First Stop: South America

  In the city it can be difficult to maintain a green standard of living. Most large   cities in South America (and in North America for that matter) are littered with   trash and smothered in choking car or bus exhaust fumes. But don’t lose faith yet.  South America may even be ahead of the U.S. in terms of green city planning. Curitaba, Brazil is a reigning example of green urban planning and experimentation. Other than being the nation’s leading recycler, Curitaba also boasts 28 parks helping to total 20 million square meters of undeveloped land. Not only were those parks specifically built to better the social community, but were created out of previous industrial or commercial sites. One large park was a former flavela, or shanty town, that frequently flooded. The city moved the people into low income housing in another part of town and rebuilt the flood zone as a park with a natural ebbing lake. The city then added a running track, picnic tables, and sheep. Why sheep? The sheep keep the grass nice and tidy, without the undesired noise or fumes from large lawnmowers. Moreover, Curitaba has a bus system that many large cities envy. In fact, some larger cities in the world have adopted the Curitaba model because it worked so efficiently. 60% of the transportation in Curitaba lies with the bus system. Rather than building an entirely new bus system, Curitaba decided to revise the one they already had, making it economical and efficent. Check out PBS.org to find out more.

Plazas are the best way to start off your tourist vacations. Most times, the main Plaza is the city center, usually combining office buildings, governmental offices, and churches or other places of worship with an historical atmosphere. Plaza’s litter the South American cityscape. Historically, most Plazas were built to house military meetings and the city was built around this area. They may have started from old market centers and gradually morphed into artistic hubs and meeting locations. For example, the Plaza de Mayo en Buenos Aires, Argentina was used during the Dirty War by mothers of the desaparacidos (or missing chidren) as a standing ground to protest human rights violations and violence. Plaza 25 de Mayo in Bolivia is a gorgeous place to sit and spend the day, or decide where to go with your day. Wherever you are, the Plaza is a good place to start of your journey. Catch some historical action, artwork, or just check out the governemental block of your country.

While on your travels around South America, you might decide you want to work with those less fortunate or with the children in the community. If you decide you want to volunteer there are plenty of options available. There are a wide range of programs to enlist in if you want to devote your whole trip to volunteering. Help Argentina is an example of one such program. However, if you cant afford to pay  volunteering check out Idealist for updates on volunteer information in your country. If you want to do something more long term, the Peace Corps enlists a lot of volunteers to South America. VolunteerLatinAmerica is another site that will set you up with a place to live and an organization to work with. If you just want to be out and about working with nature and feeling like a part of the planet, become a woofer and learn organic farming!