We all love to travel but we forget how important it is to be more sustainable when traveling. Unfortunately tourism with excessive air travel that causes harmful carbon dioxide emission to package holiday resorts that are built on natural areas, international travel and tourism is far from sustainable.
Unfortunately, many travelers and travel operators pretend they do not see how limited our world’s resources are and how tourism is negatively affecting the environment, local culture and communities. Sustainable travel should be the only way we travel.
How We Can be More Sustainable When Traveling?
In 2017, of all the waste produced only 8.4% of it actually got recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Over half a billion plastic straws are used every day around the world, according to a 2018 The Los Angeles Times article.
Switch to Sustainable Travel Kit
One of the most items polluting the environment and the oceans are single used items. Traveling can actually lead to an increase in generating waste such as single-use items, water bottles, coffee on the go. Small changes in your habits such as start using a sustainable travel kit will make a huge impact.
The sustainable travel kit includes:
Switch to Bamboo Products
Cheap, fast, durable and easy to shape – plastics are competitive in so many applications. But plastic pollution is one of the biggest pollutants on our planet. You could make some plastics out of bamboo. Where bamboo can be used with little modification, like for flooring or fiber or structural timber, it would take a lot less cost and energy to produce those things than with plastic.
Bamboo is increasingly used for creating fabric, flooring, and for paper. The more that the bamboo can be used without extensive additional modification, the more sustainable the resource. Bamboo is a cellulose fiber and can be made into many things that require cellulose fiber.
From bamboo can be made straws, chopsticks, spoons, bamboo toothbrushes. This is fast-growing and it can be harvested every 5 years and the rooting system remains intact and regenerates new bamboo trees.
This quick-growing plant has many desirable qualities that make it a good substitute for traditional wood products. Bamboo fiber is used also for the covers of pillow-top mattresses and some bed linen also.
Use Toothpaste Tablets
With these chewable, hard alternatives, toothpaste tablets you do not need to put them in a plastic bag anymore when traveling through the airport security. They are convenient and more environmental-friendly.
Toothpaste tabs are a great plastic-free alternative, easy-to-use and most of them don’t contain fluoride but instead, are made with fluoride-alternative nano-hydroxyapatite, and free from synthetic ingredients and colorants.
This toothpaste alternative are perfect for your zero waste oral care routine and comes in zero plastic packagings and in a glass jar.
Use Eco-Friendly Containers for Snacks
There are many eco-friendly containers you can use for snacks such as glass containers with bamboo lids, or you can use reusable beeswax wrap, that can be washed and reused for a year.
Use Paper Towel Alternatives
Reusable paper towels are an excellent zero waste alternative to paper towels that takes more resources to produce paper towels than it would create a durable set of reusable paper towels. They are typically made of birdseye cotton and flannel fabric that are washable and only get more absorbent with use!
Bamboo paper towels are reusable & washable bamboo kitchen paper towels made from fast-growing bamboo.
Choose a Bike Tour
There has been a huge increase in the last few years of solo travelers. Joining a bike tour is not only a fun way to get socialize but also is a more eco-friendly way of spending time when exploring and traveling.
Rent an Electric Vehicle
When traveling and you have to rent a vehicle why don’t you opt-in for an electric vehicle if possible? One of the goals of electric vehicle adoption is to limit the carbon footprint and pollution caused by internal combustion engine vehicles.
Electric motors are mechanically very simple and often achieve 90% energy conversion efficiency[135] over the full range of speeds and power output. Of course, you have to make sure that you can charge the vehicle where you go or you can choose a hybrid alternative as well.
Use Public Transport
While personal vehicles may be the most common mode of transportation, they aren’t always the most environmentally friendly.
Traveling by bus or train is a lot more efficient and environmentally friendly than driving or flying as it would reduce carbon. There are many cities that have well-developed transportation systems and you can contribute to reducing car emissions by choosing to use public transport instead, while also reducing your own carbon footprint.
Use Recyclable Bins
Each place you go to has a high chance of providing recyclable bins or separation bins. It can be tricky to know what the recycling symbols mean and how to recycle. We put together a list with the most popular recycling symbols and what they mean.
When you travel is all about the experience and creating a connection with nature and local customers. Don’t pollute, when traveling. The best way to do it is to start practicing at home.
Remember: Travel insurance is quite important. No one expects to go to the hospital during vacation but it happens!
