The Standard

Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Kyle Davis

Sometimes even the most common practices can harm the environment.

Pollution of the atmosphere and depletion of natural resources are two well-known earth killers, but the little things can also build up to become bigger problems.

These little things can include activities like idling in the car at a stop light, keeping cell phone chargers plugged in when not charging the phone, leaving the lights on when no one is in the room or leaving the stereo on when not listening to it, said Alexander Wait, biology associate professor and the adviser for Students for a Sustainable Future.

Additionally, failing to recycle aluminum or using bottled water instead of tap water are two small problems that can add up, he said.

"If you had a metal detector and you could go to all of the landfills just in the U.S. and pull out all the aluminum, you could sell that aluminum for (a large amount)," Wait said.

Paying attention to even the little things that could be damaging the environment is important in making the earth a better place, he said.

Tourism is one element of the Ozarks that can have a negative impact on the environment if left unchecked, said Linnea Iantria, visiting assistant professor for the department of geography, geology and planning.

The human impact is a huge challenge when it comes to tourism, Iantria said.

"(It's tough to) create a tourism attraction and then keep it going without it deteriorating or damaging the environment, both the cultural and physical geography," she said.

This deterioration can be brought on by several different things.

The most damaging thing is most likely a general disregard for the environment, Iantria said.

"Litter is huge," she said. "I don't think people realize how devastating that can be."

With hiking and camping being big parts of tourism in the Ozarks, certain problems can develop because of them.

When there are hiking paths, they are there for a reason, Iantria said. Straying off the path can be damaging to the ecosystem.

There might be an area-specific animal or plant that grows in the area, and if people aren't careful, they could disturb that, she said.

"A lot of people just choose to ignore that and go off of the track," Iantria said. "A lot of things, particularly in state and national park systems, were designed to flow through in a certain way as to not damage the environment."

Sometimes the problem can be the community's lack of attention to nurturing the environment around them.

"In their quest to get more tourists, sometimes the community doesn't listen to their own environment," Iantria said.

This could mean a certain community might want to market a cheap price to bring in more tourists, but this can usually bring problems, she said.

"Sometimes tourists have an expectation that it's got to be the cheapest price," Iantria said. "Well, that comes at a price because if the price demand is so low, the facility or the attraction (might not be able to) afford to maintain their facilities or upgrade the equipment."

Iantria said the way to remedy the problem is increased education.

Starting today and running the rest of the week is the public affairs conference, which focuses on sustainability this year. For more information, visit http://publicaffairs.missouristate.edu/conference/ for more information.

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