How Ethical Is Your Travel?

I was going through this Top 10 Ethical Tips for traveling to see how ethical (or, more likely, unethical) my travel usually is.

Well I can’t say that I’ve planted any trees on a trip like #2 suggests (I planted some cucumbers and tomatoes in my backyard here in Brooklyn last summer, do you think that counts?), and I’ve done zero volunteering (see #1), but I can say that I’m a terrible bargainer (#5) and usually pay way too much for basic ordinary things sold on the street (yes I’ll pay $20 for that piece of quartz!) and I don’t recall ever handing out sweets to random strangers on the street (#9 — I think that’s a pretty steadfast rule for everyday life, not just when traveling).

This list is actually part of a larger article about the debate over travel to countries with oppressive governments, and ways you can help the oppressed while avoiding helping the oppressors.