The debate on climate change has opened up many avenues across the world. From daily eco-friendly practices to the tourism industry, there are many things that have been positively and negatively affected by the debate on climate change. Consumers are more focused on what they can do to mitigate the effect of climate change on a personal basis. When it comes to the travel industry, sustainability has made a significant impact. While the industry has changed, there are many things that a consumer can do to extend sustainability when they travel.
Sustainability is often measured using the term carbon footprint. Traveling or vacationing can have a really high carbon footprint, which can be a turn-off for many environmentally conscious travelers. Thankfully there are many things that you can do to reduce your carbon footprint while traveling. Let us find out what some of these are!
Vacation in Green Destinations
There are some things that you can do to reduce your carbon footprint. The first is that you can choose to vacation in destinations where sustainable practices are applied, or in environmentally sensitive areas which need help. This way, you can travel and help combat climate change at the same time. When you are planning your vacation, you should take a look at what the weather is like where you are going.
That means using a reliable weather service like tomorrow’s accurate weather platform to see what the climate is like where you want to visit. This way, you can choose to stay away from environmentally sensitive areas so as not to increase the burden of human industry there.
Choose Sustainability
When you vacation, you can also choose sustainable options wherever possible. This means not using nonrenewable resources as much as possible, along with staying away from endangered habitats and endangered species. Territorial encroachment and exploitation are killing many species, and you can choose not to be a part of that.
Instead, you can choose to put your money where your mouth is and support sustainable businesses and Indigenous sustainability practices. As a tourist, you can also curb your use of plastics, which has become one of the biggest problems the world is currently dealing with.
Choose Local
Another way for your vacation to be sustainable is to choose local products and businesses. When you select larger retailers and multinational corporations, you are supporting unsustainable business practices that affect people the world over. Instead, when you choose to support local products, local produce, and local businesses, you are helping them fight for sustainability.
In fact, you should choose local produce and local businesses wherever possible, even when you aren’t on vacation. This way, the products and services you buy are ensured to have a lower carbon footprint. This is because they did not need to be transported from millions of miles away, and less fuel is required to transport them from the farm to your table.
Use Sustainable Sunscreen
In today’s day and age, sunscreen is something nobody can do without. However, this much-needed product is greatly affecting our coral reefs. When the sunscreen is washed off our bodies, it lands up in our oceans. Unfortunately, the creatures in the ocean need the sun to survive.
The greatest impact sunscreen has is on our coral reefs. Washed off sunscreen coats our coral reefs and prevents them from photosynthesizing. This has led to our coral reefs dying. Instead, you can simply use coral reef-safe sunscreen both at home and when you vacation.
Stay for Longer
One of the most unsustainable ways to travel is to move from place to place quickly. Plane travel uses a lot of fuel and is not sustainable. Thus, if you don’t spend much time in one destination, you are contributing to the problem of climate change. Instead, why not explore one place over a more extended period?
This way, the carbon footprint that you accrue by traveling in a plane will be offset by the days that you stay in your vacation destination. From here, you can choose to travel onwards using relatively more sustainable traveling options like buses or trains.
In conclusion, traveling as a whole isn’t the most sustainable practice. This does not mean that you should not travel. There are many things that you can do to make your vacation as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible. As long as you try to make your vacation as good for the earth as it is for your soul, you are on the right track.
