Organizations that work toward the conservation of sea turtle nesting sites such as SEE Turtles know that their work is essential in the preservation of these areas so that sea turtles can flourish.

Director Brad Nahill and his team at SEE Turtles have a mission to contribute profits to conservation, providing necessary income to communities that surround the sea turtle nesting sites. He shared his latest news with GreenSpot.travel:

“Building on a successful first year, the SEE Turtles (www.seeturtles.org) conservation tourism program is relaunching its website with a new look and expanded offerings.  Visitors to the website will find a variety of new trips to participate in sea turtle conservation and research in beautiful surroundings.  SEE Turtles creates partnerships with leading tour operators and organizations to promote travel to sea turtle hotspots where a modest amount of tourism can greatly benefit conservation efforts. Each trip generates donations for turtle conservation and creates alternatives to turtle poaching or irresponsible fishing in small coastal communities in Baja California Mexico, Costa Rica, and Trinidad & Tobago.”

Thanks to Brad and SEE Turtles for another great example of how green travel can create positive impacts.

Make sure to check out SEE Turtles’ 10 Tips for Turtle Watching!

It pays to walk a trail with a naturalist guide. A good guide will help keep you out of danger, help you spot wildlife and tell wonderful stories about what you see.

We have hiked through rainforests of Costa Rica and Belize and through jungles along the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers with naturalist/guides.

Here four of the naturalists we have travelled with … Marcel Lichtenstein, Carla Weston, Conrad Weston, and Dr. Charles Leavell … share their tips on the ways to walk a trail like an expert and have satisfying sightings of wildlife in even the most remote areas: 

1. Go with only a few other people. Big groups don’t work.

2. Go at sunrise and sunset if you can. As sunlight arrives, monkeys are screaming and birds are chirping; at sunset they are giving their goodnight calls.

3. Know where you’re going. Is it a loop trail or must you return the same way you came? Watch for landmarks on the way to make returning easier.

4. Stay on the trail. Watch where you walk. When you’re looking up at the trees, don’t move your feet. When you’re moving your feet, look down. If you’re going to touch something, take a close look before doing it…

To see the rest of the 14 tips on jungle walking go to http://smallshipcruises.com/walkthisway.html

If you are incredibly interested in green issues in general, have you thought about how you feel for greener toys? How many tons of batteries do you think Americans throw away every year? 10,000 tons? 50,000 tons? Nope. Turns out we generate closer to around 150,000 tons of battery waste a year. No matter what kind of battery you’re using, that amounts to some pretty major bad news. Your children probably have more than a couple of battery powered toys. Have you ever really looked at the waste involved?

These days it seems like every toy we wrap for Christmas or a birthday needs an expensive pack of double-As. But, unsurprisingly, these little cylinders of toxic chemicals are anything but green.

And to make matters worse almost all household batteries end up in landfill, where their toxic entrails can leak out. What’s more, batteries are woefully inefficient power sources, requiring 50 times more energy to make than they generate.

If this is case in your house, this holiday season you might want to consider some of the eco-friendly toys that are on the market that’ll keep your children entertained without the waste going into landfills everyday.

Then there is the issue of the packaging of the popular toys that sit on store shelves waiting for consumers to snatch them up. Every year, the pile of debris that follows present opening seems to grow as manufacturers devise ever more elaborate boxes. The reason for all the wire ties, molded plastic, and boxes an origami master would struggle to fashion, is simple – toy makers want their products to stand out on the shelves. But with this type of packaging, neither the environment nor the consumer benefits. You have to marvel at the way toy companies have invested so much in designing packaging that’s impossible to get into. In many cases, the dimensions of packaging are 80 per cent higher than that of the toys inside. Ad the really bad part – only a tiny percentage of that waste is ever recycled.

With the holiday season here consider going green with toys this year and forget the batteries.
You can find more information for eco friendly toys: http://www.ecomall.com/biz/toys.htm

Green Gifts for Him, Her and the Kids: http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/?node=394379011&tag=
http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/batteries.php
http://earth911.org/recycling/battery-recycling/