How to travel Eco-friendly?
We all know how important it is to lessen our impact on the environment, and most of us try to be eco-conscious in our everyday lives, but one issue that we may have while traveling is that it’s much harder to be sustainable when you’re not at home. It can be difficult to find a place to recycle in an unfamiliar destination, and our use of plastic water bottles, plastic bags, and other single use plastics goes up when we’re abroad. With a little planning, you can ensure your trip is as sustainable as possible - here’s our suggestions on how to be an eco-friendly traveler.
Choose an eco volunteering trip
If you’re looking to make a positive environmental impact as part of your travels, you’ve come to the right place! There are some great eco volunteering trips that you can choose through Fronteering. How about signing up for a highlands conservation project in Scotland help to preserve wildlife habitats for animals such as a European Wild Cat? Or in South Africa you can take part in a forest conservation project that monitors local bird populations and teaches the local children about the importance of nature? If any of these options sound interesting, send us an enquiry and we’ll set you up on an amazing eco volunteering trip!
Pack some sustainable products
When packing your suitcase, be sure to throw in a few sustainable products. A reusable tote bag will come in handy for purchasing groceries or souvenirs without plastic bags, and a refillable water bottle will save you from buying plastic water bottles throughout your trip. If you’ll be spending time in a city, a reusable coffee cup would be a good product to pack for those caffeine-fuelled mornings.Another thing to consider is your toiletries. Replacing products like your toothbrush or hairbrush with a bamboo version (made from a lightweight wood) will reduce the amount of plastic waste that eventually ends up in landfill or our oceans. Bamboo is a great alternative for disposable products as it can biodegrade quickly whereas plastic takes hundreds of years to break down.
Carbon offset your flights
Most of us don’t realise that every time we take a long-haul flight, it contributes a huge amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. This is very concerning, especially when we’re trying to reduce our environmental impact.There is a way of making our flights carbon neutral. It costs money, but the reward is that you can feel good about balancing out the carbon emissions created by your travels. When you carbon offset your flights, it means contributing money to projects that soak up carbon in the atmosphere, or that develop cleaner energy so that we emit less carbon in the future.Some airlines will have an option to carbon offset throughout the online booking process. If you can’t find this button, then there are other places to donate. Any charity that has a focus on climate change will most likely be using donations to reduce emissions. Take a look at WWF for example, who are working hard on cutting aviation pollution. Even a small donation can make a big difference when it comes to reducing our environmental impact.
Continue your travels with green tourism businesses
There are a huge number of hostels and hotels which have initiatives in place to ensure their impact on the environment is minimal. Some accommodations will provide recycling bins in the rooms or common areas, use water-saving taps and shower heads in the bathrooms, and use green energy for their electricity needs. Take a look through the hotel’s website to see if they have any information on their sustainability practices and environmental commitments. The same goes for tour operators - choosing to travel with an ethical tourism business is a great choice for extending your trip!
