Introduction
Travelling sustainably is all about making deliberate choices that involve you reducing your carbon footprint, whilst exploring new areas and cultures. This eco-conscious and mindful attitude has been increasing as the environmentalist movement has grown.
This does not mean you have to sit in a random cave somewhere on your bare feet, washing in the sea to travel sustainably!
I guess you could do that, but that doesn’t fit into the vision of the majority of people as an ideal vacation.
Let’s get into ways you can travel sustainably, which doesn’t involve you giving up everything, under the name of sustainable travel.
Consider Your Transport Choice!
Your options for genuinely viable transport methods depend on where you are based and where you are choosing to travel to! From an environmental perspective, the obvious choice would be to travel within your country and camp. However, this isn’t realistic in terms of where people want to travel and satisfying places to visit within your own country.
Besides, there are so many benefits to exploring different countries, such as new experiences, different climates, opportunities to meet people from a completely different way of life, new cultures and different ways of living. The list is endless!
If you wish to travel to a different part of the world, see the figure below.
The data is compiled and looks at different transport methods and the carbon footprint of each transport method per passenger. Use this to evaluate what transport options are viable to get to your destination and seek the most environmentally friendly option.
If You’re Going To Buy Anything New, Look For Sustainable Options
This could be in terms of clothing or even toiletries. Don’t get me wrong I am not suggesting buying new when you already have plenty of clothing items in your closet.
However, if you do want to buy new clothes, shop at sustainable clothing companies.
Such as Everlane, Thriftify, Depop and Corkor.
This will add sustainable clothing options to your wardrobe and help you won’t be increasing your carbon footprint more than you otherwise would choosing less sustainable clothing options.
This also applies to toiletries, cosmetic products etc.
When searching for sustainable companies, look at youtube recommendations, blog posts, biodegradable/plastic-free containers and locally sourced made/sourced products.
If you are looking for some sustainable product recommendations check out my other blog post here.
Shop at Local businesses When You Are There
Whatever country you are visiting, shop local! It might be very tempting to seek some home comforts of globalised chain restaurants with their glocalised menu items that you may not have seen before.
Nevertheless, one that will beat fresh locally produced food who has been brought up perfecting family recipes with an array of different spice combinations and alternative cooking techniques,
This will also put your money into the pocket of locals, helping them feed their families and fuelling their businesses
Sustainable Travel Companies
No better way to travel sustainably than by consciously choosing companies for their reputation of being a sustainable company. There are many companies out there that specialise in recommending specific companies due to their success in providing sustainable travel options. One of the is a company called Travelbybcorp.
Travelbybcorp aims to “cut through the noise of labels and greenwashing” and make it easier for consumers to make good choices when looking for a responsible travel company.
All of these travel companies they endorse are B-certified corporations. This means that they are “verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.”
For a company to meet there requirements they have to go through an assessment to see if it meets the requirements of its certification. This process is thorough and is a great indication of the company’s motivations for being an ethical and environmentally-centric organisation.
This doesn’t mean avoiding all who aren’t B certified. However, what it does mean is that those with the certification meet certain criteria to be classified as such.
Sustainable Accommodation Options
This brings us to the choice of accommodation.
If you are desiring a more outdoorsy type of holiday camping or glamping would be significantly more sustainable than other accommodation methods, due to the reduced amount of electricity and water use during your stay. Airbnb offers a service that is called Ecobnb.
Ecobnb works with sustainable hosts to ensure the hosts are meeting Ecobnb’s sustainable criteria.
This includes:
- 100% Renewable Energy
- Organic or Local Food
- Water flow reducers
- Ecological cleaning products
- More than 80% of waste recycling
- Recovery & reuse of rainwater
- Energy saving lights
- Solar thermal panels for hot water
- Car-free accessibility
- Green building
Depending on where you are going and the type of holiday you are looking for will make this easier to achieve than others.
For example, if you are looking for a city break in a foreign country you might not necessarily have access to a car and might not want to be camping or glamping.
So, if that’s you I’d recommend supporting smaller hotel or hostel companies by using their services rather than hotel chains.
Summary
These were 5 great ways to travel sustainably in 2023. The key to travelling sustainably involves paying back towards the local communities and businesses, considering the environment you are entering and ensuring it is financially affordable for you.
If the more environmentally sustainable options are too expensive for you, then opt for the next best option. The environment and eco-conscious behaviours are of course important, but you wouldn’t be travelling sustainably if it’s financially detrimental to yourself or your family.
Found this post useful? You can buy me a virtual coffee to help support the site’s running costs.
You might also like
