How to Travel in an Eco-Friendly Manner? 

Juliet D'cruz

Updated on:

With the ozone layer depleting at a fast pace, environmental activists are urging people more than ever to take up eco-friendly practices. Travelling, especially to far away places, can majorly contribute to the carbon footprint. As an ally to the environment and travel enthusiast, you may be wondering how you can make your travels more eco-friendly. Here are 10 ways how: 

Don’t Fly 

One of the best ways you can reduce CO2 emissions while traveling and thereby make your journey eco-friendly is not flying. Do not take a flight; rather travel by some other means of transport.

However, if you do need to fly, it is suggested to only travel shorter distances. The shorter the distance you travel, the less your carbon footprint. If you are looking for tourist spots, you should explore a little and you could find ones closer to where you live.

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Use Public Transport 

Eco-friendly practices while traveling include using public transport. This means not only in the city but also while traveling long distances, you can avail public transport services such as metros, trains, and buses.

Not only are these practices more eco-friendly but they also reduce your carbon footprint as you are traveling with hundreds of other people and all of you are only responsible for shared CO2 emissions.

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Reduce Paper Usage 

Another great tip for making your travels eco-friendly is reducing your paper usage. This can vary from not getting your tickets printed to carrying books to read during your travels in digital form. You can find ebooks and audiobooks easily online and you may spend your journey reading fiction or maybe books for learning chess or history.

As for how reducing paper usage is eco-friendly – papermaking is a cause of deforestation. By saving as much paper as possible, you can prevent deforestation.

Recycle Plastic 

Our suggestion to you if you are looking to travel in an eco-friendly manner is to not use any plastic at all. This is because most of the plastics are non-biodegradable and thus can be very harmful to the environment.

The least that is expected of you as an ally of the environment is that if you do make use of plastic, you should recycle it. You should not dispose of plastic bags or bottles right away after using them. Instead, they should be recycled to reduce plastic litter and thus reduce land pollution.

Reduce Wood Usage While Camping 

It is common for people to take along or collect wood on their camping trips for various purposes, from building shelter to starting fires to cook or to keep themselves warm.

Wood can be harmful to the environment. Wood smoke is bad in terms of air pollution as it contributes to smog, acid rain, and other problems. Therefore, it is suggested to reduce wood usage as much as possible while camping.

Purchase Organic Produce 

Organic produce is much better not only for your health but also for the environment.  Organic products reduce pollution, conserve water, and use less energy. These contribute to a much healthier planet in the long term.

For this reason, we suggest you make use of organic products to the maximum extent during your travels. You may purchase and pack your produce in advance or you may buy fresh vegetables from farmers as you travel.

Avoid Meat 

The meat industry as a whole is the world’s greatest pollutant with the beef industry taking the lead in it. Consumption of meat creates a much more carbon footprint than cars do, therefore the impact reduction of meat consumption can have is only imaginable.

While you should reduce your meat consumption as part of your lifestyle as a whole, if you are looking to make your trip as eco-friendly as possible, you may want to steer clear of meat and stick to other forms of food such as fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.

Say ‘No’ to Tourist Activities Involving Wild Animals 

Wild animals belong solely to the wild and any form of activity that inhibits their wild nature is cruel to them. The only form of tourist attraction related to animals that are acceptable is when we see these animals such as tigers and elephants in the wild.

On the other hand, tourist activities often involve activities such as elephant rides and tigers in cages. These tigers are semi-sedated and most places keep them in poorly maintained cages and therefore, these activities are just cruel to them. While it is your right to have fun on your trip, it should not come at the expense of any wild animals.

Pack Eco-Friendly Products 

Another amazing way to make your travels eco-friendly is to pack your things with you, and all the better if you can pack as many eco-friendly products as possible. It is suggested to take your own maximum products, such as your own toothpaste and shampoo and body lotions in a mini bottle, etc., so you do not have to use the hotel’s supply of these things. 

Similarly, you can carry your own water bottles in which you can refill water at any time and avoid having to purchase plastic bottles of water every time.

Act like You’re at Home in a Hotel 

One of the best things you can do to make your stay at a hotel eco-friendly is to behave like you are at home. This means that you should treat your hotel room like you would treat your home.

Among these tips are avoiding getting clean towels when you do not need them, not taking very long showers, turning the lights and TV off when you do not need them, and avoiding wastage of any resources. This will contribute to less wastage of supplies.

Final Thoughts: 

As a responsible human being, it is your responsibility to make your existence in this world as eco-friendly as possible. The more we contribute to making our planet healthier, the better will be the lives we lead here.

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