By Melissa Williams

I once told a friend that my goal in life was to never work a “nine to five.” I live that quote everyday, working till midnight at times and taking weeks away from my office in tropical settings to work remotely across multiple time zones. I look at my laptop clock and it’s 6:30 pm in my home city of Houston, Texas. But in my present moment of reality, it’s 8:30 am the next day as I sit at a little coffee shop staring across the street at the Whitsunday Islands of New South Whales, Australia.

The incredible biodiversity of the Galapagos Islands is a draw for nature enthusiasts of all ages. If you are looking for a family-friendly vacation to the Galapagos that adheres to your green ideals, check out Ecoventura, a cruise company that operates out of Ecuador and who offers itineraries, in a child-friendly environment, that will appeal to the child in all of us. Throughout the year Ecoventura sprinkles departures exclusively for families into its schedule.

By Annika S. Hipple

Purchasing a plastic bottle of water or two while traveling may not seem like a huge deal on an individual level, but multiply that by the number of travelers crisscrossing the globe every day and the impact is massive. On a global scale, 2.7 million tons of plastic are used annually for water bottles. Of the billions of single-use water bottles consumed in the United States every year, 86 percent end up as litter or in landfills; in many countries this number is even higher.

By J. Nichols

From the moment an egg is deposited in a sandy nest on a tropical beach, to the first time a baby turtle touches the sea, to decades later when she returns as an adult to lay her own eggs on very same beach, life is an endless series of life-and-death challenges for a sea turtle. Nature is stacked against survival, which is why a mother turtle lays thousands of eggs during her lifetime in order to simply replace herself.

By Brad Nahill

When many people hear the words “shark” and “tourism” in the same sentence, the first thing they think of is how to avoid them. Unfortunately these people are missing the opportunity to witness and learn about one of nature’s truly astounding creatures. While shark attacks are real and many movies and media outlets capitalize on this fear there are common sense ways to avoid danger and have a great experience while contributing to shark conservation efforts.

By Jim Lutz

I think the right way to travel in the Galapagos is to think more broadly about the overall type of tourism you are supporting, rather than focusing exclusively on the self-described “green” or “sustainable” practices of any individual tour operator or hotel. The main consideration, in my mind, is keeping tourism small scale, non-intrusive, and nature-oriented. In practice, this means the best type of tour is with the smaller vessels that are licensed to operate live-aboard tours.

By Ethan Gelber

There’s an island in the Caribbean skirted by beaches of fine white powder that give way to pristine waters of disarming blue. Yes, that may sound like the description of a lot of Caribbean islands, but few are as distinctive as San Salvador, one of the many beachheads of the Bahamas and site of a surpassingly beautiful and uncorrupted body of water known as the Lagoon.

Blue Ventures isn’t just an ecotourism company or a volunteer organization, it’s a social enterprise. It works with local communities to conserve threatened marine and coastal environments, protecting biodiversity and relieving poverty in the process. They focus on ecotourism, sustainable fisheries management, aquaculture, and blue carbon. Their conservation projects directly affect the local economy, but they go one step further, providing scholarships for children to attend school and providing marine science training to Malagasy science graduates.

By Joe Ascanio

By supporting efforts to protect endangered species through fees and donations, conservation tourism aims to benefit local communities; increasing awareness and appreciation for our planet’s environmental and ecological concerns while delivering a much-needed sustainable source of revenue for conservation efforts. However, it can be difficult for travelers to accurately determine just how much of their financial commitment directly benefits conservation projects.

By Andre Franchini

If you’re new to eco-travel, ecolodges are a great place to start. Frame your trip around an ecolodge that stands out. Look for places that have gained international recognition and awards for the conservation and community work they are doing. Look for places that meet third-party green certification standards. Find your fantasy ecolodge, then make it the centrepiece of your trip.