The Chernobyl zone has re-opened to tourists. The oil sands companies of northern Canada are running bus tours past their strip mines. It won't be long before there are chartered cruises through the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
The era of pollution tourism is upon us: an age in which travellers, weary of the pristine rainforests of Costa Rica, begin to see the world's despoiled and degraded environments for the fascinating holiday destinations they really are. Trust me on this. Over reeking hill and radioactive dale, I have spent years proving to myself that pollution tourism can be fun, economical and different. You might just learn something about the relationship between the earth and its most problematic species. (That's you.) Here, then, is my advice for those eager to spend their holiday on ecotourism's bleeding edge:
Pick a destination. The possibilities are endless. Technophiles may enjoy seeing where their computers go to die, in the electronics recycling wonderland of Guiyu, China. Or if you're looking for a spiritual experience, try a rowboat on Delhi's sacred (but sewage-filled) Yamuna river.
Don't worry ... Put your health concerns on hold. A few gamma rays, for instance, are a small price to pay for a day hike through Chernobyl's beautiful exclusion zone. And I have never found nuclear physics so interesting as when I was about to be irradiated by it.
But stay safe. Often more dangerous than the pollution are any unfriendly humans you may catch in the act of environmental mischief. Don't trespass, and ask before you take pictures.
Be enterprising. The polluted places of the world suffer from a sad lack of tourist infrastructure. Try to think like a journalist. In areas with no chartered waterfront tours, you may have to talk yourself on to an oil tanker.
Don't gawk – or at least gawk nicely. Linfen, China, may have some of the worst smog in the world, but it's rude to make a show of your disgust.
Wear boots. The smouldering terrain of an Amazonian slash-and-burn site is no place for sandals. Your hiking boots may get a bit melted on the bottom, but at least your feet won't.
