social marketing & corporate responsibility (CSR) & business and human rights
Being an animal-friendly traveller means prioritising the well-being and ethical treatment of animals during your trips. We are not referring to travelling with your pet, we are referring to all other animals in the world which might be impacted by our behaviour, commercially or in the wilderness.
Here are some tips to help with being a responsible and compassionate traveller:
Living with an animal increases our emotional wellbeing and provides companionship. Animals evoke emotions in us. Their innocence is universally appealing. That is why they are used in advertising all the time. Most people love animals generally or a specific type of animal in particular. The most common relationship between the humans and animals is of course with domesticated animals like cats and dogs. There are millions of illustrations of it across the world.
It is no wonder then that animal welfare is high on the agenda and organisations working for and with animals often do well.
Living an animal-friendly lifestyle involves making choices that don’t harm animals and, on the contrary, promote their well-being and contribute to a more compassionate world.
We are at a turning point and it often seems that not enough is being done, especially by Governments at all levels. Elected Government representative should be spearheading social and environmental issues. Instead of doing that, the law and it’s implementation safeguarding our natural world are lagging behind, not just a little bit either, a lot!
Saving the world one plant and animal at a time is not rocket science and it looks like it’s up to us to lead the way. It involves taking individual and collective actions which contribute to the conservation and sustainability of ecosystems.
Here are some practical steps you can take to make a positive impact:
There is a day for absolutely anything you may think and yes, naming a national day for a cause is a frequently employed marketing strategy. Why? Because it can be a very effective to raise awareness – hopefully it will work for the National Eucalypt Day as well!
Ghost Gum a painting by Albert Namatjira
The National Eucalypt Day is an initiative of the Bjarne K Dahl Trust. It aims to raise awareness of the iconic gum tree and celebrate the important place they hold in the hearts and lives of Australians.
Eucalypts are the epitome of the Australian landscape:
Eucalypts, commonly known as gum trees, form an integral part of the Australian identity with the bush. From the children’s song Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree through to the distinctive smell of eucalypts to iconic paintings and photographs, eucalypts are an essential part of Australian culture, featuring in art, music and literature. Quoted from http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/eucalypts
Koala and Gum Tree
The gum tree is essential for the Australian landscape and for many animals – including the equally iconic Koala. We need to preserve eucalypts and there was a symposium about this very issue, read more here: http://www.eucalyptaustralia.org.au/conserving-eucalypts-symposium
The Australian Koala Foundation has released a tree planting list – of course, to be useful for Koalas, trees have to be planted in groups and need to be connected to other Koala habitat.
Let’s celebrate the Australian gum tree today and ensure they are here for future generations.
Further information:
Eucalypt Australia is a grant making Charitable Trust that focuses on eucalypts – a significant aspect of Australia’s natural environment and biodiversity. The Trust would like to inspire the public to appreciate eucalypts. It used to operated under the name of Bjarne K Dahl Trust as it was set up by his estate.
Did you know that there is such a day as World Animal Day? And that this week is also ‘Be Kind to Animals Week’?
Each of us can make a big difference to animals. Rather than harping on about the state of animals around the world today I will let the wonderful initiatives that various people have founded to celebrate animals speak for themselves:
Check out the Be Kind To Animals Week website which is a bounty of resources for schools and others who simply wish to care for animals.
The top 10 ways to help animals according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). I don’t entirely agree with this list but it is good food for thought.
World Animal Day UK website – very cool site with lot’s of information!!
Check out the beautiful rescue animals – more than 300 – who live at Edgar’s Mission in Victoria, Australia! That will put a smile on your dial! There are similar projects all around the world which are testimony to the many animal lovers out there who wish to create a fairer place for all animals, human and non-human! And maybe somebody will get inspired to set one up right now.
And last but by no means least, please watch the wonderful Avian Behaviourist Josh Cook : Thinking Outside the Cage and showing us how we could engage in a beautiful two way relationship with birds.
Happy World Animal Day everybody!!!
Now it is time to be COMPASSIONATE and exercise compassion-ism! Compassionism is the practice of compassion for ‘all living things’ as opposed to species-ism, a term which was coined in the mid 70 ties to describe ‘the idea that being human is a good enough reason for human animals to have greater moral rights than non-human animals’. On what basis? And why do we eat some and not other animals?
Did you know that, every year 65 billion animals are raised and slaughtered for their meat. That’s nine animals for every person on Earth.
The following 3 books provide an entry point about different aspects and perspectives of our changing relationship to animals, the different attitudes to animals in different cultures, animal welfare issues in food production and related law reform.
The books are a must read for anybody with an interest in animal welfare. The 1st book is as relevant today as the day it was first published in 1975: [Read more…]
About 120 people die in the same time.
As the planet becomes more populated, more of us are aspiring to a middle class lifestyle with all its trappings – including the increased consumption of meat.
Consumption, including raising animals for meat puts enormous pressure on the environment and has led to questionable ‘farming’ practices. As awareness of industrial scale factory farming methods increases, so too, does the opposition to “farming“ practices inconsiderate of the welfare of animals.
Recent publicity of abuse and cruelty to farm animals has put animal welfare on the public agenda and consumers are talking with their wallets.
Systemic change against animal cruelty! [Read more…]
Not the St Patricks’ Day way, the treading lightly for the environment way. As they say, every little bit helps … so here are 5 easy ways to green your Easter:
Easter is one of the biggest holidays for chocolates and other types of sweets. These sweets are often wrapped in plastic and cardboard in addition to foil around chocolate Easter eggs for example. Make choices that avoid unnecessary extra packing in addition to taking your own shopping bags. Go for minimal wrapping or buy in bulk. Even better, make your own, like these chocolate Easter eggs or this lovely Easter Lamb Cake.
Can you believe that with an average consumption of 111.5kg per hear per annum Australia is ranked in the top three biggest meat-eating countries in the world per capita? I guess you can – Australians love their meat in all shapes and forms, be it on the BBQ, in a pie or on a Pizza! Nine out of 10 Australians don’t eat enough vegetables, yet when it comes to meat, Australians eat more than double the world average of 41.9kg per person.
This massive consumption of meat apparently compromises our health, and with global meat production predicted to double within six years in line with the growth of the middle classes, we know for a fact, it also raises serious concerns about long-term sustainability of the planet and animal welfare. [Read more…]