Climate change is one of the biggest threats to the world today and in order to save the planet we need to change!

We lead a consumer driven lifestyle, which makes it seem difficult to change as our environment matches our fast-paced way of living. Yet, the change is smaller than we think, it merely challenges the consumer ecosystem that has developed around us.

Alas, our ecosystem is now having an ominous effect on the natural ecosystem, threatening the fabric of our own environment. The travel industry must help reduce its carbon emissions to allow us to travel and experience all the wonders of the world, without simultaneously destroying it.

The drive for change

We live in an age where people have been asked to challenge their actions and ponder their effect on the planet around them. From everyday choices such as what we buy at the supermarket, the amount of plastic we use, through to how we holiday.

The debate on climate change is now, slowly converting to action. However, we are told that changing our habits is not happening fast enough. So how can the average person make a difference?

For sure, speaking out and holding demonstrations, certainly gets the world’s attention, but it doesn’t solve the actual problem. Ultimately, it’s us as individuals, all of us, that have to change.

Kuta beach in Bali is covered with plastic debris after a storm

Real change ultimately means real sacrifice; we have to break away from our usual pattern to shift the paradigm, from not just thinking, but into real action. And therein, lies the challenge: just how do we change?

Columbus Travel Media, not just your standard travel content provider

We’re known as a content provider, one that has published the World Travel Guide (now online) and World Travel Atlas (print) for nearly 30 years and we are also influencers. We talk to many major players within the industry and can see the issues both they and their travelling clients are facing. The trend is clear, the travelling public are waking up to the issues the world faces. The toughest challenge is that most people don’t know how to help or change.

While it might take a while for the traveling public and the underlying support infrastructure to change, where matters of leisure and particularly our holidays are concerned, we definitely can help drive change. We just need a little guidance and helpful insights into how to.

It’s Your Planet was created for that very reason – to show us how we as individuals can make a difference. It all starts by understanding what the sustainability issues are and how we behave as travellers. It includes courtesy on both the traveller and the supplier.

For any sustainability campaign to work it has to help the protagonist find synergy with that it threatens. It has to be organic in nature, reflecting the needs of ecosystems under threat. Ecosystems are both natural and man-made. However, we must handle this change with care as our commercial ecosystems could also destroy the natural ecosystems that now rely upon them. This is what makes the whole issue of sustainability so complex in some areas. A graphic example of this would be how certain industries have developed specifically to pander to a growing tourist market; a prime example of this is the use of wild and endangered animals as tourist attractions.

Our goal is to provide a useful guide into what is happening around the world in regard to sustainability issues, how the tourism ecosystem is adapting to reflect the needs of the natural ecosystems it threatens and how perhaps it can be more synergistic and support the repair of the damage being done. Most importantly, we hope that it will inspire change and help people make the change by providing the necessary information, guidance, ideas and insights.

Think of it as a moral companion to our World Travel Guide.