What can you do to make a trip as sustainable as possible? We think it’s very simple and all we can do is, both during short weekend outings and during longer journeys.
It’s not about spending more or depriving yourself of comforts, but just changing attitudes, some habits, and being more conscious of our impact on the environment. Whenever we decide to leave for travel, let us remember that tourism is the fourth largest source of pollution in Europe and that the way we travel can contribute to the destruction or the salvation of those landscapes, those mountains, that seabed that we’ve dreamed of exploring. And so it will be much easier to make the right choices for our planet and for the economy.
The first thing is the means of transport. Whenever you can, when you mustn’t reach too far away places, you can choose the train instead of the plane. The transport system in Europe is the industry most responsible for CO2 emissions, but every person who chooses the train instead of the plane saves on average 76% of greenhouse gases. The best way to start your eco-friendly travel!
Where to stay when you arrive at your destination? Simple, in one of the 2000 eco-sustainable accommodations of Ecobnb. Don’t go in a big chain hotel or in those buildings that are architectural monstrosities, but spend your holidays with those who have chosen to invest in a greener world. Sleeping in a B&B or in a farmhouse with photovoltaic panels, local food, water flow reducers, and ecological cleaning products, you can save up to 90% of CO2 emissions and save 295 trees every day. Most hospitality on our website is small businesses that, in addition to defending the environment, support the local economy and allow a more authentic encounter with the culture and the typical traditions of the destination of our eco-friendly travel.
Do not rent the car unless it’s electric. Choosing to do without a car means not bearing the stress that it entails: unknown roads and hard-to-find parking spaces will not be our problems. A bike lets you often experience a place as those who live there, it gives you the opportunity to discover places otherwise inaccessible, and to enjoy the best of the countryside and cities.
If we do what we’ve said so far, but then we throw plastic and other waste at the beach or in the mountains, our efforts will have been completely vain. You can’t carry away sand jars, do not rip mountain flowers that will die before you return home. In natural parks, do not light a fire except in prepared points and remain within the paths. Small actions that can save biodiversity and the environment.
The cuisine is an important part of a place’s culture, so why don’t we taste the local products that haven’t been cooked with oil to arrive on our tables? The local food, and even better, organic, is certainly better, tastier, and eco-friendly. Even for souvenirs, choose handicrafts, locally made: it will be a great help to the local economy.
Here is your eco-friendly travel: a few simple choices to make each holiday as natural as possible, to travel on tiptoe, to discover new places without destroying them.
