The Green Review

To get away from the cold weather, most Canadians travel south, but it is critical to travel with sustainability in mind; not only will this help save money, but more importantly will ensure your ecological footprint is minimal. Krista Harris, the Executive Director for the University of New Brunswick Graduate Student Association, discusses how helpful it was to have her own UNB Sustainability cutlery set and the sustainability opportunities she took while travelling to Colombia.

"In February of 2020, I had the opportunity to take a trip to the beautiful country of Colombia with my husband Fergus and our son Brynden, making a lifelong dream come true. Travelling on the eve of his fifth birthday, he woke up in the sunny Spring like warmth of Medellin, far from the snow.

Sharing a backpack with my son, we travelled from Medellin to the Caribbean Coastal town of Toluviejo, exploring the Coral Islands of the San Bernardo Archipelago before travelling by boat to the walled city of Cartagena with its historic beauty and heat! From Cartagena, we travelled to Santa Marta on Caribbean Sea, stopping at Taganga and Tayronna National Park before continuing up the coast to Palomino. We climbed up the Sierra Nevada Mountains by motorbike to Los Pinos in the town of Minca, visited local Fincas and learned how their famed coffee beans are grown, and swam in the chilly mountain streams below the waterfalls. Colombia is a very special place, abundant in species and extremely biodiverse, we were even able to feed one of the 143 different types of hummingbirds from our hands.

While travelling in this paradise of plants and birds, I was able to put to great use the reusable cutlery sets that were given to me by the UNB Sustainability team. I wanted to use this trip as an opportunity to teach Brynden about the environment and the importance of sustainability. While travelling in Colombia, we were immediately struck by the number of single-use plastics that were being used by fellow travelers. It was a great opportunity for us to teach Brynden about the harmful effects of plastic waste on our environment and how we could make a difference by using sustainable practices.

Throughout our trip, we used the reusable cutlery set for every meal that we ate on the road. We explained to Brynden how important it was to reduce our waste and how using our own utensils could make a big impact. He was fascinated by the idea of reusing our own cutlery and even helped us wash them after meals before clipping the carabiners back onto our packs.

One of the highlights of our trip was when we visited Isla Tintipan and stayed with our friend Dago. Brynden was excited to show him our reusable cutlery set and explain how we were trying to reduce our waste. Dago was impressed and it opened the door to sharing stories of Canada and the University of New Brunswick!

Overall, our experience using the reusable cutlery set on our trip to Colombia was not only impactful in terms of reducing our waste, but it was also a great opportunity for us to teach our son about the importance of sustainability and how we can make a difference in the world. We are grateful to the UNB Sustainability team for providing us with such a useful and educational tool."

How do you usually travel sustainably? Let us know.