Discover Sustainable Travel Around The Globe On These Green Getaways

Travel

Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to LinkedinSustainability is a buzzword you may be growing tired of hearing, and you’re not alone. A recent study by Booking.com shows that travelers have grown weary of seeking out sustainable travel opportunities, mostly because it takes effort to do the research. Still, 83% of travelers confirm that sustainable travel is at least somewhat important to them, and with an increasing number of resorts and cruise ships heeding the call for responsible tourism, it’s actually easier than ever to make that choice.

What does sustainable travel look like? In the simplest terms, it means travel partners working to reduce their carbon footprints while respecting and preserving the environment. Travelers who want to contribute to these efforts can choose accommodations that have undertaken this goal, and while on vacation, make choices that reduce waste or harm to their surroundings. This is the basis of eco-tourism and sustainable travel, and it can bring great satisfaction to know that you’ve been a responsible traveler.

Whether you’re looking for a stay or a sail, these worldwide hotels and cruises provide an eco-luxe experience that encourages you to explore the world with a mind toward leaving it the way you found it. Start here, and you’ll see just how easy it can be.

Stay at Sandals Resorts InternationalSandals Foundation, a philanthropic arm of Sandals Resorts International, is working to provide solar energy to schools across the Caribbean Islands.Sandals Foundation
The largest private employer in the Caribbean, Sandals Resorts has plans to grow beyond its 20 wildly successful properties on 10 islands. Sandals is known and respected for being one of the first to introduce all-inclusive vacations, making it a sought-after mainstay in the resort market. But what it has been doing behind the scenes is just as important. The company is celebrating 15 years of philanthropy through Sandals Foundation, which has driven initiatives in education, community, and environment. Efforts include offering hospitality education training, mentoring youth, protecting the marine environment, and ensuring safe and healthy food practices.

This year, Sandals Foundation has undertaken the mission of providing solar energy to homes and schools so kids from Jamaica to St. Lucia have equal access to computers and labs. Travelers can help by donating to the cause, known as The Power of 15, with the assurance that 100% of your donation goes directly to this solar initiative. Other ways you can get involved? When you stay at Sandals or Beaches resorts, you can contribute to Pack for a Purpose, an opportunity to donate school supplies. And if you want to be more hands-on, ask to participate in a Reading Road Trip, where you’ll visit a local school and work with a teacher to present a lesson to the students.
Relax at Eliamos Villas Hotel & SpaEliamos Villas Hotel & Spa was built with sustainability foremost in mind. The buildings and landscaping are an extension of the natural environment, bringing nature indoors.Eliamos
When this gorgeous resort on the Greek island of Kefalonia opened its doors in 2023, it named sustainability as its cornerstone. Eliamos, a five-star Relais & Châteaux member, is also a member of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network, a nonprofit that focuses on sustainable economic development and preservation of heritage sites. The resort embodies that commitment: solar panels provide power, water waste is reused to irrigate gardens, and guests are provided refillable water bottles to avoid the use of plastic.
The restaurant’s gourmet meals are designed around locally grown and harvested food, and surplus food is sold or donated. The resort has committed to fair wages and benefits for their staff, who are trained in sustainability measures and the history of the area, giving them a sense of ownership of the land. And eco-friendly efforts are obvious during your stay, from energy-efficient heating and cooling to the avoidance of single-use anything, including straws and toiletry bottles.
Sail on Havila VoyagesA Havila Voyages ship navigates fjords in Norway with zero emissions over a four-hour period, protecting the environment as you explore.Havila Voyages Ronny M. Olsen
As Norway enjoys a surge of new visitors, the Norwegian coastal cruise ship company Havila Voyages takes vacationers of the sailing type on a coastal route along the fjords. While you take in the extraordinary vistas, you sail for four straight hours with zero emissions, protecting the environment around you. That’s because Havila has the largest battery packs in the cruise ship industry. Why does that matter to you? The packs allow these ships to enter fjords you might not otherwise experience because the ships travel with such a small footprint. The cruise line employs an energy-efficient design, harnesses excess heat for reuse in passenger showers, and partners with tour operators who further practice sustainability, such as operating battery-powered buses. All of these measures make this line one of the most sustainable in operation.
Food waste – a huge concern within the cruising industry – is minimized through seated dining policies versus buffets, but don’t worry – you’ll still have multiple food choices in reasonable portions. Food is locally sourced, adding to your Norwegian cultural experience. And Havila encourages its guests to get involved with the environment during your journey because they know that once you do, you’ll want to protect it.
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Publisher accuses Nicosia Book Fest of yielding to homophobic pressure

