Sustainable travel means being mindful of the environmental, economic, and social impacts that come with tourism. Traveling in a sustainable manner allows tourism to continue long term without causing harm to nature or cultural environments.
While the necessity for sustainable travel is understood, it can be difficult for those who want to travel in an eco-friendly manner to know where to start. So, here are secrets for eco-friendly sustainable travel that will transform your trips and help you be a conscious traveler.
Stay in sustainable accommodation
Choosing where you stay while traveling can be a crucial way to help you travel more sustainably. Staying in locally-owned accommodation will boost the local economy, as well as helping you to support the locals and giving you a more authentic experience on your trip.
Additionally, there are many accommodations that will have certifications for their sustainable contributions. The Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) has a list of accommodation and destinations that are contributing to help protect the environment, as well as wildlife and cultural heritage.
Choosing to stay in accommodation that benefits the destination you are choosing to visit helps you be a mindful tourist, and helps sustain tourism in the area you visit.
Limit your hotel waste
Many of the complementary services hotels provide can actually be damaging to the planet. For sustainable travel, be mindful of your behavior in your accommodation so you can be an eco-friendly traveler.
Reducing the number of times your towels, bedsheets, and other linens are washed within the hotel is an easy change you can make that will help to protect the environment. It has been reported that hotels with around 700 rooms saved over 129,000 liters of water by reducing the number of times they washed their towels, which is a big contribution to sustainable practices.
Pass on plastic
In our ocean, there are 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile, which is incredibly damaging to marine life as 100,000 animals die yearly from plastic waste.
Many hotels provide one-time use toiletries as complimentary gifts, but these can be incredibly damaging to the environment. Using your own toiletries in the hotel not only helps give you the feeling of a home away from home but also reduces the amount of single-use plastic waste you are contributing to the area you are visiting.
Choose to reuse
There are a plethora of reusable products that you can bring with you while traveling to make your trip more sustainable. For example, bringing your own reusable water bottle can also help you be a more sustainable traveler in a cost-effective way.
Additionally, bringing items such as multipurpose plugs limits the number of electronics you need in your luggage, which can help you to travel light.
Live local life
Supporting the local economy is a crucial way to contribute to sustainable travel as you are helping to keep residential businesses afloat. Eating and shopping locally puts money into the pockets of local people and helps them benefit from tourism, as well as allowing you to experience local life.
Traveling like a local is also another eco-friendly practice to be implemented if it is safe to do so using local transport methods such as buses and trains reduces your carbon footprint as well as giving you an experience of local life.
Choose eco-friendly travel
Flying is a central method of travel. that cannot always be avoided, but there are eco-friendly options to help you be a sustainable flier. Many airlines use renewable biofuels, such as American Airlines and JetBlue, as well as offering carbon offset programs to neutralize your carbon emissions. Even better than flying is choosing to travel by bus or train, which can often be a cheaper alternative to travel as well as better for the environment.
Many are choosing to travel by driving, using cars or campervans to enjoy their travels, which not only promotes sustainability but can be a great cost-effective method of travel. Buying a used campervan and doing it up to travel around is a great project for the weekends, and ensures you always have free (or cheap) accommodation when you travel locally.
Choosing sustainable travel not only helps the environment but can often enhance your trip in ways you may not have anticipated. You can have a more authentic traveling experience, while often saving money through eco-friendly options.
