Green Holidays

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Learning to Tango in Argentina can be just as important as visiting a rainforest…….

There are a whole host of festival and events that may well rely on your visit to survive the next 30 years or so. 

I’m not talking about the modern Rio Carnival or Oktoberfest – I’m talking about traditions that have lived for centuries in small communities across the world.

UNESCO has set about preserving these traditions with their Intangible Cultural Heritage scheme – to which they have recently added the Tango – but which holds many many more already including many little known cultural delights from across the globe.

Take for example, the Indonesian Wayang Puppet Theatre. This art of story telling has been used in Indonesia for 10 thousand years, across the royal courts and in towns and villages, to bring the regions epic history to life.

There is still an interest in the puppets – either 3-dimensional or brought alive by shadows – accompanied by musicians and singers, but it is having to compete with television and the internet for viewers. 

By making sure you add a visit to a traditional theatre show on your trip to the area, you could be making sure that it is worth continuing the tradion and worth training for.  Would you invest your time learning a skill that people might not need in 5 years?

Or a trip to Mexico in late fall could coincide with the huge festival: el dia de los muertos – the Day of the Dead.  Thousands of local villagers spend the day in celebration of their lost loved ones who are said to come alive for the day and to bring properity and good luck to the families.

Cultural Heritage:

We all know how important it is to encourage traditions and festivals, but of course we need to make sure that we don’t make them into a side show, like the Kayan women from Thailand have become, but we want to make sure that they know the importance of their traditions.

Also, they do not want to freeze cultures in time.  There is no intention to force people to continue with customs that are no longer relevant, but to empower cultures with their past – rather than force them into an uncomfortable future.

Things like Morris Dancing in the UK are well known not to be a part of modern culture – yet we all love the tradition of the dancing and the people who dress up for this know the history and pass on the reasons behind the colors and the stick-bashing!

Society will always evolve – but why not hold on to the things that were once important.  Hopefully governments are working with these groups to make sure that these traditions are not lost forever like many languages around the world have been.

Welcome back after several weeks - and are you ready for some more great tips to help you stay safe on-line!

Don’t Use Auto-save Tools While Travelling.
The number of times I went onto a computer abroad to find other users still logged in to things like Facebook and Hotmail was amazing!  Although these still require passwords for ordinary people to get in – other users can be a bit more creative at getting details.

And many sites will automatically bring up your logged in home page if you type in the URL again after not logging out.  My laptop remembers them all unless I log out or actually shut down the computer. 

Makes my day a lot easier – but it could spell disaster if you weren’t the only one logging in.  How many Internet cafes restart their computers between users?  I bet it is virtually none! 

Next time you hop on to a shared computer – go to the pc’s history and pull up some of the sites the last user went to and see if they left any of them ‘open’.  Then you can see for yourself how easy it is.

So, make sure you always click ‘log out’ and wait for it to show the log in screen again – checking that your details are not in there!

Not everyone does it by mistake though – a lady using a computer before me had unbelievably left her email inbox open – and on the screen for all to see!  Can you imagine the damage an open email account full of account confirmation details and passwords could have?  What about access to all those friends addresses and contact numbers that could have been used by a stranger!

Streams of Spam are almost certain to follow!

I think some people get so used to leaving these details on their own or friends computers that they just don’t think of all the dangers out there.  Even if you think you are the only one using the hotels computer – it doesn’t matter.  These are your personal details and you could be exploited.  Even if it’s only your email, they could check all the other sites you had been to that day and add things together – or, of course, just email your friends and ask them!

Delete Your Cookies And Your Internet History – Every Time.
If you were using Internet Explorer, you will be able to clear your history of sites visited and also clear your cookies (small files automatically saved on a pc, which can identify your personal details and what you did on the pc).

It’s very easy to clear these – and worth remembering.  And it means that whoever uses the computer after you (that day, week or month even) won’t be able to find out which sites you visited and any transactions of personal information you needed for that.

To do so: select Tools, then Internet Options, then click the Delete Cookies and Clear History buttons before pressing OK.

It may well take a few minutes to do this as it will be deleting not only your details, but also the hundreds of details before that no-one else bothered to clear.  It would be wise to start this about 5 minutes before your ‘paid’ time runs out to make sure it is done before you run out of minutes! 

