to get to the galápagos — in the pacific ocean a good distance west of ecuador — first each of our u.s.-based travelers had to complete a series of what we’re going to call “side quests,” as that’s a bit more fun than the drudgery of pre-trip covid tests, several flights, weather challenges, and extra long lines. but these quests were well worth it when we first saw the bright turquoise waters and rustic, almost desertlike landscapes — home to the incredible endemic and native species of the galápagos.

our intrepid storytellers — deepti bansal gage, jake meyers, cate twining-ward, and avery van etten — spent a week exploring several islands in the galápagos archipelago. three were aboard the national geographic endeavour ii, and avery, who persevered through weather-related travel challenges, was aboard the national geographic islander.

the sights and experiences our team — and each of our ships and fellow guests — encountered were absolutely incredible. and one of the extremely memorable parts of that, beyond the obvious, is the food served on the ship.

guests are treated to an amazing daily array of fresh foods — from local juices of fruits many of us were not familiar with, to super grains, salads, sustainable seafood, meat, vegetarian and vegan main courses, and desserts made from and highlighting tropical fruit (one dessert which was entitled “the story of the pineapple” will forever live in my mind, thank you!), and much more.

but, like everything else, lindblad took care of our food guilt too, thanks to a farm-to-table program — just one of many initiatives lindblad expeditions participates in to support locals and their economy. lindblad purchases “30-40 tons of local and organic produce annually” for its galápagos ships, according to its website. that means money is invested directly in galápagos farms and supports the people who live in the galápagos — because there’s more than just the incredible flora and fauna in the archipelago. there also are about 30,000 inhabitants on four islands.

on top of food for lindblad’s many guests, “100% of all other (non-produce) provisions are sourced either in the islands or from the mainland of ecuador.” all of which can provide a significant impact on the local economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism and was hard hit when covid ceased travel. the afp reported that the galápagos tourism chamber estimated that the economy lost out on $850 million from march 2020 to march 2021. since reopening in july 2021 with relaxed restrictions, the galápagos is working to rebuild — all while protecting what makes the islands unique.

you can learn more about the archipelago in the stories our team is sharing from their adventures. they cover everything from endemic species to the human inhabitants on the galápagos, to changes in protected areas and a look at the evolution of a naturalist. look for them on planetforward.org.

brenda and robert vale, eco-footprint experts from new zealand, concluded in their controversial 2009 book “time to eat the dog? the real guide to sustainable living,” that owning a medium-sized dog is twice as environmentally expensive as making a toyota land cruiser and driving it for 10,000 kilometers (about 6,200 miles), according to an article in the globe and mail. cats, on the other hand, were about one-fifth as taxing on the environment, or the equivalent of doing the same with a volkswagen golf, the paper reported.

and a los angeles times opinion piece said, “plastic bags of poop account for 4% of the municipal waste in san francisco’s landfills, as much as the whole city’s disposal diapers. and every ounce of it produces methane — a greenhouse gas 30% more powerful than carbon dioxide. the city of chicago’s 68 million pounds of annual dog poop creates 102 million cubic feet of unburned methane.”

of course, some people don’t bother to pick up the waste. “it’s organic,” right? the la times article said dog waste, when washed down storm drains into streams and the ocean, fuels toxic algae blooms that suck up oxygen and turn coastal habitats into dead zones. so that’s not the answer, either.

and not all of the pet conundrum stems from actual waste. pets have to eat, too. a lot of what they eat is meat, which we already know comes with a hefty footprint. but beyond that, their processed foods contain “double or triple the protein that studies show animals need,” the globe and mail article reported. so not only are they eating foods with a heavy carbon footprint to start, they’re eating more of it. yes, some pet food companies use ingredients that incorporate byproducts or leftovers from the food chain — which would reduce the food’s footprint — but it’s “not enough to offset the willingness of many animal lovers to pay a premium for pet cuisine,” the globe and mail article said.

this doesn’t even take into account the problems with chemicals used to treat fleas or ticks, or the footprint of producing and importing oh-so-cute outfits for those who take the phrase “babying your pet” to heart.

so what to do about the pet problem? here are a few tips to lessen your pets’ eco-pawprint.

food

perhaps the easiest solution here is to simply choose foods for your pet that have a smaller footprint. that includes chicken and rabbit, according to the la times. that’s still not the greenest of foods, but going vegetarian probably isn’t a great option for your pet. a recent study found that vegetarian-labeled pet food assessed in the study “were not compliant with association of american feed control officials’ labeling regulations, and there were concerns regarding adequacy of amino acid content.” so aim for lowering the footprint, but don’t expect a dramatic decrease.

waste

there are actually multiple solutions here — some which could be scaled up on a city or county level and some which you could easily incorporate right at your home.

— flush it. pick up after your dog, bring it home and then flush it. but don’t flush cat waste. why? the eggs of toxoplasma gondii, a parasite found in cat poop, may survive the wastewater treatment process and contaminate waterways, according to the natural resources defense council.

— bury it. the nrdc suggests using corn-based biodegradable bags to bury the waste, locating your holes away from vegetable plants and ensuring that the water table isn’t too high in your area so the waste won’t get into groundwater.

— compost it — in a special composter. you can either purchase a dog waste composter, such as the doggie dooley, or make your own, using a trash can. with either option you use the same enzymes as in a septic tank to help break down the waste. again, this is not for cat waste, but if you have an herbivorous pet, such as a hamster, rabbit or guinea pig, you can put their waste right in the regular garden compost.

