Have u seen backpackers damaging the environment?
If so, did u do anything about it?
I'd say that, for the most part, backpackers do respect the environment. I personally have yet to see a backpacker do anything damaging. Most of us know that we are there experiencing the local scenery and want to encourage friends to do the same, therefore, we don't want to ruin it for everyone else. We are generally limited, most often for budgetary reasons, to public transport when in or traveling between cities, which is more eco-friendly. Those of us who have also done some trail or back-woods camping/hiking know how precious the natural surroundings we are enjoying are, and we tend to protect them.
Reply to this Ok, there was a problem with the link above mine when I posted. Some people are just jerks and get what they deserve.
Reply to this I was really shocked when I read the guys age.
I though he was some terrible teenager at first but he is 28. Ugh!!!!!!
Mel
Reply to this Good on the other tourists in the story!! I was disgusted by what he did, not just because I'm a Kiwi.
I haven't personally witnessed anything like that happening, and hopefully never do.
I think it would have been appropriate if in this kind of situation perpetrators are fined, and the payment given to the department responsible for its conservation.
Reply to this I personally have very rarely seen backpackers intentionally damage the environment.
What I have seen a vast amount of is locals throwing trash from bus windows, into the sea, fly tipping - both in developed and undeveloped countries.
Here in Brazil there are posters doing the rounds illustrating how long various rubbish lasts - paper 3-6 months, metal 100 years, plastic 100 years, glass 1,000 years - and most surprising to me is chewing gum 5 years.
I think that for the most part respect for the environment is linked with education - developed countries tend to have better education and therefore in general more respect from the population - unfortunately they have usually long destroyed much of their own wilderness.
Reply to this I think that many people don't realize how fragile the planet is and that we have reached a point where (as far are we know) we need to take care of it because the situation has got too far...
If they don't care about it when they are at home, why would they change when they are somewhere else?? I can't imagine myself throwing anything on the floor, that's just as crazy an idea as to put salt in my coffee...it just doesn't happen, or get a plastic bag at the supermarket...but many people can't be bothered to carry an empty can for 20 mins or until they find a bin, it's easier to just throw it away there and then, or carry your own bags to the supermarket (why should they if they get free bags there??) ...as Ali said, it has to do with the education or, actually, with the lack of it.
I'm sure the streets of Munich have a few of this guy's graffiti so, if he thinks it cool to do it at home, why not on the glacier where more people will see it??
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