Arts & Culture, Books

Thessaloniki-based publishing house Psifides has announced its withdrawal from the Nicosia Book Fest 2024, accusing organisers of yielding to homophobic pressure by cancelling a scheduled drag queen story reading event for children.
The event, featuring a reading of “The Drag Queen Who Saved Christmas” by Konstantinos Marangos, was initially planned for October 5. Similar events have previously been held in Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as internationally.
The “readings were embraced by children and parents, and the only ones who had a problem were the homophobes, racists, and fascists,” Psifides said in a Facebook post on Monday.
The publisher claims organisers removed online announcements for the event without prior notification and later requested that it proceed without the drag queen performer, Lynn Dynasty, following what Psifides described as “few online reactions of fascist-like individuals”.
Psifides criticised the decision as contradictory, noting that another fairy tale challenging stereotypes was still scheduled for presentation on the same day.
Despite withdrawing from the festival, the publisher intends to hold the event independently in Nicosia in early October, with details to be announced.
The Nicosia Book Fest 2024 organisers declined to comment when contacted by Phileleftheros.

Scientists reveal serotonin’s role in reward anticipation and value encoding

Science and Health

A recent study published in The Journal of Neuroscience sheds new light on how serotonin, a neurotransmitter often linked to mood regulation, influences reward anticipation and value encoding in the brain. Researchers found that serotonin is released not only when rewards are consumed but also in response to cues that predict rewards. This release is finely tuned to the subjective value of the reward, showing a higher response to more desirable rewards. These findings help clarify the role of serotonin in reward-related brain processes, a subject previously dominated by research on dopamine.For years, most research on the brain’s reward system has focused on dopamine, a neurotransmitter strongly associated with pleasure, motivation, and goal-directed behavior. While dopamine is known to play a crucial role in how we experience rewards, researchers have increasingly turned their attention to serotonin, which is also involved in various behaviors related to reward. However, the specific role of serotonin in the brain’s reward circuits has remained unclear. Studies on serotonin have produced conflicting results, with some showing that its depletion reduces reward-related responses while others indicate that increasing serotonin does not enhance reward enjoyment.Given these inconsistent findings, the researchers wanted to explore how serotonin functions within the striatum, a brain region heavily involved in decision-making and reward. By using a newly developed serotonin biosensor, they sought to better understand the timing and components of serotonin release in response to different reward conditions.“While serotonin is known to have an important role in many different behaviors, its role in reward is still very unclear,” said study author Katherine M. Nautiyal, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College. “Based on the tools that were previously available, we weren’t able to understand how serotonin encodes reward, which scientists have been studying for decades for dopamine. Characterizing both the timing and circumstances of serotonin release in the brain is a step towards better understanding serotonin’s role in modulating reward-related behaviors.”To investigate how serotonin is involved in reward processing, the research team conducted their study on mice. They used a biosensor called GRAB-5-HT, a tool that allows for real-time measurement of serotonin levels in specific regions of the brain. The focus was on the dorsomedial striatum, a part of the brain that plays a key role in action selection and learning about the consequences of actions.The study involved a series of experiments designed to observe how serotonin levels changed during different reward-related behaviors. First, the mice were trained to consume different concentrations of evaporated milk, with their licking behavior and serotonin levels monitored during these sessions. The researchers also used a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm, where a sound would signal the delivery of a reward, to examine how serotonin responded to predictive cues.The mice were housed in controlled environments and underwent surgery to implant optic fibers for serotonin measurement. After the mice recovered from surgery, they were placed in test chambers where they could access various concentrations of milk or water. The researchers recorded the serotonin levels during these reward trials, paying particular attention to how the neurotransmitter was released during different phases, such as when the reward was anticipated, cued, or consumed.The researchers observed that serotonin levels in the striatum increased before the consumption of a reward, suggesting that serotonin plays a key role in reward anticipation. About two seconds before the mice began licking the reward spout, serotonin levels started to rise. This pattern was consistent whether the reward was a high-value option, like rich evaporated milk, or a lower-value option, like water.Interestingly, serotonin release was also triggered by cues that predicted the reward. When the mice heard a sound that signaled a reward would soon be delivered, their serotonin levels increased in anticipation of the reward, showing that serotonin helps the brain encode not just the actual receipt of a reward but the expectation of it. The magnitude of serotonin release was higher when the expected reward was of greater value. For example, richer concentrations of milk triggered stronger serotonin responses than water.