You’ve likely heard of sustainability in one way or another. While traveling sustainably is becoming ever more popular, many people are still unfamiliar with the concept and with just how easy it can really be. Being sustainable does not mean being uncomfortable!
Tip:
Buy Your Travel Gear From A Company Dedicated to Sustainability
We all have certain items that we need to purchase for traveling, so why not do it from a company that cares about sustainability? For example, Travel Clobber has partnered with the US-based charity One Tree Planted, meaning for every product they sell they will donate $1, which plants one tree. These trees are planted across the world, including in places such as the Amazon Rainforest!
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Why It Matters
Only 20% of the world’s forests are currently protected, with 80% having already been destroyed. 15% of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by deforestation. Not to mention the fact that 28,000 species of trees are likely to be extinct by the next 25 years due to deforestation!
Tip:
Bring A Reusable Water Bottle With You While Traveling
It may seem simple to purchase a bottle of water at the airport, at your hotel, or at the train station. Did you realize it is usually just as simple to have your own reusable bottle with you that you can fill up for free? More and more places are adding in water fill stations, enabling you to get fresh water and save money!
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Why It Matters
Plastic waste in the ocean kills around 1.1 million marine animals annually. You can avoid BPA’s that are commonly found in bottles by having your own, reusable, BPA free bottle. If you switch from drinking strickly bottled water to using a reusable bottle, you can save nearly $1,800 a year!
Tip:
Bring A Reusable Bag For Your Shopping
Forgot to bring your own reusable bag? No worries! There are an abundance of stores that are offering reusable bags for generally less than $1. Not only will you save plastic, but these bags are much sturdier and will last you quite a while!
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Why It Matters
Plastic bags take between 15 and 1,000 years to break down in a landfill. An estimated one million birds and 100,000 turtles die per year from plastic ingestion. If every person in NYC used one less grocery bag, it would cut waster by 5 million pounds! Especially when traveling, you’ll never have use for these filmsy bags. Save yourself some hastle and help the planet by purchasing a reusable one!
Tip:
Be Sustainable At Hotels / Hostels / Your Airbnb
Chances are you’ve seen signs at hotels you have stayed in saying that having your towels and bed sheets washed daily is optional. By reusing your towels and bed sheets, you can save many gallons of water. Also, simply turning off the lights and tv in your hotel when you are out for the day can make a huge difference!
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Why It Matters
According to the Smithsonian, reusing your towels can save 17 percent in energy costs. The EPA estimates that 15 percent of the total water used in commercial facilities is used by hotels, and not by filling up swimming pools.
While there are other things you can do to be sustainable, taking these simple steps can make a huge difference as far as your impact on the planet!
Love this!!!
Great tips. I’m surprised to see the slow adoption to sustainable practices in some vacation areas.
I’m currently in the Cayman Islands with my family as I read this. It’s so unfortunate to see how they’ve not yet adopted more sustainable practices. My vegan Gen Z daughter is all about doing things right by the environment and educated my family that one of the islands’ biggest issues is that they’re running out of landfill space. In our condo, we’ve been separating recyclables but have seen no bins in which to put them. I called the front office yesterday and they do not recycle here. What?
Just as perplexing is why they are still using incandescent bulbs in all the light fixtures. At least the restaurants get thumbs up for no plastic straw use.
Side note: our vacation has been literally tainted by litter. I was walking around picking up trash at the beach yesterday and gashed my foot open on a sharp object in the sand. I presume it was a bottle since i found several of them in the vicinity. That’s the end of my water activities.
Morale: Just like Kermit the Frog once serenaded, It isn’t easy being green.
Thanks so much for your comment! It is such a shame that recycling isn’t easier. Also, so sorry to hear about your foot! The last time I was at a beach I was so upset at the amount of litter as well.
Excellent advice! Especially about the water bottle. Those little plastic bottles of water drive me crazy and if you get water on the plane its a another plastic bottle filling plastic cups. Sigh. I was just in Costa Rica and we turned off the air conditioning every time we left the condo…(and the lights), why cool down an empty room?
Yes! Such a great point!