Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. Boy, am I glad to have you here! First and foremost, I would like to say that this blog is intended to educate you about the importance of sustainability-promoting travel and what you can specifically do to travel a little more responsibly. Although I will primarily focus on sustainability-promoting travel in Chicago, I hope that you all can apply the broader concepts to any destination you may visit.

I hope to contribute to this blog every week. I will explain terms and answer common questions (such as, What does sustainability mean anyway? And how can one apply it to tourism?), recognize Chicago businesses and tourist hotspots that are adopting sustainability-oriented practices, suggest article recommendations, and share anything else I deem as blog-worthy.

Over the last few years, the media has been bombarding us with words such as “sustainable”, “eco-friendly”, and “green”, and now they are common household terms. Perhaps it is due to the fact that I’ve been living in a college town the last four years, but it seems that people have responded to this large scale campaign and have adopted a whole new attitude about protecting the earth. Many people I see everyday drink out of hard plastic water bottles, recycle, use reusable shopping bags, use public transportation/walk/ride bikes, shop at locally owned businesses, etc. Whether their motives are to save money, protect the earth, follow the “green” trend, feel good about themselves, or whatever else, I think it is great. These little steps can lead to grander acts.

More and more people are realizing that they are responsible for the consequences of their actions and that should be no different when they are on vacation. However, this can be a harder concept to grasp because travelers frequently are more carefree versions of themselves while vacationing. Furthermore, they are not around to see the long-term effects of their behavior. I hope this blog inspires you to travel in a way where you are not hurting the destination you are visiting but maybe even leaving it in a little better condition.

Goodbye for now.