If you are staying in the same location, it might be wise to then return to this same computer so that you know that you are safe every time rather than risking a different pc each visit!

Avoid Using Unsecured, Unencrypted Wi-Fi.
Using encrypted Wi-Fi isn’t the main concern here as this is generally very safe – but don’t assume all Wi-Fi is safe!  If you end up using unsecured, unencrypted Wi-Fi, you could leave yourself open to invasion.

Accessing the Internet via an unencrypted Wi-Fi hot-spot in a small cafe or hostel may well allow all your personal details to ’hang around’ that connected location.  It is here that anyone with knowledge of such things could access it!  Frightening stuff to think that someone can see what you did on your computer or laptop on their own screen just across the room from you! 

Basically anyone, with this kind of thing in mind, could be sitting near you – or even across the street – depending on the strength of the signal – accessing your laptop through theirs and ’seeing’ the pages that you visit.  They may even see the user-names and passwords which you type in.  They could also infect your laptop with a virus and access your accounts while you are in them yourself!

Take Care!

How can a country do so well in some things and so bad in others?

We all know from our own experiences that we are better at some aspects of green living, but not so hot on others. 

For example, recycling, reusing and reducing everything, having your own allotment and not having kids may well earn you massive green brownie points – but then you can easily talk yourself into that sunshine break in the Caribbean!

So, how do countries make those choices?

I was recently reading about Malta in the Mediterranean Sea in southern Europe and I was very pleased with their green credentials.

They have several de-salination parks and have done so for decades.  They have a natural shortage of water being so hot and so small that they also don’t really have gardens either – so that they don’t have to waste resources watering them.

The Maltese people build on every square inch of ground so that no land is wasted – and they build small and dark properties in tiny thin streets to maximise the shade and shadow around their properties.  This means that they don’t have to cool themselves with energy-sapping air conditioning.

Their tiny windows stop the sun from heating their houses back up the following morning (unlike all the tourist flats that have great big sliding windows to let in as much sun and heat as possible – well, the air con will cool it down afterwards!).

Their public transport – old buses – runs a regular cheap service so car use can be reduced, and they recycle almost everything.

And, as the evening arrives, everyone files out onto the streets and promenades and parks to mix with friends which keeps community spirit high (no one is going to grafitti, drop litter or cause damage to the areas their family and friends visit every day!).  It also, as a result, reduces energy consumption indoors as nobody is watching TV and leaving their lights on!

Sounds great for an eco destination?

Until you put everything else together, like how to get there.  Most people will fly there as it is still about an hour or so from it’s nearest neighbour Sicily.  Even overland commuters need to get to the very toe of Italy, before boating to Sicily, then crossing most of the island to get the ferry to Malta.  Other boat crossings are available – but if you are thinking of a cruise ship – you may as well fly for all the eco credentials they have!

They are also building all the time, building upwards and outwards.  Recent developments all along the main Strand in Sleima – right to the very end.  All hi-rise apartments for more and more tourists. 

The whole region is just one great big dust cloud.  All the parked cars are covered with a layer of dust – as well as some of the stray cats!  Just in 1 photo of the skyline there were about 10 different cranes at work!

The regular buses are all old though, and the fumes that come ballooning out of the exhausts are not always a pretty site!

And lets not even go into detail about the wildlife offences that this country is often remembered for.

I could go on, but I only wanted to touch on the fact that many countries are touting how well they are doing in green tourism and development – and many of the things they achieve are to be rewarded and applauded – but it cannot be at the loss of other standard requirements – like peace and quiet!

So, whenever you are sizing up one destination against the other, don’t just look at what you know is good – maybe make a comparison list of the things that are bad as well, and think about those.

For example would you be more annoyed if someone shot dead 500 endangered birds than if they crammed 500 more holiday apartments on the coast?  Would you rather a country reduced their water consumption or decreased the number of buses they use?

Interesting discussions.

Can wearing a bikini top be the rudest thing ever?

If you are visiting a local island in the Maldives – then yes, very much so!  It is almost like spitting in the locals faces if you want to relate it to our ideals.  I mean the thought of women baring their shoulders in the Maldivian culture is very offensive and can make local women very uncomfortable.

It also creates a boundary between the people who actually live there and the tourists who want to visit these islands.

And it isn’t just these Indian Ocean islands that have something that seems to normal to us to be so offensive to local communities.

