As a traveller, you can be part of the solution, instead of the problem. As tourism worldwide recovers from the pandemic, we have been presented with an unprecedented opportunity to start things anew and make the conscious choice of a more sustainable path going forward when it comes to traveling. There has never been a better time to rethink our past habits and reshape the way we travel from here on end!
Before delving further into the “how-to”s of sustainable travel, it is crucial to clarify what the term truly means. While we often think of sustainability as minimizing our environmental footprint on our planet whilst we travel, it is in fact much broader and all-encompassing than just this fact.
Sustainable tourism is all about striking the balance between economic growth, environmental robustness and human well-being. Sustainable travel involves focusing on reducing the negative impacts of tourism whilst maximizing its positive benefits for local communities, cultures, ecosystems, and of course, on our planet as a whole. Sustainable travel and tourism accounts for both the immediate impacts felt today as well as the long-term ramifications that will be experienced by future generations.
Onto exploring how we can make our next out-of-town trip a more sustainable travel experience, here are a few pointers that may prove helpful.
“It’s the Little Drops of Water that make the Mighty Ocean”
– Julia Carney
We all need water to survive, a resource that is most important, and it is a privilege that it is available to most of us as freely as it is. One of the most common plastic items used by tourists is single-use beverage bottles. With consumerism wreaking havoc on our planet’s health, here is an urban myth we would like to bust, Water Bottle Companies do not produce Water, they only produce Plastic Bottles.
Did you know that the more than one million water bottles are sold every single minute around the world? The industry shows no signs of slowing down with global sales projected to double by the year 2030. A bottle of water may be convenient but comes at a major cost to the environment and is a huge contributor to plastic pollution and climate change. The groundwater extracted to fill billions of plastic bottles a year poses a potential threat to drinking water resources around the globe and the industry feeds the worldโs plastic pollution crisis. Also, this exponential growth of the industry helps distract consumer’s attention and diverts resources away from funding the public-water infrastructure so desperately needed in many countries.
What can we do to not add to this toxic cycle of events? Luckily, the solution is a simple one: bring your own reusable water bottle on your trip! If youโre worried about the water quality in the destination youโre visiting, bring a water bottle with a built-in purifier. Carry your own bottle whenever you step out. There is a wide array of options available in the market now and purchasing your own bottle should be viewed as an investment, not a cost. Investing in an easy-to-carry travel-friendly bottle, made from metal or glass or high-quality plastic would be better than buying water bottles every time we need to hydrate while travelling. As a suitable alternative to the apparent convenience, you can carry safe drinking water from your home. With safe drinking water available practically everywhere these days, it will be easy to refill up your water bottle at restaurants, cafes, airports, train stations, with ease when you’re on the move, and best of all, we will avoid using PET plastic all together!
In the same realm of carrying our own water bottles, we can take this a small step of sustainable travel further by carrying our own utensils. One-time use cutlery and utensils are a plague in our environment now. Every year, there is about eight million metric tons of plastic that ends up in our oceans. This is equivalent to one garbage truck full of plastic being dumped into the ocean every single minute of every single day, the impact of which are unfathomable harm to all creatures that call the ocean their home. We have all seen the viral pictures and videos of plastic straws stuck up turtles’ nostrils and worse.
Before the year 2020, a growing number of consumers, companies, and government bodies had started rejecting single-use plastics. But post the era of COVID, single use plastics made a comeback as the pandemic led to an increased reliance on plastic gloves, takeout containers, packing bubbles, and grocery bags, in the name of safety. As tourism recovers, many hotels and tour operators are reinstituting disposable plastics as an added hygiene precaution. But most countries lack sufficient waste management infrastructure to keep up with the amount of plastic trash that is produced by tourists and locals. As a result, plastics end up in overflowing landfills or dumped in the environment where they can remain for hundreds of years, adding to climate change. With the increased reliance on plastics due to COVID, it is more important than ever to cut down your own consumption when you travel.
By carrying your own steel or bamboo cutlery and steel tiffin and boxes, we can ensure that our cutlery and utensils are safe and hygienic while making sure we sidestep more plastic waste being generated. A true win-win situation!
