Have you ever considered, while organising a journey, the eco-friendly aspect of your choices? While there are people who decide not to travel in order to live in a sustainable way and reduce emissions linked to tourist journeys (especially when it comes to flights), there are also other less radical people, who, for their holidays, work or other special occasions, organise their journeys taking into account the well-being of the environment. If you are thinking about travelling or you would like to do it not too far in the future, here are some tips to make your experience more sustainable.
Three tips to travel in an eco-friendly way
1. Luggage
The more you reduce your luggage (in dimension and weight), the less the consumption of fuel will be. Therefore your journey will be more environmentally sustainable. This regards any means of transport you have decided to use: bus, car, airplane, etc.
Try to keep the standard dimension for your luggage. It may seem impossible, but if you look on Pinterest or Youtube, you will find many suggestions to maximize a small quantity of space in the luggage by choosing the right clothes.
You can often leave some objects home, such as your hairdryer, which you can usually find for free in the hotel room.
2. Eco-friendly hotels
If you are staying in a hotel, try and look for the most ecological one, maybe through ecobnb.com
The questions you need to answer before booking are:
- Does it have other ecological credentials?
- Is it part of any environmental association?
- What does this hotel do to reduce its consumption in terms of energy (CFL energy-efficient lighting, solar energy, etc)?
- Can I choose not to have clean towels and sheets every day?
- Do they use km 0 or biological food for breakfast and dinner? (as this beautiful agritourism in Umbria)
Together with the hotel, you can also do some things yourself:
- Turn off and disconnect all the devices when you get out of the room.
- Reduce the use of air conditioning o heating, just like you should do at home.
- Say no to daily cleaning service and new towels and sheets every day to save water and energy.
- Bring your own toilet stuff.
- Recycle: a quick research on Google of “waste recovery and recycling in [name of the city]” will tell you whether the hotel offers recycle services or not.
Just because you are on holiday, it does not mean that you have to compromise your ecological values.
It is recommended to eat local food, as you do at home and as you can do in every part of the world. The same applies for recycling, walking or taking public transport, instead of renting a car, etc.
Generally, try to live during the journey just like you do when you are at home, with the same effort in order to have a respectful attitude towards nature.
3. Eco-tips on Transport
When possible, try and take the bus or the train instead of the airplane, with regard to medium-distance journeys. According to the green association UCS, two people who travel on a bus can reduce CO2 emissions from 55 to 75% depending on the duration of the trip.
Nevertheless, if you absolutely need to travel by car, to decrease your fuel consumption, make sure your tires are properly inflated, the oil has been changed following the orders of the constructor and also check if your car has been revised recently. Drive as if you were NOT in a hurry, even if you are, since the more aggressive your driving is, the higher is your fuel consumption.
If possible, try to share your journey with other people (here an interesting article on carpooling), who might be going in your same direction. In this way, you could save fuel and decrease your negative environmental impact, as well as making new friends!
Photo by Sylwia Bartyzel on Unsplash