EcoCircuitos against Plastic

EcoCircuitos Panama  in conjunction with our international wholesalers is proud to announce that we sign the TAP plea and we encourage our clients to use bottles on their trips!  Let´s work together for a safer and greener planet!!  We will provide stainless steel, PBA water bottles.  Join us in the fight against plastic!

We provide our clients with a stainless Steel PBA free water bottle as a positive solution to plastic water bottles. A percentage of all sales go support the Panamanian Foundation for Sustainable Tourism which supports conservation, education and rural tourism projects throughout Panama. 

CLEAN WATER– We all know we can’t drink the water in developing countries because it might make us sick from any number of microscopic critters which could cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps or worse. Most people buy bottled water which has huge environmental impacts as well as being expensive and possibly unhealthy. What to do?

Travel prepared to clean your own water or use water in containers provided by hotels and operators if they have it. WHY?

  • To avoid creating a trail of plastic water bottles everywhere you go
  • To ensure the safety and supply of your water
  • To save money and time

IT’S EASY: There are many bottles you can choose from. We love Liberty Bottles.

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For more information go to TAP www.travelersagainstplastic.org . Please consider signing the pledge not to use plastic water bottles while traveling. And then be the change you want to see in the world.

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 Why bother?

Better for the environment

  • 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles.
  • Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting.
  • 90% of the trash in the ocean is from plastic.
  • Eighty-six percent of single-use plastic bottles become landfill or litter in the US.
  • PET is made from crude oil. PET bottles produce toxic emissions at rates of 100 times that of glass.

Cheaper                                                                                                                         

  • Bottled water can cost as much $10 per gallon. We are paying 2 to 4 times the cost of gasoline for a product that is virtually free.
  • If tap water cost the same as the cheapest bottled, monthly water bills would come to $9,000.

Health

  • Antimony, which is found in PET plastic bottles, in small doses can cause dizziness and depression; in larger doses it can cause nausea, vomiting and death.
  • This is increased by storage in heated areas. Where was your bottle of water before you got it?

DO THE MATH

In the first two months of 2012, 8.1 million U.S. citizens traveled abroad according to data released by the U.S. Office of Travel & Tourism Industries.

8.1 million travelers over two months =48.6 million a year (estimated)

3 bottles a day for one 2 week trip= over 3.4 billion plastic water bottles used.

Reuse bottles at home as well
Three corporations dominate the bottled water market in the US. Pepsi has 13% of the market and Coke has 11%, both of which resell treated tap water, by putting it through an energy intensive process called reverse-osmosis. This process takes more energy than turning seawater into drinking water.

San Francisco’s tap water comes from Yosemite National Park and is so pure the EPA does not require it to be filtered. A bottled of Evian water at $1.35 could be refilled with San Francisco tap water once a day for over ten years before the cost would total $1.35.
Be the Change. TAP

EcoCircuitos Business Objectives

By Annie Young J.

A while ago I heard the quote by Mahatma Gandhi, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony”.

This quote really hit home for me and since I have heard it has become one of my mottos in life. Before returning home from a study abroad program where I volunteered with a conservation organization I went on a backpacking trip that inspired me to create EcoCircuitos Panama (1999). After this trip I realized that I wanted to share my passion for Panama with the rest of the world in a different way.

As a dreamer, I felt that we could connect conservation, social development and tourism. This has been my goal since I began EcoCircuitos Panama. It has not been easy… sometimes promoting responsible travel is more difficult that the classical approach, but we believe that it can be done.

The EcoCircuitos Panama team including myself has evolved since the company began. I have learned from many different people that have worked with me all these years that in today’s world you have to give something back… not just take.

Today we are a team of local enthusiasts about Panama. On a daily basis we learn from each other sharing, our dreams for sustainable development. It is important to me to motivate each member of my team to create, innovate and collaborate in an environment where it is not only my vision that is followed.

Our objectives as a company are very clear to us:

– Create low-impact tours and experiences that are appealing to our clients.

– Increase the level of awareness amongst travelers and turning them in effective agents for conservation.

– Channel a portion of our revenues towards supporting the conservation and sustainable use of Panama´s biodiversity.

– Reduce poverty through environmental conscious income generation activities and employment, which effectively decrease the threat to biodiversity in our local communities.

– Encourage active participation and involvement of local communities in the development, operation and monitoring of tourism activities.

This is our responsibility as a tour operator and DMC in Panama, and we are a happy team that is following a beautiful dream.