Travelling generally contributes a lot to carbon emissions through transport alone. But you can stay on the right side of green with a mindful attitude towards food, hotel bookings and the economy.
Find Out Where to Eat Local food
Sampling local foods is one of the most enjoyable parts of your holiday. From street food and delicacies to high-end restaurants, there’s always something for everyone. Yet like at home, there are many food suppliers, producers, and eateries operating in completely unsustainable and harmful ways. So you can help by researching the best sustainable places to eat on your adventure. Sites like TravisTravis have a guide to finding local cafes in major cities all over the world. You can spend some time looking for those with active sustainability practices.
KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ECO NEWS
While you’re away you should absolutely enjoy yourself, but it’s also important to keep up with any breaking news that could affect your holiday. For example, if there’s been a forest fire nearby or a dramatic weather change, you’ll want to stay up to date in case it affects your travel plans. Eco sites like Energy Innovation Capital are perfect to check in on once a day to see the latest news around the world.
Use Alternative Transport
Just getting to a destination will significantly impact your sustainability goals. However, this cannot be helped for the most part. For instance, there’s nothing you can do about an aeroplane’s carbon emissions. However, you can use carbon offsetting when using a plane to minimise your impact. But what about when you are there? Well, you would be hard-pressed to find a city without access to electric vehicles. And public transport often runs hybrid and electric trains and buses. Or you can hire scooters, bikes or fuel-free transport like Rickshaws.
Stay on the Right Side of Green with Eco Hotels
You might overlook that your accommodation plays into your sustainability plan. But many hotels don’t operate sustainably through lack of interest or to keep costs lower. Yet you can book eco-hotels such as the Six Senses Fiji resort. Hotels like this have features such as:
- All resources (such as grey water) are recycled, and everything is reused when possible.
- Energy comes from renewable sources such as geothermal, solar and wind.
- Food and drink are locally produced with minimal transport costs in a sustainable way.
Hotels and accommodations like this come with services and features designed around minimal environmental impact. Everything, including the building materials, is organic, locally produced and recycled and renewable. So you can enjoy a guilt-free holiday while supporting the locals.
Use Resources Mindfully
Not all countries have equal resources and infrastructure. In some of the poorest or conflicted nations, up to 80% of people lack access to basic water supplies. And it’s possible to take a holiday in these countries, like Papua New Guinea, for example. With that in mind, it’s respectful and vital that you use resources like water, gas and electricity sparingly. While you should avoid bottled water for many reasons, it’s okay to consume water as needed. However, taking a long and steamy shower isn’t best for a poor economy’s water supply.
Buy Local to Support the Economy
Further to supporting a local economy in which you holiday, one of the best ways to do this is buying local. Buying locally helps put money in the hands of hard-working people who need it much more than a multinational corporation. For example, consider eating at a local sustainable diner rather than a McDonald’s or Starbucks. Which you are almost guaranteed to see pretty much anywhere. Additionally, you can help support locals by purchasing mementoes and souvenirs. Or local cultural items like handmade bangles, clothing or leisure wear.
Summary
It’s hard to always stay on the right side of green. But you can help be sustainable when travelling with local eating, booking an eco-hotel and buying locally produced goods.
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