Why Act Like The Local People?
Well, if you relate it to something in western culture it always makes a lot more sense – for example most people in the US would be offended if tourists began to walk into peoples front yards and having lunch, or pushing to the front of shopping queues in the UK.

However, some Americans are happy to wander around a church taking pictures and eating ice creams, or British parents allowing their children to climb all over city monuments or scream and run around in local stores or museums.

I am only using these 2 as examples, but there are plenty of other things that travellers don’t think twice about – yet are so rude in the eyes of others.

I mean some people are even this rude when visiting places in their own country!  However, when trying to experience another culture, you need to at least research the basics and try to blend in with the community you plan to visit.

Even the basics can bridge the gap between you and the people you are hoping to communicate with during your stay.

Culture differences are always important, but even more so when language is already a barrier, and different religions or beliefs can only make things worse and the difference even greater.

It doesn’t take a minute to learn a few polite phrases and some of the most important ‘don’ts’ of the location you plan to visit – so please take the time to do so and make your visit better for the people you are visiting as well as yourself and your family!

How do you stay safe when using an Internet cafe abroad or at home?

If you have transferred most of your subscriptions and bank accounts over to the Internet to save on paper and to increase your accessibility – why throw it all open to intruders?

I mean – when you use a computer that is used by more than one person – like in a hotel reception of Internet cafe – you don’t know who you are sharing your security with.  For example and pc in an Internet cafe could have 10 or more users every day downloading or uploading all sorts of data.

As a result of all these people and all their activities (downloading their photos, or transferring videos or other files from one place to another) each computer could be the host of all sorts of nasty viruses and potentially ‘bad’ software that people have accidentally allowed into the system – or who have done so on purpose!

Using my own experiences as a guide – and a bit of help from some of my ‘computery friends’ I have put together some simple security tips to help minimise the risk you take when using a shared pc.  This will help to keep your personal details safe from prying eyes where you least expect it – and help to stop people viewing your Internet history and reading about you in your cookies……

Start How You Mean To Go On.
The most important thing here is to look for a popular haunt for other travellers.  Is it busy with other travellers and/or was it recommended by your hotel? 

Inside, you could check whether their systems have any ‘anti-virus’ software running on them such as Norton (the yellow circle with the green tick) or AVG logo? 

If you see people downloading pictures from digital cameras, uploading videos and mp3s etc from the Internet, the greater the chance will be that they pass on viruses.  This is due to the increased interaction between the computers and other technology – where someone less careful than yourself has used a ‘dodgy’ computer and picked something up which they then ‘transfer’ onto a computer in your cafe. 

If they have powerful anti-virus software then this isn’t so much of an issue – although if the anti-virus picks something up and the pc users ignores or over-rides the warning then it can render this pointless to a certain extent!

Start A Quick Spy-ware Sweep Of Your Own.
If in any doubt at all about the safety of the pc – which is true for most shared computers abroad – find a free online spy-sweeper tool to run some quick checks for you. 

HouseCall is easy to find online – but there are many others you could use.  The idea of this is for it to identify obvious security problems with the computer before you type any passwords or personal details in – including your name and address.

And don’t forget that a virus in a computer can move onto anything else that you connect to it – it doesn’t just affect the pc.  For example – you could be trying to move your holiday snaps onto Facebook and suddenly the camera gets infected and you lose all your photos – your memory card will never work again! 

Imagine if you were trying to download the amazing footage of you rescuing a wild animal or flying a plane for the first time – lost in an instant along with everything else on your Flip camera.

There will be tears!

Password Protect Your Laptop.
If travelling with your own equipment you are still prone to many of the risks above and in Part 2 - but also to your data and laptop being stolen. 

One great stalling point is to add a decent password to it.  By this I don’t mean something obvious like the country you are in or your dogs name (as these may be obvious if you have been talking to people).  Make it long and difficult to guess like greenbeanandlean or bigbeesbotherbabies!

That way, even if someone steals your laptop – they may well never get to access any of your files.  It’s so simple -  but very effective.

See you later for Part 2 of Online Security For Your Online Lifestyle.

When you are traveling around the place, either locally or nationally – do you ever think about what a difference your tiny car can make on the environment you are travelling through?

