Whole Travel Blog

I spend a ton of time driving to and from climbing spots, and flying to and from climbing spots. There are a few simple practices that I have adopted in my travels to help my traveling become a bit greener.

1. Keep my own coffee mug in the car. That way when I stop at Starbucks to get coffee, they can use my mug, and not use their paper cups.

2. Use Google Maps on my cell phone. Almost every cell phone has the ability to either download a Google Maps app or connect to Google Maps. Use your phone to get Google Maps directions to your destination rather that printing out all the directions and maps. It saves a ton of paper!

3. Bring an empty reusable water bottle to the airport. You can’t bring water through security, but you can bring an empty bottle! That way when you get into the terminal, you can fill your bottle up at the water fountain and save having to buy and use a plastic bottle of water at one of the airport stores!

Nothing fancy about it, but every little bit counts!

Happy Adventuring!

Brandon Hensinger

Ascent Adventure Consultants- Bringing Adventure to Life

The Economist published two articles last week focusing on endangered and threatened species. The first of these articles, Living on the Edge, chronicles the number of animals on the verge of obliteration, citing that “of the 44,838 species considered, 16,928 are threatened with extinction, including almost a quarter of the world’s mammals.” This is a shocking number considering the many conservation programs in place around the world.  However, it tells us that these programs aren’t doing enough.

In the Amazon alone, a piece the size of Rhode Island was deforested in the second half of 2007, making way for soybean farms and taking with it all the birds, bugs, and mammals endemic to that region. Malaysia is also clearing its forests to make room for palm oil trees to be converted into biodiesel.

Reasons for species endangerment aren’t limited to deforestation, but vary from poaching to global warming to pollution. While eco tourism, heightened awareness, and conservation efforts can help some of these cases, another tool that might help save threatened species is a new database which The Economist discusses in Where the Wild Things Are. Called the Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool, or IBAT for short, this online database aims to “make it easier for businesses to incorporate concerns about conservation into their planning from the beginning of a project,” thereby being able to idenitify biodiverse habitats and the species that are endemic to them, and as a result, make it easier for these business to alter their building plans to preserve ecological hotspots.

From American cyclists arriving in Beijing wearing surgical masks to front-page photos of gray, haze-obscured Olympic venues, the lead-up to the 2008 Olympic Games was congested with complaints and controversy surrounding Beijing’s poor air quality. Focusing a significant amount of energy on the faults of the Chinese government, major American media outlets featured Chief Medical Editors and Air Quality Correspondents in order to highlight Beijing’s “poor preparation” and “failed attempts” to purge smog from the city’s skyline. Throughout this process, there was little mention of the drastic and progressive measures that the city of Beijing undertook in an effort to successfully reduce pollution for the duration of the Games. Where was the praise for the 1.1 million cars removed from Beijing streets from Aug. 8 – Aug. 24? Where was the recognition for shutting down polluting factories & harmful construction? Where was the applause for lowering city-wide pollution by over 50% in a period of only one month?

Beijing's Bird's Nest Olympic Venue surrounded by blue skies!

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