“Serotonin has many different functions throughout the brain and the field is still working to define those functions,” Nautiyal told PsyPost. “We focused on one brain area that is centrally involved in reward processing and decision making, the dorsal striatum, during simple reward-related behaviors. We found that serotonin levels track the value of rewards. Specifically, our results show that serotonin is released in anticipation of a reward and also to a cue that predicts a reward, and that it is graded by extrinsic and subjective value.”The study also showed that internal states, such as hunger or thirst, influenced serotonin levels. When the mice were water-deprived, increasing their thirst, the serotonin release in response to water consumption was slightly higher, suggesting that serotonin tracks subjective changes in the value of a reward.“We did not expect serotonin release to be as faithfully representative of reward value,” Nautiyal said. “We had anticipated serotonin to function in a more binary fashion, acting as a general signal of a positive outcome—for example, increasing when an animal consumed a reward, regardless of the reward’s identity, or being modulated only if the animal was specifically primed to want or not want the reward.”While this study provides important insights into serotonin’s role in reward anticipation and value encoding, it also has limitations. For one, the research focused on only one brain region—the dorsomedial striatum—and during relatively simple reward tasks. The researchers acknowledge that serotonin’s role in more complex, goal-directed behaviors or in other brain areas might be different.Additionally, while the findings indicate that serotonin is involved in encoding both reward anticipation and value, the precise mechanisms behind these effects remain unclear. For example, it is still uncertain how serotonin interacts with dopamine, which is also involved in reward prediction and consumption, or how serotonin might influence learning about rewards over time.The researchers are currently expanding their work to explore serotonin’s function in other brain regions and during more complicated behaviors. Future studies may look at how serotonin influences aversive events (such as when a reward is expected but not delivered) or compare serotonin’s role across different brain areas involved in motivation and reward.“We are hoping to understand serotonin’s broader function in brain-wide reward processing and behavioral control,” Nautiyal said. “We’d like to understand if this serotonin release is important for learning about a reward or motivation towards a reward. We’d also like to characterize serotonin release during aversive, rather than rewarding, events and perform a comparative analysis of serotonin release across brain regions during reward and motivated behavior.”The study, “Striatal serotonin release signals reward value,” was authored by Mitchell G. Spring and Katherine M. Nautiyal.

Avoid These Common Mistakes When Applying For Business Grants

Business News

Applying for business grants can be an exciting way to secure funding without having to pay it back. However, the grant application process can be highly competitive, and even a small mistake can cost you a valuable opportunity.

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, avoiding common errors in the application process is crucial to increasing your chances of success.

Let’s explore some of the most frequent mistakes applicants make when applying for grants:
1. Not Meeting Eligibility Requirements
One of the biggest mistakes applicants make is applying for grants without thoroughly reviewing the eligibility criteria. Every grant has specific requirements based on factors like location, industry, business size, or demographic background. If your business doesn’t align with these criteria, your application will likely be dismissed right away.

How to Avoid This:

Before you start the application, carefully read through the eligibility guidelines. If you’re unsure about your fit, contact the grant provider to clarify. Only invest time in grants where you meet all the required criteria.
2. Ignoring Application Deadlines
Timing is everything. Many entrepreneurs miss out on grant opportunities simply because they fail to submit their application on time. Most grants have strict deadlines, and late submissions are rarely accepted.

How to Avoid This:
Set reminders for important deadlines, and aim to submit your application well before the cutoff date. Rushing at the last minute often leads to mistakes, so give yourself plenty of time to complete the process.

