by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

I make it a point to read all I can in the green media world, large and small. I find it informative, confirming and hopeful to find so much information available in so many different ways. I recently came upon a small publication called, Healthy Beginnings. A well-intentioned, homespun version of eco-education from Nevada, I was initially impressed with the ambitiousness of it’s contents.

Unfortunately, my eco-bubble was burst when I came upon a page advertising ocean cruise vacations. It began, “Cruises make for a perfect vacation” and went on to describe the latest in cruise industry marketing - the “Detox Cruise”. According to Celebrity Cruises, on this excursion, you can “escape and enrich” with their numerous spa treatments - including hydrotherapy, meditation and “Acupuncture At Sea”.

Ack! A far cry from the “perfect vacation”, luxury cruises are another example of our spoiled, indulgent, ignorant lifestyles. Available to only the affluent, vacation cruises epitomize the have-it-all mentality of our culture. A “Detox Cruise” is even worse since it plays into our “quick fix” mentality towards our own health while ignoring the fact that cruise ships leave a hugely toxic ocean footprint.

According to Friends of the Earth, luxury liners regularly dump millions of gallons of raw sewage and chemicals into the oceans. Just one cruise ship in a one-week “vacation” voyage can generate more than 210,000 gallons of sewage, 50 tons of garbage. They also use and waste 1,000,000 gallons of potable water while contaminating ocean water with oil. In addition, their presence puts countless whales, dolphins, seals and other sea animals at risk.

Skip the “Holistic Caribbean Holiday At Sea”. If you like the ocean, grab a board or a kayak and catch a different kind of wave and keep both your body and the ocean healthy.

Tags: culture, health, travel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 at 1:42 pm and is filed under Green Misc.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.