— pick a better cat litter. skip the clay-based litters. instead, go for one made with wheat, corn, reclaimed pine shavings or recycled newspapers. there are lots of options in stores now.

— pet waste digester. you may be familiar with agriculture using anaerobic digesters, which convert manure into energy. this is the same concept, but using dog waste as the methane agent. the la times said an artist at the massachusetts institute of technology created a waste digester for a cambridge, mass., dog park, which powers the lights for the park. 

(image at top: pixabay.)

despite the epicenter being 250 miles west from the city, the national institute of standards and technology (nist) said the quake shook the relatively unstable ground for nearly three minutes. “as the aquifer under the city has slowly drained, it has been discovered that the city sits atop a combination of dirt and sand that is much less stable than bedrock and can be quite volatile during an earthquake,” nist said in a report.

the death toll was unthinkable — 10,000 perished. some 30,000 were injured. an estimated 250,000 were left homeless. nearly 3,000 buildings were completely demolished. and another 100,000 had serious damage.

worsening the blow, just over a day later, a 7.5-magnitude aftershock hit.

in the aftermath, scientists looked at what could be done to prevent such a tragedy of this magnitude from happening again. by 1990, an early warning system, called sasmex was in place to give immediate warning to those in harm’s way. this was combined with efforts to reinforce the city’s structures and establish strict building codes for new structures to protect against future quakes, according to the christian science monitor.

all of this is extremely relevant to the united states and, in particular, california. with depleting groundwater, a side effect has been a rise in the earth’s surface, which may end up triggering small earthquakes, according to the national science foundation. and we’re due for another big quake soon, as previous major quakes in the region have happened every 110 to 140 years. los angeles isn’t out of the woods, according to the smithsonian magazine. the last big quake to hit that region was 1857, with the 7.9-magnitude fort tejon quake, 158 years ago. and we’re sitting at 147 years since the 1868 temblor on the hayward fault in the san francisco area, while the northern part of the san andreas fault last hit san francisco in 1906 — 109 years ago — which has been compared in the tragedy’s magnitude to hurricane katrina. 

(photo at top: mexico city’s general hospital collapsed in the quake. source: united states geological survey)

“railroading in the 1890s would see several east-west and north-south main lines in operation including no less than five routes connecting” the west coast with the midwest and the deep south, american rails reports. but by the early 1920s, several issues pressed on rail as a mode of transportation: the monopolies created by railroad owners, heavy regulation and increased travel by air and auto. 

since the ’20s, rail use in the united states has diminished, with the industry suffering bankruptcies, takeovers and, in an attempt to revitalize the rails, eventual deregulation by the staggers rail act of 1980.

in more recent history, there has been a push for high-speed rail in the u.s., including $11 billion spent since 2009 to develop faster trains — an effort that was supposed to be president obama’s signature transportation project, according to the new york times. while we haven’t seen these improvements yet, there are three noteworthy high-speed train projects in the works: one each in texas (which will use the japanese bullet trains), florida and california. these all would connect two major cities and would cut travel times basically in half, all while providing passengers with a comfortable ride and lessening the burden on the environment as well. 

the wall street journal reports that the “sweet spot for revenue is in journeys between 200 and 600 miles,” which is about one to three hours of travel time by bullet train. compared to air, these so-called “short-haul” trips make up the bulk of u.s. air travel, and they also happen to be where airlines are the most wasteful, according to the article. once the infrastructure is built, which requires governmental and consumer support, high-speed rail could be a way ease our impact on the environment, experience less stress and save time, too.

we have an easy suggestion for you — and it’s not a new concept by any means, but it’s one we all should really make an effort to do: make it a goal to always have a reusable bag on hand. carry at least one in your book bag, purse, backpack, car or bike pouch at all times. most are foldable and some pack up in their own carrying case, which means you really have no excuse.

why bother to make the (very small) effort? 

these days, some stores charge you a small fee for bags, while some give you a credit of a few cents for bringing your own. in most of the country, these fees are optional and at the discretion of retailers. but some counties, cities and states have passed laws mandating fees, like in the nation’s capital, which has had a bag tax in place since 2010, and hawaii, which is the first state to ban plastic bags — granted, at the county level, not by the state legislature. (oahu became the last populated island in the state to ban the bags as of july 1. though apparently there’s a bit of a loophole there.)

if a few pennies here and there is not enough motivation, take a look at the great pacific garbage patch. it’s a giant swath of plastic trash — literally too large for scientists to trawl to measure, according to national geographic. not all of this, obviously, is plastic bags. but it’s certainly part of the problem. beyond pollution, the danger extends to marine animals as well. 

bottom line? it’s way past time to ditch the plastic bag habit. solutions include:

• purchasing a reusable bag. some are made of recycled plastic bottles. (is that the “inception” of recycling — reusing a bag made of recycled materials?)
• making your own bags out of recycled materials. got an old t-shirt or 20?
• skipping a bag altogether. think about it: if you carried it up to the register in just your hands, do you really need a bag? 

another bonus of reusable bags is they are much sturdier than the disposable options from stores these days. so, save your expensive eggs from disaster.

just remember: reuse widely and wisely. and give those reusable bags a wash every now and then to avoid the risk of cross-contamination, too.