A Guide to being a more eco-friendly and sustainable traveller

A Guide to being a more eco-friendly and sustainable traveller

Firstly, I would just like to acknowledge that travelling, in general, is not very eco-friendly. However, I think travelling is important and that people learn a lot from it. I would be a hypocrite to tell anyone not to travel. Despite this, there are easy ways in which the impact of travel can be lessened, hence, I created this guide to try to help you:

1. Support the local economy eg by buying food from the local markets 
2. Try to stay in people’s homes, an eco-friendly house (beware of greenwashing though!) or a BnB
3. Don’t always go to the tourist attractions, by all means check them out, but try to ask the locals for their favourite places/restaurants - you’ll be surprised 
4. “Leave only footprints” - respect where you are - don’t litter or harm the landscape surrounding you - appreciate it for what it is 
5. Try to use reusables as much as possible eg reusable water bottles as opposed to plastic ones and using reusable cutlery
6. Walk or take public transport as much as possible - even car shares are better than just driving everywhere 
7. Use sunscreens and suntan lotions that don’t have damaging effects on coral reefs or your environment - do some independent research as some products claim they’re reef safe but still contain chemicals that damage the reefs
8. Make friends with people - you can help each other out and share advice/experiences and new places
9. Try to travel with only hand luggage - you reduce the number of clothes you wear (how many times have you come back from holiday having not worn half your clothes?), the weight of the stored luggage on the plane makes it heavier meaning it has to use more energy to fly, it’s easier to move around more freely with and stops you looking so much like a tourist. Etickets are also a good way to reduce needing to print all your tickets off.
10. Enjoy yourself and the environment around you. Remember that your actions can have a positive or negative impact on the planet - look after it :)

Please share these tips if you find them useful.

I hope you find this useful and happy travels!