At Yellow Bear Journeys, we are
committed to making our EcoTours as fragrance-free as possible.
Fragrances can trigger asthmatic, allergic, and migraine reactions
in many people. The American Lung Association, Centers for Disease
and Control, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences,
American Medical Association, and National Acadamy of Sciences,
among others, have identified perfumes and/or fragrances as allergy
or asthma triggers, or as containing toxic ingredients. Coop
America/Green America has identified fragrance among its list of
ingredients to avoid. Fragrance sensitivity is one special need we
try and meet on every Journey. We ask you not to wear fragrances on
the Journeys. We travel at close quarters. Please help protect the
air we share.
Finding travel and lodging choices
which are fragrance-free can be a challenge. Yellow Bear Journeys
uses travel and lodging companies who have fragrance-free policies
when possible. Next, we look for travel and lodging companies which
do not use fragrance, but do not have fragrance-free policies for
their guests. Then we look for travel and lodging companies who use
a minimum of fragrance, and who we can work with to remove the
fragrance before we use their services.
We ask you not to wear fragrances on
our EcoTours. Finding scent-free products, especially on short
notice, may require some effort. We have many years of experience,
and a large database and networks through which we can help you
find unscented products. We provide scent-free
products for the participants on 5-day and longer EcoTours.
Essential Oils and Natural Fragrances
are usually less toxic than artificial fragrances. However, some
people are sensitive to essential oils so we ask you to refrain
from using them. Some studies have shown that heating essential
oils causes them to give off toxic chemicals.
We appreciate your help with this
health issue. You do what you can, and we will do what we can to
provide fresh air on these EcoTours. One step we will take, only as
a last resort, is remove people from an EcoTour, without
reimbursement, who deliberately violate this policy.
Note: We can also help you find products which will remove scents and which will help you travel if you are sensitive to scents.
Note: Tours that we offer through our partner companies do not have this same fragrance-free policy.