PART 1: THE PREPARATION
PREPARE YOU JOURNEY IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY
Now, more than ever, we, as travel lovers, have the duty to take care of our planet and of all the places we visit so they can continue to exist for our future generations to be able to visit them and enjoy their natural and authentic community and wildlife. Travels and sustainability do not need to be contradictory and it is possible to be sustainable while traveling. It won’t be always possible to avoid planes or to walk, but the most important is to, whenever we can act more sustainably. If you already follow my content on social media, you know that sustainability implies much more than being environmental-friendly, it also means taking care of local communities at an economic and socio-cultural level. This will be part 1 of two texts. Now we will focus on preparing our journey and on the next post we will focus on being sustainable while at our destination. Many people think being sustainable is how we act at the local, but no, everything starts at home! The important is to find a balance and not to be perfect, so here we go to some tips:
CHOOSE THE RIGHT TIME TO TRAVEL
This tip is very important and it does not only affect the environment and the local communities, but it also affects the way you will enjoy your travel! Avoid traveling in the destination’s high season. In high season many destinations are saturated and most of the time the communities and authorities can´t deal with the major flow of people (whether we’re talking about infrastructures, cleaning capacity, or security reasons, among many others) and you will not be able to enjoy so much. Your must-see locals will be crowded, nature and the animals will be “tired” and the companies won’t have the capacity to give you the more personalized or authentic experience. Although we always want to travel in the best climate or see things that you can only see on certain months, the truth is that many countries have a great climate all year round and sometimes you can see things on the low season that you could not see on the high season. Do some research on your destination and inform yourself of what could be the best time for your travel!
PREPARE YOUR JOURNEY WISELY
Choose the place where you sleep and the activities you will do consciously. Try to choose sustainable hotels (the greener ones normally advertise it on their website and travel agencies/booking websites or you can understand it by their comments or photos) and try to use local hotels. The same applies to companies or guides for your activities. If you love animals and animal-related activities choose a place where there is no animal abuse and where they focus on conservation and not on activities just to attract tourists, without considering animal welfare. Photography on the top of animals or with dangerous animals on our side gets you a lot of likes online, but is it really worth it? You will have a way more rewarding and authentic experience on a conservation center or just by feeding or being side to side with the animals on their natural habitat.
THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL PART: THE AIRPLANE
We all know that the transports we take are probably what has a bigger environmental impact, due to their high emission of pollutant gases. However, we don’t have always the option to use a train and sometimes the only possible transport is the airplane. So what can we do? A great resource that most of the airlines already have on their booking websites is the programs to compensate for carbon emissions. Basically, at the end of your reservation, they tell you the amount of carbon your travel releases and you can pay an extra value to compensate that amount. A lot of times that amount end up funding tree plantation or other ecological projects. You can add this option at the end of your reservation or you can do through other institutions if you know any that you trust. If you have the opportunity to get more information on your airline website, try it for your next journey. Tap, a Portuguese airline, for example, among other projects, is using this compensation program to help to conserve the Amazon by avoiding wood extraction and educating local communities on more
sustainable agriculture practices. See your airline projects and I leave you here a National Geographic link so you can understand this matter better.
THE MOST SIMPLE TIP: BE DIGITAL
Do not print your boarding passes or any other reservation unless it is required by the company. Nowadays the majority of places accept digital documents and it is so easy to access them through our devices. If you’re worried you won’t have Wi-Fi the moment you’ll need your documents, just download them and you will have them always accessible.
TAKE YOUR BOTTLE OF WATER
A simple action that can have a greater impact! Take it with you and you can refill it prettily anywhere. Nowadays most of the places have drinkable water and those who don’t have water dispensers that you can use. Even some long journey planes already have a place for you to refill your water! It seems we ran out of excuses not to take it with us.
HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT THE STOJO CUPS?
If you are like me one of the things that bother me the most on a plane trip is that whenever I ask for a drink, it comes on a plastic cup! I can understand the logistic part behind this decision, but there should be an alternative right? While looking for an option I came across the Stojo cups (maybe there are other brands, but this one sells in my country, so it’s the one I’m aware of), reusable and foldable cups that occupy almost no space in your bag and you can use anywhere. Next time you’ll ask for a drink ask them to fill your cup and it’s done! Some fewer plastic cups used! This cup will also be very useful in less developed countries, where sometimes they serve you drinks in
plastic cups. If you don’t find this option in your country just keep the first cup they give you on the plane and use the same one for the next drinks.
SAY NO TO PLASTIC!
If you know in advance that you will need to go shopping while traveling, place 1 or 2 fabric bags in your luggage, so you don’t have to use the supermarket plastic bags.
