If you are one of these people who resent being faced with unpleasant reality, then please don’t read any further.   This column is going to upset you. It’s about the tourism industry and the role that it can – but doesn’t – play in conservation.  And by conservation I don’t mean sending an SMS to save some rhinos, I’m talking about a fundamental shift in the way we view the world.  I was reminded this weekend just how much my own attitudes have changed. It was a five-star banquet at a hotel – a rather small banquet as banquets go.  The main course was either Norwegian salmon or beef fillet.  Yum. But when the food arrived, the fish was a huge slab of pink flesh, and the meat was a doorstep about five inches thick.   I struggled to finish my meal and felt slightly sick afterwards (I was taught as a kid to clean my plate).  But plate after plate of barely touched food was taken away at the end of the course.  This upset me so much that I did not enjoy the banquet.  All I could think about was the number of cattle that had been slaughtered to deliver those steaks (and all those fish) – most of which were now going to end up in the trash can.  And then I thought of the thousands and thousands of banquets that take place all around the world, every night of the week, and all that expensive food that gets thrown away. Now – please don’t misunderstand me.  I am not making a case for radical vegetarianism here.  I enjoy my braai as much as anyone.  What repels me is the sheer waste that accompanies much of what we consider ‘five star’. Two decades ago, I attended banquets regularly and stayed in five-star hotels (no, I was just there to report on them as a journalist), and I never gave a thought to these things.  This champagne lifestyle was a perk of the job. But the last 15 years has seen an enormous change to our planet.  There is not a single wild species (apart from flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches and us) that is not threatened with extinction in some way.  Our weather has become more ferocious, our global temperature more extreme.  Our seas are overfished to the point of collapse, our forests and grasslands are being cleared at an unprecedented rate to accommodate our livestock.  Time magazine estimates that we have about 10 years of clean water left. There is some debate about whether our energy sources are running out but what is indisputable is that our unfettered energy use has changed the balance of our planet.  Our lands are covered in concrete and tarmac, our oceans are filled with plastic, our bio-diversity is replaced with sterile plantations and crops.  Our global population is increasing at the rate of 70 million every year – that is twice the population of our country being added to the poor overloaded globe on an annual basis.  There are more people on the planet than any other species (apart, once again, from the flies, mosquitoes and cockroaches!) Most people don’t like to hear these things.  They will call you a killjoy, will tell you animals are only important as tourist attractions, that there is still plenty of room for everyone, that bio-diversity is only relevant to the bunny-huggers.  Tourism establishments will tell you that visitors demand lights burning all night, huge quantities and varieties of food, vast brimming bath tubs, huge air-conditioned vehicles to transport them.  In other words, luxury can only be luxury when it is accompanied by enormous waste. I simply cannot stomach this argument any more.  The real problem is that honest conservation requires effort and planning.   It also requires a shift in mindset.  Instead of waiting for the government to do something, start thinking about the impact you make on the planet and the number of people you can influence through your tourism practice. There are enough books, magazines and websites around that will tell you how to conserve.  But none of these is worth a row of beans unless people change the way they live.  Tourism is a high-impact industry by nature but this impact can be reduced.  Before you throw anything away, think:  can I use this again?  Can someone else use it again?  Can it be recycled?   Before you assume that people want extravagant waste, ask them.  Put up a notice.  Get their co-operation.  Car-hire companies, restaurants, hotels, game lodges, travel agents, yes, even travel journalists – we all have a wide circle of influence that we can use to persuade people that it is no longer cool to waste resources for their convenience. A lot of conservation activists sugar the pill in order not to alienate those people who couldn’t give a hoot, but unfortunately only a real disaster is going to convince people that we need to change our behaviour in fundamental ways.  But you cannot say you haven’t been warned.  If you are interested in knowing more about green living, here is a good place to start:  subscribe to the free e-magazine #http://www.simplygreen.co.za