Although there is another person on our blog delegated to writing about environmental concerns, I thought I would write a post about how that relates to communities. Each one of our four topics is connected to the others, so it's important to realize that taking steps to benefit any one of these things will benefit the others as well.
One of the most significant is water conservation. There are as many people in Africa without water as there are people living in the United States and Russia combined. Typically, women and children are the ones who have to find water and carry it back to their homes on their heads, walking distances as far as 10 kilometers. This process takes 3-9 hours each day and causes injury over time to the neck and spine.
When traveling in African countries with water issues, it's exceedingly important that you do your part and don't take water away from the locals.
- Bring a glass or stainless steel water bottle with you when you travel and fill it up as you go. When the water gets stale, use it to water a plant or give it to a thirsty animal. Invest in some water purification tablets or some filtration systems as well.
- Take short showers, and turn the water off when you lather.
- Be aware that certain foods use more water than others to produce. Find out what the water footprint of foods are so you can make better choices. For example, it takes 15 gallons of water to produce a pound of lettuce, while it can take up to 5,000 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef.
- Try to wear clothes a few times between washes, and wash what you can in the sink.
- Re-use towels at the hotel. Usually they only wash towels left on the floor.
Check out this link for more tips, as well as a list of recommended safari lodges that are friendly to the environment as well as the community.
Wildlife parks and safaris generate jobs for locals, improve economy, and reduce the poverty rate. Kruger national park supports from 300,000-600,000 people because they use local goods)
Wildlife itself is important to Africans, who have been living there and co-existing with animals for literally thousands and thousands of years. Wild plants an animals are a source of food and medicine, while many invertebrates are needed for decomposition and pollination, two processes that necessary for life.
The bottom line is that all of our topics on this blog are connected, and making an effort to support any one of these causes will usually support the rest too.
Happy traveling!
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