WHAT TYPE OF TOOTHPASTE DO YOU USE?
This might seem a silly question and you might be wondering what this as to do with traveling, so let’s try to figure it out! When you take your toothpaste or any other hygiene or cosmetic item to your travels, normally you take them in reduced size and this means there is a high probability you will finish them on your journey. So far, so good, but, while at home you would place your toothpaste in the recycling bin and you felt good, in the countries you visit perhaps the term recycling doesn’t exist or it’s not done in a proper way. In this case, it is better to take eco-friendly zero waste products, that will likely last more, and even if they finish during the journey they can be biodegradable. Try bamboo materials, like bamboo cotton buds and toothpaste in tablets or in glass jars (if you don’t know any brand check Georganics and Humble, they sell practically everywhere and have good products). Enjoy this time to make the transition at home to this type of products and if you take your own amenities you won’t have to use hotel ones that, unfortunately, most of the time, come wrapped in plastic.
A TIP JUST FOR GIRLS
Are you traveling during that week of the month? Instead of using the conventional pads or tampons, give an opportunity to menstrual cups! You will reduce significantly your impact on the visited local.
WEIGHT MATTERS
Get informed about your destination weather and other conditioning and make sure you take all you need and only what you need. Take the essential; do not take things you will probably not use! If you’re traveling by plane and your luggage its lighter, it means you’re helping to decrease the amount of energy and fuel used.
TRAVELING IN THE SUMMER? CHOOSE THE RIGHT SUNSCREEN!
No, we are not talking about the sun protection index, but yes about its ingredients! Especially if you plan to dive or if you’re planning on beach and ocean vacations, this is something you should take into account. Recent researches have shown that there are some chemicals on the sunscreens that can be harmful to marine species, particularly to corals. There are already some areas like Hawaii or some Mexican cities that already forbidden the sale of sunscreens with certain ingredients. Try to buy the most natural ones and that have a certification of coral reef safe. Normally these certifications appear on the package. As you saw there are many ways to prepare our journey in a more sustainable way! Some are harder than others and some might not even be possible to be done by everybody. Do not think that you have o do everything or that you are not being sustainable if you miss some tips, of course, you are still being sustainable! The important is to take the first step and to what we can! Small actions can have a big impact and, as I said in the beginning, the goal is not to be perfect, but to act and do our best J Many of the tips above are related to things we already do at home, like avoid plastic while shopping or using eco-friendly products. I hope this text will give you some ideas and that you can prepare your next journey in a more sustainable way.
Thank you for reading and stay green!
PART 2 –SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES DURING THE JOURNEY
If you already read part 1 of the steps for a more sustainable journey, you already know how you should prepare yourself for a journey and everything you need to take in your bag. Now that the destination and the dates are chosen and that we are already on the way to our next vacation, let’s discuss some tips on how we should behave once we’re there. Let’s go?
WALK AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
Is there any better way to explore a destination than on foot? Besides the automatic benefit of getting fitter, we can discover much more than what we planned or expected. This is the best way to find unique streets or hidden places that sometimes are inaccessible by car and are only known by locals. We can discover markets, rural areas, amazing people, and much more! Of course, it won’t be always possible to walk and not all countries have public transports to take you to the place you want, but, if it is possible, on your next journey, try to discover an area on foot. You won’t regret it!
CONSUME LOCAL
The true pleasure of traveling is all about experiencing a new culture. Listen to new sounds, taste new flavors, and much more. Traveling should be much more than simply ticking of countries out of your bucket list and take photos. When you travel don’t forget what makes your destination so special and unique: their local communities and their culture. Try to eat more in local restaurants, do your shopping in markets, sleep in local hotels, or find a local guide! You will have a more immersive experience as there is no one better than a local to show their country and the hidden and marvelous places and experiences! The journey will be more authentic and you will enjoy it much more. Besides all that, all these actions will help the local communities to have a better life and to keep the destination authentic.
PAY FAIR
In many countries around the world, a bargain is almost like a tradition. I am not against it, because sometimes we are asked for astronomical prices made just to trick tourists, but we should know to find a balance. There is nothing wrong with doing it as long as you do it consciously. If you think they are already giving you the fair price, don’t try to lower it more. Sometimes people try to decrease the price of 1€ or 2€ without thinking about the value of those 2€ in the local currency. Maybe for us, that value is almost nothing, but a local man can feed his family with that amount. Some worthless values for us can have a major difference for them. By paying the right price
we can help the ones that need the most to keep a good life.
