Littering is a huge problem in tourist cities, especially those near the coast. If not managed properly, too much waste can negatively affect the marine environment and the local landscape, not to mention the health of the residents and tourists alike.
The basic process involves the following:
1. Reduce. Produce as little garbage as possible by minimizing consumption of too much plastic materials. Don’t over-order, practice green procurement, and choose products with returnable or little packaging.
2. Reuse. Instead of throwing items away, find means to reuse them, or you can sell them off or donate them.
3. Sort. There should be a system for sorting waste items, like cans, bottles, paper, and cardboard for recycling.
4. Recycle. The sorted waste should then be sent for recycling. Recycling is a must, given the incredible stream of waste products around, especially plastic.Read more about the facts here.
Apart from the key approach above, here are more strategies that cities are adapting to better manage waste in their area.
Local preservation
On top of the everyday waste produced by the residents, tourist cities have to deal with the extra amount of waste caused by the visitors. Managing waste is not just about maintaining cleanliness and keeping health and environmental hazards at bay. It could also be a matter of local preservation, especially in cities that bear UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The World Heritage city of Bergen for example is swarming with tourists for its renown as the ‘gateway to fjords’. The city has then resolved to develop an underground waste disposal system,Bossnett, to preserve the medieval city center.
This project comprises of a network of vacuum pipes constructed beneath the city to allow waste to be transmitted to the outskirts. In the outlying districts, they sort and process the waste using recycling methods to create energy used for heating the city.
Because of this approach, problems like fire, litter, noise, pest problems, and presence of waste vehicles on land are minimized. This kind of approach should be followed by other tourist cities to avoid the serious consequences of poor waste management.
Beach waste
Some tourist cities are also employing innovative solutions to keep their beach areas clean. In Larnaca, Cyprus, for example, vending machines are installed to reduce solid municipal waste generated by hotel establishments on beach vicinities.
Biowaste
When you travel to foreign cities, you’re producing lots of waste since you don’t have your own access to storage and cooking facilities. You can then contribute leftovers from the restaurants you’ve dined in. Not to mention the fruit in the drink you did not bother eating or the wrappings of the things you bought along the way. When you add your own waste to the total amount made by other tourists in the region, that comes down to a massive waste accumulation.
Some countries have embraced theSelective Collection of the Organic Waste(SCOW) project in tourist cities and the valorization in farm composting plants. They developed cheap, simple, and efficient door-to-door biowaste collection from local residences and tourist hubspots, such as hotels and restaurants. The project aims to co-manage the organic biowaste from the tourist spots with the biowaste from the rural areas. The farmers played the role of compost users and facility managers that promote an effective waste management technique for the whole region.
The Bottom Line
Each tourist city has the responsibility to take their waste management process seriously. If every tourist city adopts the same kinds of efficient systems like those stated above, for sure both the global tourism and the planet’s ecology will reap the rewards.