I don’t mean anything about the carbon emissions you chug out your exhaust or the energy needed to produce your car in the first place or the natural resources that are being plundered for fuel and spare parts – I mean the fact that you are where you are when you are.

How Can 1 Little Car Make A Difference?
Well, quite a lot if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time really.  And the wrong time may not be so obvious to yourself – only the person behind you!

How many times have you been cursing the traffic in front of you for the hold up?  But how many of those times have you actually needed to be in that traffic in the first place?

I’ve done it myself – stuck in heavy traffic on the way to just browse an out-of-town book store!  I went at a quiet time – but failed to return home before the rush hour – and have become a terrible part of it!

I’m not saying that people who don’t work should never drive in the rush hour – but we should all bear it in mind when we do drive.  And this is especially so when you are on vacation and driving in and about unknown towns and country lanes.

The Lunch Time Rush:
Have you ever had just a few minutes to grab your lunch in town or at a services only to find the person in front of your has all the time in the world and is sorting through coupons in their purse for a pathetically tiny discount off their shopping?  Or the other person who decides that stopping in the doorway of a store to re-organise their shopping bags is absolutely fine – but basically is just in everyone’s way!

That’s what your are if you are on the roads during the rush hour.  You are wasting everyone else’s time – as well as your own – sitting there jamming up the roads.

It’s not just the commuters or school-run moms that are sitting in that traffic – you are too – and we all know that it is no fun at all!  And if you are on vacation – it is a disaster!

So, Take Your Time:
Before heading out on a non-essential journey check what times you will be on the road and think about the traffic.  Could you take the bus instead?  Could you visit a friend before or after to delay your journey and keep the roads that little bit clearer?  Could you stay in these woods for a few hours more – or enjoy one more drink by the river before heading off.

It’s not just in rush hour that this is an issue.  If you are on the road with 5 other non-essentials on Monday, and there are another 6 on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday, etc, you are making the road seem busier than it needs to be.  And this can multiply up.

If town roads always seem to get crowded and snarled up almost everyday, the local government or council may think that something needs to be done – and this can only go one of 2 ways:  A massive by-pass or more traffic signals, speed restrictions and road works!  Do you want any of them in your town?  In any town?

If you are using the roads, people are going to build more.  If you are congesting the roads, people are going to make bigger roads, and so on.

You may only be 1 little car – but there are loads of people just like you out there – and added together, they are clogging our roads, making people get home from work later in the evenings and creating an awful lot of pollution.

So, try to do your bit to stop this traffic problem – just pick the right time and avoid the congestion!

Is Buying A Last Minute Seat Better Than Buying An Advanced One?

A friend of mine was asking whether booking a last minute cheap flight didn’t technically create as many carbon emissions per person as booking a ticket many months in advance.

What they meant by this was that the flight was going anyway, so then by her filling up one more seat, it would actually making the flight more ‘efficient’.

What Are The Facts?
Well, you could say that booking a flight in advance was actually making sure that the plane actually flew on that date.

By booking a seat on a scheduled plane for example, you are virtually making sure that the airline let that plane go – as scheduled flights are like buses, they fly from a to b regardless of how many people are in them.

This also means that even if no-one books a seat on a scheduled flight it may still fly if there are a large number of people already booked on the return flight!

Therefore if a plane is flying from a to b with only a few customers on board – then you buying a last minute ticket WILL technically make this single flight more efficient and environmentally friendly per person as you will take on your share of emissions.

However, those emissions you take on will be huge compared to flying on a charter flight – which are normally crammed full of people!

Charter flights are normally associated with package holidays, have smaller seat pitches and are not so generous with the free drinks! However, they get more bodies into every plane and will not fly under a certain capacity.

The Other Side Of The Argument:
Alternatively, if you buy a last minute flight on either scheduled or charter you are proving to the airlines that the flight is worth continuing – ie – enough people are using it.

I would imagine that if the same plane flew from a to b every day of the week, and every day there were less than 20 people on it – it wouldn’t take them long to realise that this wasn’t cost efficient. Therefore they would not doubt eventually strike off that flight from the schedule.

So, by not buying the last minute flights from these quieter routes, you could actually help to lower the total number of flights that these airlines flew.

If people buying cheap last minute flights kept booking seats on these quiet planes, then they may continue to fly at great environmental cost.