AVOID PLASTIC
Remember I told you to place a fabric bag in your luggage? Well if you forgot it that’s okay. You can buy one at your destination as nowadays almost all countries have cute fabric bags that you can, later on, keep as a souvenir. If you go shopping take that bag with you and another tip you can try is, instead of going to a supermarket try to go to a local market. Normally the market products are fresher and tastier and you can easily buy them in bulk and avoid all the plastic packaging of the supermarkets. Another question related to plastic: do you really need to drink your soda with a straw? Well, if the answer is no, tell your waiter not to bring one or ask them if they have another type of straws (by making this question you will create in them the understanding that people are starting to demand more ecological products and they will more likely make the change later on). Please avoid plastic at all costs since many countries do not have a recycling policy or even if they do it works poorly.
THE EASIEST TIP OF THEM ALL: PLACE YOUR GARBAGE WHERE IT BELONGS
I’ve always thought to myself that this would be something people could easily do, but every time I travel I get shocked to see the amount of trash in certain places. Do not litter on the floor; there are specific places for that purpose. If you don’t have a garbage bin close to you, just take it a little bit longer or ask any establishment near you to use their bin, there’s always somewhere to do it, always! But, never the floor, never the water or any place that is not the right one. And if you are in the country that recycles, do it too. Don’t forget that the trash you leave on the floor today, in the town river tomorrow and in one month it can be in the ocean, affecting many species.
FOLLOW THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES’ RECOMMENDATIONS
If you visit a natural park and they ask you not to leave the marked way or if you’re in a conservation park and you’re asked not to feed the animals, don’t do it. There is a reason for those rules to exist and most of the time they are directly connected with the preservation of natural spaces and their wildlife. Sometimes they’re also related to your safety, so please follow the recommendations. They’re for your good and for helping to preserve the beautiful place you’re seeing now, so your future generations can also see it.
BE THOUGHTFUL WITH YOUR SOUVENIRS
Corals, starfishes, seashells, among many others, are not souvenirs. Don’t take pieces of corals or dry healthy starfishes just to take them home. These are living beings that belong to a certain habitat and should not be taken to be decorative motifs. Do not forget: “Take only memories, leave only footprints”.
RESPECT THE DESTINATION’S ANIMAL LIFE
The animals you will see along your journey are on their natural habitat. When you see them or have any type of contact with them, please respect the indications you have and do not do anything that might disturb them; don’t forget we are only visitors in their home and not the other way around. Don’t feed them your food or try to do a closer contact, since many times this might cause erratic behavior in the
animals and disturb the normal functioning of their ecosystem. Another very important tip: do not use the animals as your transport! Cars pulled by horses under huge temperatures, animals carrying heavy bags and people, riding on the top of elephants, among many other things, are not sustainable behavior. Try to create a deeper and more meaningful relationship with the animals and let them live their
“normal” life.
HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU WASH YOUR SHOWER TOWELS AT HOME?
Do you wash your shower towels every day? If you don’t do it is because you don’t feel that need. So, if we don’t do it at home, we should also not doing while traveling. Nowadays many lodging units already have rules, like where you should place your towels if you wish them to be washed, but not all of them have it. If that’s the case of where you’re staying, just ask them not to wash them when you don’t need it. The same applies to room cleaning. If you think your room doesn’t need to be clean on a certain day, just tell the reception. You will be saving a lot of resources, like water.
SAVE WATER AND ENERGY
Most of us treat water like a granted resource and have no problem accessing it, but is it also like that in the destination you’re visiting? We do know that a lot of countries have huge difficulties to have water and many times, just a few kilometres from a resort with huge pools, there is a village struggling to get drinkable water. To avoid the misuse of this precious resource try to take shorter showers and close the taps every time you’re soaping your brushing your teeth. Whenever you leave your rooms always switch off the lights and don’t forget to do turn your AC off as well.
These are simple habits that you probably already have at home and they can have a big impact on the community you’re visiting. You might think that if you take a shorter shower nothing will change, but if all the guests of a hotel do shorter showers, at the end of the year a lot of water will be saved. Remember that the way to sustainability can be long and in some cases, the results are only seen in a long term perspective. These are only some tips that we can follow to be more sustainable while traveling. I’m sure there are many more tips and each destination has different necessities and problems that should be faced with different measures. Get informed about your destination’s culture and how things work there. The basis for sustainability is respect. Respect for the local community, for the environment, and for us all. You will feel much better at the end of the journey and you will have a much more authentic experience if you connect more with your destination. Let me know if you already follow any of these tips or if you have any others you follow.
Stay safe and keep traveling to the green!
BY PATRÍCIA AHMAD (@TRAVELLINGTOTHEGREEN)
