By Aiden Haines

San Juan Island is sustained by a delicate balance of local businesses and tourism. Dependent on both of these factors is the ecosystem and environment. With so many visitors during the summer months, it can feel like a clean-up effort throughout the winter months. As residents of this beautiful yet fragile island, it is a job written in the metaphorical fine print to make sure residents are doing what is possible in sustainably running businesses, making green choices at home, and carrying those choices when traveling. In lieu of Earth Day on the 22, as business owners, tourists and most importantly as islanders, there are things that can be done with the health of home on the forefront of thought.

The San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau is working in collaboration with the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee and the County Department of Environmental Stewardship to draft a Tourism Management Plan to be presented to the County Council sometime in May. This will be open to public comment. For those who care about the future of the sustainability of the tourism industry, then there is no better time than now to pay attention and get involved.

Now, no business can switch all of its materials, operations, and practices to the most sustainable option all at once. This cannot happen for many reasons, such as expense, supply chain issues, and giving up convenience. There are ways that business owners can start small and make changes over time. Finding one thing that works with individuals and their businesses is a great way on a smaller scale to help with the bigger picture. According to Amy Nesler, the Stewardship and Communications Manager at the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, these small alterations could make all the difference.

“Getting an energy audit on your building can be the first step,” Nesler noted. Companies like Sustainable Connections out of Bellingham, Washington will travel to Friday Harbor to conduct an energy audit on your building, establishing where improvements need to be made in order to save energy. With programs like these, there are many incentives for businesses to make the switch to more sustainable energy options. For more information on an energy audit visit https://sustainableconnections.org/energize-san-juans/. There are many resources that are about there, and a lot of them are at little to no cost when it comes to energy efficiency.

The biggest threats to sustainable tourism are the increasing costs of doing business, inflation and other external factors. One of which includes getting residents of these areas on board with sustainable practices and holding them just as accountable as visitors. Places like San Juan Island are dependent on locally owned businesses. While the cost of doing business and inflation will always be threats, business owners can implement small changes and be vocal. By vocalizing their attempts, a chain reaction can spark within the network of other business owners to do the same.

The San Juan Islands have become an increasingly popular destination for travelers. Visitors who want to go hiking or beachcombing, and get a chance to see the Southern Resident Orca population while whale watching. However, there is no such thing as “the perfect tourist.” Nesler notes that the Visitors Bureau wants to increase education about the fragility of the island communities and ecosystems. Most importantly, Nesler hopes that those traveling here can appreciate the sense of place here on an island, embracing slower travel, and embracing the island culture. When travelers take into account their sense of place, and really take notice of the smaller scale that the island’s ecosystem is on, and how important their impact is because of the scale, that is as perfect of a traveler the island can get.

While Earth Day is one day of the year, the principle needs to be kept in mind all year round. Earth Day means leaving no trace. Earth Day means leaving the outdoors better than it was found. Earth Day also means that each person follows best practices with the planet in mind, and leads by example for others to see and follow. For more information about loving San Juan like a local visit https://www.visitsanjuans.com/love-it-like-a-local.