OUT IN THE OPEN: Remember to leave camp-sites free of all non-biodegradable garbage

It’s the odd chocolate wrapper, cast away by some irresponsible trekker, that spoils your day. There you are, on a patch of green some 12,000 ft above sea level, with four days of arduous walking behind you. And just as you drop your rucksack on the grass to breathe in the unpolluted air, you spot the foil, basking in sunlight. “Sorry, mate, but someone has set foot here before you,” you can almost hear it say.

Even as eco-tourism catches on as the perfect getaway mode for city-breds, respect for nature remains a rare sensibility. “And the catch here is that a pristine location doesn’t remain so pristine 10 years down the line if it’s not tread upon softly,” says Mandip Singh Soin, founder and managing director of Delhi-based tourism company Ibex Expeditions.

What is of foremost importance is to leave the place as you found it, with nothing more than your footprints as evidence of your having been there and done that. Responsible eco-tourism entails a mode of travel that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people. It has a few nuances that have to be kept in mind before setting out on the track less trodden.

Trash check: Leave campsites free of all kinds of non-biodegradable garbage. Carry it all back to roadheads or towns for proper disposal. And don’t flick away those cigarette butts. Biodegradable and food waste can be given a quiet burial in the campsites.

Water matters: Keep streams and brooks free of soaps and detergents. If you think you can’t do without a shampoo midway through your trek, you shouldn’t have set out in the first place. Toilets should be set up at least 30m from water bodies, and human waste should be covered up properly before breaking camp.

Green tips: Limit deforestation. Try not to light fires out in the open. Where firewood is the only fuel available, use as little of it as possible. If you have provisions for a kerosene stove, nothing like it. If and where possible, try using alternative forms of energy like solar power.

No souvenirs, please: Don’t dig up a stump or a mossy length of root from the hillside because you think it would be the perfect corner piece for your drawing room. Take a picture, if you are smitten by its beauty, and leave it in peace.

Homework time: Before you set out on your trip, do some research on the place you are going to visit, its inhabitants and its culture. Ignorance could prompt you to do things that are not endorsed by local custom. Loud music from blaring speakers, for example, may not go down well with tribals in certain places. While on the trip, stay observant, in order to pick up new ways of local life.

Give back what you get: As a gesture of goodwill, it always helps to support local enterprise in whichever way possible. So, you could consider buying some handicraft manufactured by local artisans. Besides helping them economically, it also helps you win their favour. But even while doing so, don’t make the mistake of buying products which may be made from endangered plant and animal species. Your purchasing of such products would amount to a crime and would lead to more animals being killed or trees felled.

Photo facts: Always ask before you photograph a local resident. Not all of them are as camera-hungry as Page 3 models. In fact, some aborigines in Australia believe that cameras steal their soul.

It’s heightened awareness on your part that could help preserve the fragile ecosystems you visit. While that could mean restrained behaviour in certain ways, it would also save the locales from urban impact and leave them intact for other travellers in the future ? including you.

Rubbish and its long life

In case you are tempted to dispose any of the following items out in the open, this is how long it would take for each of them to biodegrade:

Banana peel: Three to four weeks

Paper bag: One month

Cotton rag: Five months

Woollen sock: One year

Leather shoe: 40 to 50 years

Tin can: 50 to 100 years

Aluminium can: 200 to 500 years

Plastic bag: One million years

Styrofoam cup: Eternity

(Information courtesy: IBEX Expeditions)