www.iamecowarrior.com in partnership with youtube.com/user/VirtuosoTraveler Costas Christ is an award-winning travel writer and editor at large for National Geographic Traveler. Prior to that, he was the Global Travel Editor and World Class columnist for National Geographic Adventure. Best known as one of the world's leading sustainable tourism philosophers, Costas serves as the Director of Sustainability for Virtuoso, a network of the world's finest travel agencies whose advisors draw upon first-hand experience to craft the perfect vacation for their clients. Costas serves as Chairman of Judges for the World Travel and Tourism Council's Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, which recognize best practices in the travel industry that support the protection of cultural and natural heritage. Transcript -- Costas Christ, Editor-at-Large, National Geographic Traveler For me, it started at a very young age; I always found as a kid that nature was a refuge for me. From that sprung a notion that nature needed to be cared for, needed stewards, and sustainability was a way to achieve that. Eco-tourism, by definition, is responsible travel to natural areas that protects nature and sustains the well-being of local peoples. People want to experience authentic nature, authentic culture. So when our recreation protects them, we're ensuring a sustainable future, not only for nature, not only for cultural heritage, but for travel and tourism to prosper as well. Have you ever heard anybody, for example, say: "Oh, you know, now that that area has been destroyed and the trees are cut and the reef is no longer good and the fish are all gone and the water's polluted, I'd love to go back there on vacation." No! You'll never hear that. So what that means is that recreation and conservation are twin sides of a coin that benefit each other. And they can't be separated. Being an eco-warrior is about embracing sustainability and realizing that any of us can be an eco-warrior. Any of us in our day-to-day lives, in our social circles, in our friendships, and in the way we live, can make decisions; can live our own lives by three principles of sustainability: environmental footprint, support for the protection of cultural and national heritage and tangible benefits, social and economic, to local people. You unite those three together, and you have a powerful force for change in this world. And that, at the end of the day, is what being an eco-warrior is all about. Find your eco Community www.iamecowarrior.com Directed by Roger Moenks