bemoreeco

World Water Day 2009 is this Sunday, March 22/09.  Ethical travel company responsibletravel.com warns of the serious impact that tourism is having on the world’s water supply.  Many destinations including Barcelona and Mexico City face water shortages.   In developing countries, visitors often use much more water each day than a local person does.

responsibletravel.com offers these 10 Water Saving Tips For Travelers:

1. “Pack your eco habits with you! Just as you would at home, try and remain aware of your water usage and take steps to minimise it where possible.”
2. “Ask questions of your hotel or tour operators. Do they measure their water usage? Do they set reduction targets? Do they have dual flush toilets? Are they harvesting rainwater? Do they have a water butt?”
3. “Take shorter showers and less baths.”
4. “Think about your ‘virtual’ water use whilst on holiday too – vast amounts of water are used to produce food stuffs as well as textiles such as cotton.”
5. “Golf courses can be serious water guzzlers. The average amount of water used by one golf course in Thailand is enough for 60,000 Thai villagers for one day. If you want to play golf, check with the club as to what steps they are taking to minimise their water usage.”
6. “Swimming pools are another water drainer – natural or salt water pools are better. Hotels should also be covering their pool at night to reduce evaporation.”
7. “Does your tour operator or hotel work with local communities to ensure access to clean water and sanitation facilities?”
8. “Ensure your hotel only washes your towels and bed linen when absolutely necessary. This is just one step amongst many that they should be taking to reduce water usage.”
9. “Fill up a reusable bottle with drinkable water in your hotel or guesthouse if you can – not only will you save money by buying less bottled water but you’ll also help with the problem of plastic bottle waste. It can be even harder to recycle these in developing countries in particular.”
10. “If you come across leaky pipes and dripping taps, report them to hotel staff and keep badgering them until you see it fixed!”