3. Incomplete or Inaccurate Applications
Grant providers receive hundreds, if not thousands, of applications. Any errors or missing information can cause your application to be rejected without consideration. Common issues include failing to provide supporting documents, leaving sections blank, or submitting inaccurate financial information.

How to Avoid This:
Double-check your application before submission. Make sure every section is complete, all documents are attached, and your financials are accurate. Having a trusted colleague or advisor review your application is a great way to catch mistakes you may have missed.
4. Lack of Clear Goals or Impact
Many grants want to know how the funding will be used and the impact it will have on your business. A vague or unclear plan can hurt your chances, as grant providers want to see that their money will be put to good use.
How to Avoid This:
When detailing how you’ll use the grant, be specific. Outline the exact areas of your business the funds will support, whether it’s new equipment, marketing, or employee training. If the grant asks about potential impact, explain in concrete terms how the funding will help grow your business or benefit your community.
5. Failing to Align Your Business Mission with the Grant’s Purpose
Many grants are designed to support businesses with specific missions, such as women-owned businesses, environmental sustainability, or minority entrepreneurs. Failing to connect your business’s mission to the purpose of the grant could make your application feel irrelevant.
How to Avoid This:
Research the grant provider and tailor your application to highlight how your business aligns with their goals. For example, if the grant supports businesses that promote innovation, emphasize the innovative aspects of your business in your application.
6. Submitting Generic Applications
Using a one-size-fits-all approach to apply for multiple grants can be tempting, but it often leads to failure. Grant reviewers can easily spot when an application hasn’t been customized to their specific program, which can make it seem like you haven’t taken the time to understand their objectives.
How to Avoid This:
Personalize each application to reflect the specific grant you are applying for. While you may be able to reuse some information, make sure you’re clearly addressing the unique requirements, goals, and questions for each grant.
7. Neglecting to Follow Up
Some entrepreneurs think their job is done once they hit “submit,” but following up can be an important part of the process. Whether you receive a response or not, a polite follow-up can show your professionalism and interest in the opportunity.
How to Avoid This:
After submitting your application, follow up with the grant provider within a reasonable time frame. This could be a simple email inquiring about the status of your application or asking for feedback if you don’t receive the grant.
The bottom line is applying for business grants can be a game-changer for your business, but it’s essential to approach the process with care and attention to detail. When you avoid these common mistakes you can increase your chances of success. Remember, the key to winning a grant is not just having a great business idea but also presenting it in a way that resonates with the grant provider’s goals.

Banned Books Week starts with mixed messages as reports show challenges both up and down

Arts & Culture, Books

NEW YORK (AP) — Two reports released Monday provide a mixed but compelling outlook on the wave of book removals and challenges as the annual Banned Books Week begins for schools, stores and libraries nationwide. The American Library Association found a substantial drop in 2024 so far in complaints about books stocked in public, school and academic libraries, and in the number of books receiving objections. Meanwhile, PEN America is documenting an explosion in books being removed from school shelves in 2023-24, tripling to more than 10,000 over the previous year. More than 8,000 were pulled just in Florida and Iowa, where laws restricting the content of books have been passed.The two surveys don’t necessarily contradict each other. The library association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has recorded 414 challenges over the first eight months of 2024, with 1,128 different titles criticized. Over the same time period last year, the office tallied 695 cases, involving 1,915 books. The ALA relies on media accounts and reports from librarians and has long acknowledged that many challenges may not be included, whether because librarians preemptively withhold a book that may be controversial or decline to even acquire it.

Challenges have surged to record highs over the past few years, and the 2024 totals so far still exceed the ALA’s numbers before 2020. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who directs the association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, also cautioned that the numbers predate the start of the fall school year, when laws that had been on hold in Iowa will again be in effect.

“Reports from Iowa are still coming in,” she said. “And we expect that to continue through the end of the year.”

The library association defines a “challenge” as a “formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.” The ALA doesn’t keep a precise figure of how many books have actually been withdrawn.

