Last week, we featured a story about the cruise industry surrounding Mexico and how it is working to clean up its act. Now, a recent story by the UK’s famed Telegraph has determined that cruises are the highest-ranked “eco offenders” in the travel industry.

Carbon emissions for cruise ships are roughly 3 times higher per [...]

Last week, we featured a story about the cruise industry surrounding Mexico and how it is working to clean up its act. Now, a recent story by the UK’s famed Telegraph has determined that cruises are the highest-ranked “eco offenders” in the travel industry.

Carbon emissions for cruise ships are roughly 3 times higher per passenger than those of airplanes, while no major cruise lines has of yet made any headway in carbon offset purchasing. And while cruise ships have ceased to dump raw sewage into the, filtered waste continues to be dumped as long as ships are more than 12 miles offshore.

A recently conducted EPA study has found that even waste filtered through advanced treatment systems contains heavy metals and chemicals like chlorine, ammonia, copper, and zinc.

Also, the convenience of cruising is greatly increasing the traffic of passengers into highly-sensitive ecosystems, while the massive ships often transport invasive species such as insects or rats.