Is being environmentally conscious only trendy on vacation?

I have been doing some research on Costa Rica and the option for Ecotourism keeps coming up. I have actually been noticing this a lot but it's really becoming noticeable as I search this vacation spot. I finally reach a soap box point because I'm a little aggravated with this.

I suppose a definition might help:

Ecotourism focuses on volunteering or "voluntourism" (don't get me started on that term), personal growth and environmental sustainability. Ecotourism typically involves travel to destinations where flora, fauna, and cultural heritage are the primary attractions. One of the goals of ecotourism is to offer tourists insight into the impact of human beings on the environment, and to foster a greater appreciation of our natural habitats.

Doing things that revolved around planetary awareness was reserved for the "dirty hippies", you know who I'm referring to. The woodstock, play in the mud, save the whales people. The people who used to go dumpster diving, not because they were looking for food, but because they knew the general public is lazy and doesn't recycle. When the term "ecotourism" hit the travel community I figured it was geared to people like that, that genuinely cared and loved for our planet all the time and finally earned a genre of tourism dedicated to their hard work.

After looking into and seeing what it cost I realized, it was not geared towards them. It was a method for the hip and trendy to make an even bolder statement that they are so with it, that they even take trips that help them save the planet. But does it? Yes it is great to go on a vacation that shows you how to minimize your carbon footprint but how useful is it to take a vacation if you come home and do nothing with it? I'm even one of these people, I came back from Montana all inspired by farm to table and farmer's markets, have I kept up with it, no... I am even guilty of throwing a plastic bottle in the trash..

Perhaps if someone is going to go on a tour designated for ecotourism, it should come with a contract that the traveler has to agree to take what they have learned on their adventure and apply it to their day to day life for at least six months. If we can't start doing something to better the planet with the information we learn on these gorgeous excursions then perhaps we should focus on going to the five star resort and leave the travel that could save the planet to those who aren't lazy and will actually make a difference.