Another easy way to reduce plastic waste is by changing your eating habits. When going to a restaurant, opt to dine-in rather than getting take away which typically comes with plastic bags, containers, cups, and utensils.
Hit up the local street food scene, but opt for vendors that dish up their goodies in biodegradable alternatives. In general, it is best to eat fresh, local foods or drinks instead of imported ones which tend to use more packaging. Even something as simple as asking the bartender to skip the straw can help trigger larger operational changes.
“Home is where the Heart is”
-Pliny the Elder
While traveling and staying in new places, the best way to ensure host communities reap the benefits of tourism is by supporting local businesses and entrepreneurs. For your next trip, please consider staying in locally-owned homestays and guesthouses rather than mainstream, expat-owned hotels or international chains. By opting to stay in locally-owned homestays and guesthouses, you can be sure that you are helping boost the micro-economy of the place and providing meaningful livelihoods to the locals as opposed to adding to the already bursting pockets of the giant conglomerates who rarely look out for the well-being of the place and community.
Make sure to dine at the local restaurants, to savour traditional dishes made using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients. If you are particular about your diet, then get proactive and carry home-made easy to heat food, so you can get your daily dose of nutritious food without adding to your carbon footprint and be a beacon of sustainable travel in a minimalist way.
Venture out of your comfort zone and have some fun navigating the local market. You can buy spices grown by a local farmer or purchase handicraft items made by a local artisan. Although haggling or bargaining is expected in many cultures and okay to do, do not be stingy – pay a fair price for the item you want, after all, the locals put in a lot of time and effort into their work. Why not join an excursion led by local guides or even learn a new skill from a local expert by signing up for say, a weaving workshop or perhaps surfing lessons? And in case you have booked a packaged tour, make sure you have chosen an operator that prioritizes local suppliers.
“Take only Memories, Leave only Footprints”
– Chief Seattle
One of the most incredible aspects of travel is that it offers a glimpse into other traditions, beliefs, and ways of life. You can seize the opportunity to expand your horizons by lowering your inhibitions, embracing the differences and soaking up the local culture of the place you are traveling to.
Begin by immersing yourself in other cultures by reading up on the local history, traditions, and etiquette before visiting. When you are travelling to a completely foreign place, consider downloading a language app and learning a few phrases in the local language, like, “where is the restroom”, “how much is this” and so on.
Be aware that certain gestures, clothing, or words are considered offensive in some cultures. Please do be especially mindful when visiting religious or spiritual sites. Only visit sites where travellers are welcome and make sure you adhere to any protocols. At some sites, for example, this may mean taking off your shoes, covering your shoulders, keeping your voice down, or not taking photos.Wherever you go, in mindful sustainable travel norms always remember that the destination you are visiting is someone elseโs home. Make sure you obey the local laws and guidelines, from traffic rules to health and safety precautions to cultural norms.
Do your best to leave places like you found them so that future generations of travellers and residents can enjoy them too, try your best to generate as little trash as possible and when you leave the space, take it back with you and dispose of it responsibly. A little bit of respect truly does go a long way, be considerate and polite to local people and treat them with dignity. This includes honouring their privacy and asking permission before you take photos of them or their home, work and such.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”
โSaint Augustine of Hippo.
In addition to traveling slow, there are many other ways in which one may reduce the carbon emissions produced by your trip. With approximately 8% of the worldโs carbon emissions generated by travel and tourism, the industry is a significant contributor to climate change, which gravely threatens the future of tourism, people, and the world.
Air travel, driving, and other forms of transportation contribute to the largest percentage of the tourism industry’s carbon footprint. Although all modes of transportation require energy, some modes are significantly more efficient and run on cleaner energy than others. How you travel to and from, and around your destination makes a huge difference in your carbon footprint and sustainable travel plans.