According to PEN, bans are tallied through local media reports, “school district websites, and school board minutes, as well as organizational partners” such as the Florida Freedom to Read Project and Let Utah Read. The library association relies primarily on local media and accounts from public librarians. And the two organizations have differing definitions of “ban,” a key reason their numbers vary so greatly. For the ALA, a ban is the permanent removal of a book from a library’s collection. Should hundreds of books be pulled from a library for review, then returned, they are not counted as banned, but listed as a single “challenge.”For PEN, withdrawals of any length qualify as bans.“If access to a book is restricted, even for a short period of time, that is a restriction of free speech and free expression,” says Kasey Meehan, who directs PEN’s Freedom to Read program.The ALA and PEN both say that most of the books targeted have racial or LGBTQIA+ themes, whether it’s Meir Kobabe’s “Gender Queen,” Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye” or Jonathan Evison’s “Lawn Boy.” While some complaints have come from liberals objecting to the racist language of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and other older works, the vast majority originate with conservatives and such organizations as Moms for Liberty.

The Iowa law, passed last year in the Republican-controlled statehouse, bans school libraries from carrying books that depict sex acts. The law also requires schools to publicize its library collection online and provide instructions for parents on how to request the removal of books or other materials. Many districts already had those systems in place.After LGBTQIA+ youth, teachers and major publishers filed legal challenges, a federal judge in December put a temporary hold on key parts of the law, but it was lifted by a federal appeals court last month in an order that left room for challengers to seek a block again.Records requests filed by the Des Moines Register with Iowa’s 325 districts showed nearly 3,400 books had been removed from school libraries to comply with the law before it was paused. In Davenport, which is among Iowa’s 10 largest districts and serves more than 12,000 students, Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Kabobe’s “Gender Queer” and Morrison’s “Bluest Eye” were among the nine books taken out of circulation.

After the law passed, staff were instructed to review books in their care available to students, district communications director Sarah Ott wrote in an email.“If any books were preliminarily identified as potentially violating the new law, building staff referred the books to district administration for official review,” according to Ott. The district administration uses a process that was already in place to review materials and ensure compliance with the law, she said.

Banned Books Week, which runs through Sunday, was established in 1982 and features readings and displays of banned works. It is supported by the ALA, PEN, the Authors Guild, the National Book Foundation and more than a dozen other organizations. Filmmaker Ava Duvernay has been named honorary chair, and student activist Julia Garnett, who has opposed bans in her native Tennessee, is the youth honorary chair. Garnett was among 15 “Girls Leading Change” praised last fall by first lady Jill Biden during a White House ceremony.“We observe Banned Books Week, but we don’t celebrate,” Caldwell-Stone said. “Banned books are the opposite of the freedoms promised by the First Amendment.”___Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.

Jasper is open to visitors again — but what can tourists expect?