The Answer:
Therefore, if you are flying on your next vacation and are looking for a last minute deal to save money, then try to find out if the plane is near full or near empty – and avoid the latter.

By leaving the more empty planes empty, this should eventually result in their disappearance from the skies – leaving only the fullest, most efficient flights!

Planning Your Volunteering Green Holidays needs to start somewhere – and these 5 tips should help:

Many people these days are planning to take a longer-then-usual break from work.  There are so many opportunities out there for all sorts of people and all sorts of activities!  There is surely something for everyone and some are just a few weeks long to fit into even the tightest schedule!

Before jumping in to a great adventure however, make sure that you have got yourself covered for some simple things, and make sure that you are going with the best possible company.

It’s easy to just want to get up and go when the travel bug hits you – but you want to make sure that everything is as green as you would like it before you pay a dime!

1) Length of time:
It is better for the environment and the communities you are going to support if you take a longer than average time out there. 

Flying to Asia for 2 weeks – which includes a few days to yourself – means that there is hardly any time for you to make a difference.  It also shoots up your carbon emissions.

However, 2 months in your chosen location can give you time to experience their culture and actually get to know all the people involved while you are there.  It also shows that you and you chosen company mean business – rather than in and out with no real lasting effects in their lives.

2) Company Experience:
Make sure the company you are travelling with has years and years of experience in their locations and in the travel industry. There are many new companies popping up – but can they deliver the goods or are they jumping (late) onto the ethical bandwagon??

Not only will experienced companies be able to prove that their packages are excellent and their community work long lasting – but it also shows you that they mean business and know how to do these things. 

For an example of how not to book your gap vacation, read on…. I recently went to an organised talk where a ‘travel guru’ was talking about her company – and she said that last year she couldn’t find anyone offering advice about gap travellers – so she set one up herself! 

If she was looking for help last year – what on earth would make you trust here for advice just 12 months later?  What type of advice could she really offer you about travelling, volunteering, teaching and living abroad if she has barely done it herself???

If this is your ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ and you are taking time of work or leaving your job – please don’t risk it.  Make sure you put yourself in the hands or a real and proven expert – even if you have to pay that bit extra!

3) Company Ethics:
There are many companies out there offering these fantastic vacations – but where does all the money go and who are they helping?

Check with your short-list of companies what projects they support and where your ‘fee’ is going.  Some companies charge a lot of money for your trip and pocket a large proportion of the money in admin.  Others will clearly advertise that a contribution goes to a charity working locally or to community projects for the long term.

Some trip organisers send huge numbers of volunteers to the same places – not so fair on the other communities and a bit to overwhelming on that one.  Better companies will share out the visitors and limit the impact of it’s travellers.  You are there to help the local people, not socialise with dozens of other travellers from your home country!

Also, make sure that they have a clear responsible travel policy and are a member or at least 1 ethical travel association – the more the better, really.  If you want to be sure you are travelling responsibly with them and that they have considered all their green alternatives for their trips – then don’t book if they can’t answer your questions politely and with answers you are happy with.

4) A Job Well Done:
Ideally, the travel company will make sure that you are suited to the trip you are booking!

By this I mean that they will check your experiences and your aims and will try to send you to the right location in terms of your skills and their needs.  It’s ok to choose your destination – but if your skills are better suited to another project on a different continent than a good volunteer firm will let you know.

You might have your heart set on the Andes – but if they are in desperate need of your skills in the Himalayas they may well see if they can twist your arm a bit.  They would never force you to go somewhere you don’t want to go – but if you are in this for the experience and to help others, then it is certainly worth considering your options.

5) What’s Left Behind:
If you are taking a longer break for your volunteering (a month or more) – make sure that what you leave behind is still in order while you are away.

Cancel or put a hold on magazines and subscriptions so endless amounts of mail don’t sit in your mailbox.  Not only will this show that you are away – it also means that you will have too much to read on your return and possibly waste these resources.  Check dates on all foodstuffs so that nothing is wasted and nothing goes out of date while you are away.

Set up online accounts for everything you can (so you can check it all wherever on the globe you are) and this also allows you to cancel paper billing for most accounts – you can check it all on the Internet – saving endless amounts of paper and postage!  You can even pay bills online though your bank account without having to go home or send the neighbor around!