In general, airplanes and cars tend to be the least efficient modes of transportation with the highest carbon footprint. While vacationing to closer-to-home destinations, you can choose to travel by train or bus to cut down on your carbon emissions with the added bonus of soaking in the scenery, with a leisurely form of travel. Try your best to avoid taking flights to destinations when flight time is less than two hours, as the carbon emissions generated is the same as a longer flight and the time saved is often inconsequential. Once you have reached your destination, perhaps hop onto the local bus, depend on the local train or tram service, or even get a quick work-out in by cycling or walking around the town instead of renting a car. Two-wheelers and mopeds are also a good option as they are lower on the carbon emission scale. If you do have to rent a car, opt for an electric, hybrid, or even a smaller model.
Let us keep in mind that there is no one-stop solution or one-size-fits-all guideline for which method of transportation to use since the carbon footprint also depends on the type of energy being used. The most sustainable option will vary from one destination to the next. So, it would be ideal to do your homework and be well-informed, do some research about the different transportation options in the destination you are visiting to make an informed decision.
โThe traveller sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.โ
โ G.K. Chesterton
It is essential to be a traveller and not a tourist. Prior to the pandemic, many destinations became victims of their own popularity, being “loved to death” as it were. Historic cities, beaches, and other tourist hotspots were being overrun by hordes of visitors, a phenomenon that known as โover-tourism.โ
As a traveller, you can help prevent the resurgence of over-tourism by stepping off the beaten path and exploring spaces that are usually not popularly known on social media. Sure, it is tempting to visit the same bucket list destinations that everyone is busy showing off on their Insta handle, but it is infinitely more rewarding to explore less traversed places. More often than not, many tourist hotspots do not live up to the expectations set by the internet. You may end up spending hours standing in line, only to realize that the destination looks nothing like what you saw online, and there is no feeling more frustrating and disappointing as that.
Choosing the alternate path or the road less travelled, allows travellers to have a truly unique and authentic experience with the added bonus of avoiding crowds. This, of course, does not mean you need to pitch a tent in the middle of nowhere, but it does require that you do some extra research!
Look beyond the โTop 10โ travel destinations and attractions lists, open up and explore on Google Maps; perhaps use the satellite feature which helps you view the place and take a virtual walk for a better know-how of the place. But the best way to do this, a true and tested method of exploration, is to ask the locals or other travellers for their recommendations, and most often these turn out to be life-changing experiences and you never know, you may make some friends for life this way, too!
Instead of staying in major tourist centers’, you can visit smaller cities or explore the more rural areas around the small cities. In doing so, you will be reducing the burden on over-visited destinations, while spreading tourism benefits to other local communities. If you want to travel by cruise, opt for a small ship cruise line as these boats carry less passengers and more capable and likely to visit smaller ports therefore alleviating pressure on common cruise destinations.
If you are adamant on visiting a popular destination, do consider scheduling your trip during the off-season.
It is easy to get carried away, trying to cram as much as you possibly can, all into a trip. After all, this may be the only time you visit the destination. Though a packed itinerary may seem ideal to us on paper, in all likelihood, you may end up spending the majority of your vacation rushing from one place to another. And sure, you may get to tick off lots of bucket list sights, you will miss out on actually getting to know and enjoy the destination itself. Not to mention, this fast-paced high adrenaline โhit and runโ style of tourism is a surefire recipe for stress and anxiety, which nullifies the need to vacation in the first place!
Do yourself a favour and give yourself more time to explore the destination. Instead of taking multiple shorter trips each year, opt for just one longer vacation. Once youโve reached your destination, park yourself in one area for a while instead of hopping from one place to the next.
Slowing things down is the keystone in sustainable travel as it will allow you to really experience the place you are visiting. When you are not in a rush, you can actually take the time to immerse yourself in the culture, build deeper connections with local people, and get to know the destinationโs unique charms.
Take a cooking class to taste the local flavours and learn how to make some traditional dishes. Spend a day walking or cycling around town and you will definitely discover some hidden gems like a secret waterfall or a quirky local coffeehouse, perhaps! Spend your day meandering through a museum and arm yourself with some interesting facts for your catch-up session with friends who want to hear about your trip!
As travellers, it is our responsibility to advocate and practice sustainable travel and tourism. This will not happen overnight. There is no magical solution to solve the problems associated with tourism. But we can strive towards better, more sustainable travel with every trip we take!
โThe trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you might miss all the you are traveling for.โ
โ Louis LโAmour