How To Travel With A Conservation Mindset

A couple of years ago I received a work email about any information we had on sustainable travel. One of the popular kinds of travel right now, sustainable travel focuses on a "leave only footprints, take only pictures" mentality. How can you visit a destination and leave it a little better than it was?

It was humbling to admit that we didn't have anything like that. I quickly called my friends at Wapello County Conservation and asked what they had. They're the perfect resource for all things outdoors in our 436 square miles, and they have tons of brochures and flyers about everything. 

But they didn't have anything to do with travel either.

So what do I do when I need something and don't have it? I make it.

With more than 20 partners throughout the community and the knowledge and wisdom of the county naturalist, I created the Wapello County Adventure Book: A Sustainable Travel Workbook. The books are filled with local information about traveling sustainably and responsibly in the form of games, puzzles, questions for journaling, and spaces for sketching. Kids learn how to reduce their footprint at restaurants, leave outdoor spaces better than when they arrived, and where the best places to play are. Grown-ups receive more in-depth information about how the community is handling rain runoff on streets and parking lots, how green roofs provide insulation and improve air quality, and how local residents banded together to protect two endangered species from extinction. 

We've combined conservation education and local tourism information makes this one-of-a-kind sustainability project the perfect tool to protect our local environment, address climate change at the grassroots level, minimize plastic consumption, and expand economic development in our community.

In addition to this powerhouse partnership between Meet Ottumwa and Wapello County Conservation, both organizations worked with attractions, restaurants, city and county representatives, and local nature lovers to make the activity books fun, interactive, and educational all in one adorable package. It's available in our visitor center, the Pioneer Ridge Nature Center, and two local attractions, and we've handed it out in schools, at our Wildlife Weekend, and at local events. It's going to be given to kids at three places this year during summer camps, so the possibilities are endless.

I also wanted to make sure that the books were accessible to as many families as possible. Ottumwa residents represent more than 40 nationalities and speak more than 50 dialects, so we picked the next-most-used and printed both the kids and grown-ups books in Spanish, too. I was able to see one family's face light up at our wildlife event when I could hand them a set of four books in their native language. It absolutely made my day.

We've just been recognized for our efforts with a Sustainability Initiative Award from one of the statewide tourism organizations. Wapello County Conservation will join me at the award ceremony in a couple of weeks, and we couldn't be more excited. For a small, rural community to be honored for a project that benefits our residents as well as our visitors, by the entire state is so amazing.

If you're interested in copies of the book for your family, let me know. It's a fun, creative, interesting way to explore a community, and a keepsake that will remind you of your time together for years to come.

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