable. Sustainable travel or green travel are expensive-sounding terms that imply vacations in exotic places like Bhutan or Costa Rica, places with jungles or peaks or dangerous rivers, places you fly to (earning fistfuls of carbon-offset credits) to do a dash of volunteering and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ELCA World Hunger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-07-16T17:10:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Basye\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Basye\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anne Basye\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/209f6f1d6570a27deb6812817841eb7c\"},\"headline\":\"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-07-16T17:10:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":748,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/52\\\/hungerrumblings\\\/2010\\\/07\\\/2010-July-LT-014AA1-300x224.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Post\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/\",\"name\":\"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits - ELCA World Hunger\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/52\\\/hungerrumblings\\\/2010\\\/07\\\/2010-July-LT-014AA1-300x224.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-07-16T17:10:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/209f6f1d6570a27deb6812817841eb7c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/52\\\/hungerrumblings\\\/2010\\\/07\\\/2010-July-LT-014AA1-300x224.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/52\\\/hungerrumblings\\\/2010\\\/07\\\/2010-July-LT-014AA1-300x224.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/\",\"name\":\"ELCA World Hunger\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/209f6f1d6570a27deb6812817841eb7c\",\"name\":\"Anne Basye\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ef21b2cfc7a200042163f395dd1107599acb82aba458d253a59ae6a53534fe8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ef21b2cfc7a200042163f395dd1107599acb82aba458d253a59ae6a53534fe8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4ef21b2cfc7a200042163f395dd1107599acb82aba458d253a59ae6a53534fe8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anne Basye\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.elca.org\\\/worldhunger\\\/author\\\/annebasye\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits - ELCA World Hunger","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits - ELCA World Hunger","og_description":"I\u2019m on vacation. I\u2019m having a great time. And it\u2019s surprisingly sustainable. Sustainable travel or green travel are expensive-sounding terms that imply vacations in exotic places like Bhutan or Costa Rica, places with jungles or peaks or dangerous rivers, places you fly to (earning fistfuls of carbon-offset credits) to do a dash of volunteering and […]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/","og_site_name":"ELCA World Hunger","article_published_time":"2010-07-16T17:10:34+00:00","author":"Anne Basye","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anne Basye","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/"},"author":{"name":"Anne Basye","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#\/schema\/person\/209f6f1d6570a27deb6812817841eb7c"},"headline":"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits","datePublished":"2010-07-16T17:10:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/"},"wordCount":748,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/hungerrumblings\/2010\/07\/2010-July-LT-014AA1-300x224.jpg","articleSection":["Post"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/","name":"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits - ELCA World Hunger","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/hungerrumblings\/2010\/07\/2010-July-LT-014AA1-300x224.jpg","datePublished":"2010-07-16T17:10:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#\/schema\/person\/209f6f1d6570a27deb6812817841eb7c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/hungerrumblings\/2010\/07\/2010-July-LT-014AA1-300x224.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/hungerrumblings\/2010\/07\/2010-July-LT-014AA1-300x224.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/no-jungle-no-guide-no-carbon-offset-credits\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"No jungle, no guide, no carbon-offset credits"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/","name":"ELCA World Hunger","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/#\/schema\/person\/209f6f1d6570a27deb6812817841eb7c","name":"Anne Basye","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ef21b2cfc7a200042163f395dd1107599acb82aba458d253a59ae6a53534fe8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ef21b2cfc7a200042163f395dd1107599acb82aba458d253a59ae6a53534fe8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ef21b2cfc7a200042163f395dd1107599acb82aba458d253a59ae6a53534fe8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anne Basye"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/author\/annebasye\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1412\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}