When you walk through a museum or library, your steps soften, your voice lowers, and you become attuned to something greater than yourself. What if we carried that same reverence into the natural world?
Nature as Gallery, Nature as Home
There’s a quiet power in stillness. In museums, we lean in without leaning on. In libraries, we pause before speaking. These spaces invite us to be observers, not intruders. The same principle applies—perhaps more urgently—when we step into nature.
Eco-friendly travel isn’t just about carbon offsets or avoiding plastic. It begins with awareness and humility. When we hike, swim, photograph, or stargaze, we enter ecosystems where every leaf, shell, and sound plays a role in sustaining life. We’re visitors in a home that doesn’t belong to us.
What Does “Leave No Trace” Really Mean?
The “Leave No Trace” principles, developed by the Leave No Trace Centre for Outdoor Ethics, offer a clear guide for low-impact exploration:
- Plan Ahead and Prepare – Choose sustainable tour operators. Know local wildlife and weather patterns.
- Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces – Stick to marked trails. Avoid trampling vegetation.
- Dispose of Waste Properly – Pack it in, pack it out. Even organic waste can disrupt local ecosystems.
- Leave What You Find – Don’t collect rocks, shells, or plants. Let others experience their beauty.
- Minimize Campfire Impact – Use a camp stove instead of wood fires when possible.
- Respect Wildlife – Observe from a distance. Never feed wild animals.
- Be Considerate of Others – Keep noise levels low. Preserve the experience for everyone.
These guidelines might seem simple, but their impact is profound.
Wisdom from Indigenous Peoples: The Land is Alive
Indigenous communities across Canada and the world have long practised deep, relational respect for the land. For First Nations, the land is not a backdrop for travel—it is a living being, teacher, and relative. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, for example, begins many gatherings with the Thanksgiving Address (or Words That Come Before All Else), acknowledging the waters, winds, plants, and animals before speaking of human matters. It’s a worldview rooted in reciprocity.
Among the Anishinaabe, the concept of minobimaadiziwin—the good life—is one of balance and respect with the natural world. To walk gently on the Earth is not just a modern sustainability goal but an ancestral responsibility.
In British Columbia, Coast Salish communities have passed down teachings that emphasize observation over interference. To be still long enough is to let nature reveal herself to you. It’s not about the perfect photo—it’s about patience.
The Turtle’s Shell: A Living Calendar and Sacred Symbol
The turtle holds sacred meaning in many Indigenous traditions. Among the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples, the turtle represents Turtle Island—what many Indigenous nations call North America. But there’s more than metaphor on its back.
If you look closely at a turtle’s shell, you’ll see 13 larger scutes (the sections on the upper shell) and 28 smaller ones around the edge. These correspond to the 13 full moons in a lunar year and the 28-day cycle of each moon—a natural calendar and a reminder of how time is rooted in nature.
Travelling in sync with these rhythms—slower, more mindful, aligned with the moon and tides—offers a gentler, more meaningful experience of place.
Don’t Pick the Flowers, Don’t Pocket the Shells
Eco-friendly travel often begins with restraint. When you see a delicate wildflower poking through rock or a perfect sand dollar on the beach, the instinct may be to touch or take. But resisting that urge is a radical act of care.
In many parks across Canada, including national parks like Banff and Gros Morne, it is illegal to remove any natural object. These rules exist not to dampen your curiosity but to preserve balance. The pine cone you pick might be winter food for a squirrel. That wildflower supports bees. And those smooth river stones? They’re slowly shaping the land through erosion.
Take Only Photos? Take Only Memories.
We often say “take only photos, leave only footprints.” But even our footprints can cause damage if we’re not mindful. Instead, think of travel as a form of borrowing. Borrowing a view, a moment, a breath of air sweeter than the one at home.
As you photograph that coastal cliff or desert bloom, ask: does my presence help or harm? Can I tread here without forcing nature to accommodate me?
Modern Tools That Can Help
There are now several apps and guides to support eco-conscious travellers:
- AllTrails and Parks Canada’s app help you stick to safe, designated trails.
- iNaturalist allows you to photograph and identify plants and animals without disturbing them.
- Ethical Traveler and Travelife help identify sustainable tour operators.
- Whose Land is a Canadian tool that shows which Indigenous territories you’re visiting—an invitation to learn before you go.
Tips for Travelling with Reverence
- Slow down. Walk at a pace where you can hear your own breath and the wind moving through trees.
- Stay silent for five minutes. Let the place speak first.
- Keep your distance. Use binoculars instead of approaching wildlife.
- Learn whose land you’re on. Respect sacred places and follow local protocol.
- Support Indigenous-owned tourism. In Canada, experiences like the Tundra North Tours in Inuvik or Wikwemikong Tourism on Manitoulin Island offer insight rooted in deep relationship with the land.
A Future That Depends on the Present
Sustainable travel isn’t about restriction—it’s about honour. Every step you take leaves a mark, visible or not. Our goal is to ensure the joy of travel remains available not just to the next traveller, but to the creatures and communities who call these places home.
As the Elders say: We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
Website Links for Responsible Travel Tools and Indigenous Knowledge:
The Takeaway
Travel is a gift, but it’s also a responsibility. If we can learn to treat Earth as both gallery and library—a place for hushed wonder, for quiet discovery—we can become better guests. Let’s travel as if we’ve been invited into someone’s sacred space. Because we have.
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