Make sure that your appliances and electrical goods are unplugged – not on standby!  Buy a timer for your lights if you are leaving the house empty – or consider renting it out to friends for the duration to fund your trip and protect your home – and pets if you have any.  Check your fire alarm batteries and any alarm systems to make sure they are in perfect working order before you leave.

Check your mortgage and insurance papers to make sure you are covered if you are not living there – and make sure that you travel insurance covers the full time you are away – some annual policies only cover 3 months in total over any 1 year!

And Finally:
Enjoy yourself and have the time of your life – coming back a more experienced and more relaxed person!

Did you know that Cruising was worse than flying for carbon emissions and general waste?

I mean flying is still best avoided, but if you fly to the Caribbean for a cruise I think you would win the prize for the most carbon used for a 2 week vacation!!!

Some calculations would go as far to say that taking an engine powered boat from London to Naples would produce 7 times the amount of carbon as a flight between the 2 cities. Even on a direct route, it is still worse per passenger – the QEII would create about 8 times the amount of carbon as an equivalent flight to New York – that’s around 700kgs of carbon dioxide emissions per person on board more than flying there!

That really is a huge difference considering how much stick the airline industries get for their pollution – you rarely hear an ocean-going luxury cruise ship getting picked on, do you?

It’s not just carbon either:
A flight to Mexico for example, from the UK only takes around 11 hours. In that time passengers on board a standard plane have eaten breakfast, watched a film or 2, slept for a few hours or read a good book then eaten dinner. And you are there. Well, what else can you do crammed into those tiny seats with a steward/stewardess almost constantly in the aisles selling you stuff for over-inflated prices.

However, on a cruise ship which could take several days to head straight to Mexico across the Atlantic Ocean they don’t all just sit still.

The idea of a cruise ship is that the journey is part of your holiday, and it needs to be a pleasant experience. It is basically a holiday camp on water. Hotel rooms, a choice of restaurants, theaters and entertainment, stores galore, a pool and even a mini golf course. And all these things generate waste – a lot of waste.

Apparently there are restrictions on how the ships dispose of this waste, but unfortunately it’s not great news! According to the International Maritime Organisation (a UN body) ships are allowed to dump waste and untreated sewage straight into the sea – as long as they do it ‘at least 12 nautical miles from shore’!!!!

To me, this is outrageous. To think that anyone aboard a cruise ship or other ship in fact, thinks that it is ok to dump anything into the water is unbelievable. It’s just like a land-based hotel driving it’s rubbish to the beach and leaving it there. It doesn’t disappear on land or in the sea - so don’t drop litter anywhere.

And raw sewage directly into the sea is a disgrace. I think we are all aware that the tides and the winds move things around the world otherwise we wouldn’t have invented sailing ships and animals and plants wouldn’t have been able to colonise new lands – so where do they think this ‘poison’ will go? Are they 100% sure it won’t affect wildlife in the water, seabirds and the people, animals and plants on the coasts of the world?

Selfish Travelers?
Being so self-sufficient, these cruise ships are actually like all inclusive holidays resorts. Everything you could possibly need is on-board and even though you stop fleetingly at several islands and ports here and there, you no doubt don’t contribute any real money to the communities you visit.

Yes, a few trinkets might change hands or a piece of pottery, but there will be no lasting effect of your visit – just a poor town waiting for the next ship to come in and flood their stores and markets with loud, greedy tourists. And a ship refusing to visit a port or changing course for a sick passenger could mean disaster for the local people who miss out.

And when you do go to port somewhere exotic, you probably won’t sample their foods, their culture or their lifestyle – and it really isn’t worth learning their language for the 4 hours you are in their country, is it?

Guests on a cruise ship aren’t really ‘tourists’ they are day-trippers on a box ticking tour. Been there, been there, been there. Not experienced that, lived there and learned this.

Conclusion:
To be fair, I would rather someone flew to a continent or country and spent 2 weeks or more there, spoke a few words of their language and lodged in locally run accommodation than just jumped around from place to place not really doing anything of any use to anyone.

And knowing now that cruising is so much worse for the environment in the first place, why not give fliers a break and start to impact more on the damage cruise ships are doing to the world, the seas and the countries they visit.

I know that every little bit helps, but if you can stop the most damaging first, then you make a bigger impact – and much sooner There are around 300 ships damaging our planet at the moment – and I think we should stop that from expanding. Don’t you?