5 Tips for Traveling more sustainably

Some people believe traveling sustainably AND affordably is just not possible but as someone who has been an environmental student the last three years and for the most part, pretty broke I mean I’m 20 years old, I can promise it is possible. The biggest tip I can say to anyone trying to travel more sustainably is starting with the little things. We don’t realize the impact every purchase and decision makes because the materialist world has done so well to hide it from us. However, much of the world is making the right choices and the trick is being able to decide the good from the bad.

Traveling is in no way an “eco-friendly” hobby but there is ways to decrease your footprint while immersing yourself in some amazing companies and innovative communities fighting to protect this beautiful world we live in. Follow along with my top 5 tips to for traveling more sustainably on your next trip…

1. Sustainable Transportation

Decreasing your carbon emissions on trips will be your biggest goal in traveling more sustainably as it has the biggest impact on our world today. This means transportation will be your largest footprint but here are some ways I recommend to decrease this…

Airfare: Most of the trips you will see in our blog do require flights and unfortunately flying these days emits an average of 53.3 pounds of CO2 per mile according to EESI. When booking flights I recommend utilizing the “lower CO2” filter which is provided on most flight search engines and will load those flights with less than the average emission rate.

Once your at your destination there’s multiple choices you can make to decrease your carbon emissions through transport…

2. Sustainable Places to Stay

I am sucker for eco friendly stays and personally think they end up being way cooler than any hotel or resort you can find. We have so many recommendations throughout our posts but if you are looking yourself almost all the main booking agencies now have “eco-certified” filters and typically stays that are owned locally to the area you are visiting will be more sustainable while supporting that community over large corporate monopolies.

3. Sustainable Food Choices

Local! Local Local! I personally think the best part of visiting a new place is trying the local cuisine as I am quite a foodie but it also is the most sustainable choice for dining on your vacation. Getting even more adventurous, we love to find farm to tables and learn about the agriculture and classic meals of the community. Some of our favorite finds on our trips have been…

4. Sustainable Activities

Activities can have a big range but there are some specific things to look out for in any type of activity or tour you may be booking for your next trip. If it’s to go see wildlife like a whale watch or natural park tour you want to do some research on regulations and laws with interacting with the wildlife as well as the tour itself making sure it up to code on safety and regulations. Most likely if it’s reputable, the site will detail its precautions and their licenses, etc but doing some extra research outside its homepage cant hurt.

When it comes to really any tour I would suggest trying to get as local as a company as possible meaning the people grew up there and have passion and love for the land and community its sharing with you; not only will this make it a more immersive experience for you but it ensures your support for the locals and their growth instead of outsourced companies.

5. Shop Local and Sustainably

The final small habit that adds up if you’re traveling as much as we do is the shopping!! When you’re in a new place of course you want some souvenirs to bring home but like anything you buy, there’s always a story behind how the product got there and most are not so positive. Finding local artists and shops is a little thing that can go a long way as the common “touristy” shops are usually outsourced and not supporting the actual community. Here’s some examples of our favorite finds to add to our collection.