In celebration of Earth Day, we thought that a blog article about the environment was appropriate. Did you know that many areas have banned sunscreen? Yes, it recently started with the ban of plastic straws and now sunscreen. I for one am super proud of that because as a Baton Rouge, Louisiana travel agent I have spent many hours swimming in the ocean. Have you ever been swimming and you come up on a pool of grease? You may have just washed over someone else’s non-biodegradable sunscreen. Yuck!
So before you head to Walmart for some over the counter sunscreen, here are the destinations that will soon require you to purchase biodegradable and earth friendly types.
1. Hawaii – One of our favorite, tropical getaways, the Hawaiian Islands have recently voted to ban the sale of sunscreens that contain the reef-damaging chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate, beginning in 2021. “Nearly half of the earths corral reefs are gone,” said Hawaii Representative, Chris Lee. “We’ve got to take action to make sure we can protect the other half as best we can because we know that time is against us.” Don’t worry though, the ban doesn’t include the spf found in makeup or prescription sunscreen.
2. Key West, Florida – Somewhere a little closer to home has also jumped on the ever popular ban on toxic sunscreen. And why not, they are home to one of the largest cora reefs in the continental United States? Starting in 2021, you won’t see any stores in Key West selling non-biodegradable sunscreen. Come on, we have thousands of sunscreen options but Key West only has one coral reef.
3. Palau – The Pacific island is one of the first to roll out the ban. Starting in 2020, a business could be fined up to $1,000 for selling non-biodegradable sunscreen..which is great because it’s easy to forget about the ban or that there’s even harmful elements in over the counter sunscreen anyway.
4. Bonaire, Caribbean – There was a vote taken to ban sunscreen sales with the harmful chemicals in them and the vote was unanimously voted in favor of. Can you believe that about 90% percent of the reefs in the Caribbean have died since 1980? Staggering numbers for sure.
5. Mexico – It’s not banned yet but it may be in the near future since Mexico is one of the top destinations for tourism and there are plenty of ecotourism preserves and natural water parks in Mexico. Mexico is reaching out to visitors asking that they use only natural sunscreens.
So there you have it…5 vacation worthy destinations that are looking to protect the earth with a ban on non-biodegradable sunscreen. Make sure and read the labels before purchasing your sunscreen because the fines can be hefty. Of course, the damage to the environment is hefty as well. Amazon and many stores do carry biodegradable sunscreen that is very effective in blocking harmful uv rays. As your travel agent, we can recommend a few as well.
Speaking of travel agents..if you’re still looking for one in Baton Rouge please give us a call. We’ve been sending travelers to far off lands ready and prepared for the exciting adventures that await them for years. Why not allow us to do the same for you? It will be memorable, we promise.
Topics: Tips