8 ways to travel eco-friendly
Being green while traveling is becoming more and more important. Climate change is real and is something that needs to be addressed. I’m someone who loves my comforts, but I am trying to find ways to be more eco-friendly in my daily life and especially while traveling. You can find tips all day long on how to be green at home, but here are some tips you may not have thought about while traveling!
“Sustainable travel is all about creating a positive effect on the communities you visit,” said Jon Bruno, executive director of the International Ecotourism Society. “Leave the place better than you found it.”
My number one tip is to choose ethical locations while researching your trips. Everywhere has its issues, but don’t give your money to governments that are abusing animals or humans, aren’t helping the environment, or anything else that matters to you. I recommend checking this website out to see where your destination holds up against their list of most ethical destinations.
One that is easy to do is to choose a green accommodation. If your accommodation isn’t green, choose to not wash your towels/sheets daily, declining the toiletries, and turning off your lights and tv when you aren’t using them. Also, if this is an area where water is scarce, maybe shorten your showers and any time you use water.
Use public transport or walk while traveling. This is honestly just something you should do anyway (unless you’re going back to your accommodation late at night and don’t feel safe). By walking, biking, or using public transportation, you are seeing more of the city and seeing it through a local’s eyes.
This one is probably the most obvious, but use a refillable water bottle. If the water isn’t too reliable, get a life straw refillable water bottle. I LOVE Evian, so this is hard for me but something I am really going to try to start doing in the future.
Eat locally sourced food. Not only does it taste better, but it is better for the environment! This also goes for local coffee shops, too. You can get Starbucks at home! Try a new coffee in a new country. This also goes for locally made souvenirs. Avoid the shot glasses and magnets and instead go for something specially made and relevant to where you traveled. This not only will give you great memories, but will also help sustain the local artisans.
If you plan on traveling to an area where animal tourism is big, PLEASE do your research on any tour involving people or animals. Especially in Southeast Asia, there are lots of places that claim to be elephant sanctuaries. Most of these places are actually incredibly abusive. Please, please do diligent research into your tours to make sure no people or animals are being abused or mistreated in any way. If you use a travel agent, make this known to them that you want this research done.
If you’re going to the beach, use reef safe sunscreen. Here is a list of reef safe suncreens for your next trip, so you have no excuse to not get any of these and bring them on your next trip. 70% of our oxygen comes from the oceans, so we HAVE to protect it.
Last one is to pack lightly. The more weight on the plane, the more fuel it needs. If you haven’t read my post on how to avoid overpacking, read that for some tips! You don’t need so much stuff. And the more room you save on packing, the more room you have for those nice, handmade and local souvenirs!
Do you have any other tips for being eco-friendly while traveling? If so, drop them in the comments!