Travel

Landon Shepherd, sporting his yellow Parks Canada jacket and blue safety helmet, stood in a campground in Jasper National Park, beside a wooden pole with the metal remnants of a bear bin wrapped around it.Patches of green grass were starting to sprout on the earth nearby, juxtaposed against a desolate landscape of fallen trees and others standing like burned matchsticks. The trees lining the mountainsides in the background were torched too.”This was not green even a week ago; there were just a couple of odd plants. Since then, a bunch of things have sprouted up,” said Shepherd, a Parks Canada incident commander, while guiding a media tour through a couple of campgrounds on Sept. 7.”In a month and a half, we’ve already got really good ground cover — even in a site that was stripped so severely as this.”An immense wildfire — and the storm it created — swept through the national park nearly two months ago, burning accommodations, landmarks and attractions to various degrees. Eventually, the flames reached the Jasper townsite, destroying about one-third of its buildings.WATCH | Jasper re-opens to visitors — but what can tourists expect?: Radio Active7:57Jasper balancing act: rebuilding the community and economy togetherWe speak to Tyler Riopel, the CEO of Tourism Jasper, about responsible tourism.Recovery is ongoing, but visitors were recently allowed back into Jasper as well as several trails and day-use areas within the national park.Locals are welcoming visitors with open arms, but experts suggest it is unclear how tourism will be affected due to a lack of research into how they respond to wildfires. The tourists who do go, they said, should prepare for the area to look different from its photos, as it may take years for the town to rebuild and decades for nature to heal.The economy of Jasper, a town of roughly 5,000 people surrounded by the Rocky Mountains, relies heavily on tourism: Parks Canada annual reports show more than two million people visited Jasper National Park almost every year for the past decade — a fraction of whom are there for camping.Before the COVID-19 pandemic, international tourists spent more than $1 billion on the Alberta side of the Rockies, Statistics Canada data shows. Spending in the region has yet to reach such levels since the pandemic, but international tourists still spent more than $500 million in 2022 — the last full year of data available.”For those tourists who do go, know that you’re supporting a community in a time of need,” Michelle Rutty, an associate professor of geography and environmental management at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, told CBC News in an email.”Your dollars spent will have a meaningful impact in terms of supporting Jasper in its efforts to recover and rebuild,” she wrote.Tourist conductJasper Mayor Richard Ireland has described re-opening to tourists as a delicate balance essential to the town’s recovery. Premier Danielle Smith, on her radio show last weekend, encouraged people to visit the town.Residents were allowed home to start assessing their houses and businesses on Aug. 16, nearly four weeks after the evacuation order was issued. Some businesses are back in operation, while others may not be able to start up for a while yet.Business owners recognize the challenging recovery ahead and need tourists’ help, recalling how hard it was for some to get by from the local population alone during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.LISTEN | Jasper balancing act: rebuilding the community and economy together: Jasper re-opens to visitors — but what can tourists expect?1 hour agoDuration 1:55Government officials and some Jasper business owners are encouraging tourism, as the community has opened up to tourists again. Experts suggest it is unclear how a recent wildfire will affect tourism, but those who go should prepare for the area to look different from older photos.Yet, there are limited accommodations because the town has to house residents whose homes burned down.There is growing attention to wildfires and how they affect tourism. But there is little available research about how visitors perceive the risk and how they respond to such natural disasters, Rutty said. She noted that tourism was hampered last year in Kelowna, B.C., for example, due to wildfires — and the number of visitors hasn’t fully rebounded.Some existing research suggests that, for various reasons, people are split about whether to visit a place after a natural disaster. Some are apprehensive because they want to be respectful, while others may be unaware — or want to go because — something happened there.”You get this yin and yang,” said Lorri Krebs, a professor of geography and sustainability at Salem State University in Massachusetts.Burnt buses and cars were among the carnage in Jasper, Alta., after a wildfire reached the town in late July.

Pope Francis Cancels Meetings, Citing Flu With More Travel Looming

Travel

Francis, 87, is scheduled to visit Belgium and Luxembourg, meeting with sexual abuse survivors, within weeks of returning from a grueling Asia-Pacific tour.Pope Francis canceled appointments on Monday because of a mild flu, according to the Vatican, which said the move was a precautionary step as the pontiff prepares to travel to Belgium and Luxembourg this week.The news of Francis’ illness came 10 days after the pope returned from a long trip to the Asia-Pacific region, a tour that was seen as a test of his health and endurance. During those travels, which included dozens of hours in the air and visits to humid, polluted cities, Francis, 87, often appeared lively and energetic, but the cancellation of his audiences on Monday revived concerns about his health.Francis, who has been using a wheelchair and who lost part of a lung when he was young, canceled some commitments in the past year because of a flu and lung inflammation. The Vatican did not announce any changes to the trip to Belgium, which remained planned for Thursday to Sunday.During that visit, Francis is scheduled to meet with a group of victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy, according to Cathobel, a website associated with the French-speaking church in Belgium. In 2010, a commission established by the church reported pervasive abuse in the country.Francis has been hospitalized three times in the past few years. In June 2023, he had surgery for a hernia that had been causing painful intestinal blockages. He had a colon operation in 2021, and in March last year he was hospitalized because of a respiratory infection.The pope’s Asia-Pacific trip this month was the longest of his 11-year tenure and was taken despite his having said that traveling has become harder for him. Supporters viewed the tour as a sign not only of his determination to build a church with a less Eurocentric future but also of his personal resilience.Taking another trip, even a much shorter one, only two weeks after returning is likely to test that resilience again.