15 Sustainable Travel Tips to Become a Responsible Traveller

One of the best ways to enjoy life is by discovering new places, new cultures, new food… and we do it by traveling. However, nowadays traveling is causing a significant negative impact on the planet.

This doesn’t mean that we have to stop traveling but we should start implementing some sustainable travel tips when traveling.

If you want to know some ways to be a more sustainable traveler, keep reading the following sustainable travel tips.

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One of the first steps to reducing our impact when traveling is reducing CO2 emissions. This can be done in so many different ways.

First, find an alternative mode of transport rather than flights so you can reduce your carbon footprint.

Second, if you really have to fly, then book direct flights instead of connected ones. Most of the time we think it is cheaper, but then we end up spending more on airport food, lounges, etc… and obviously, two flights are worse than one.

And thirdly, when you check your flights online some companies are more CO2 friendly travel than others, and even use renewable biofuels. Opt for those. With Skyscanner, you can filter your flights finding the ones with lower CO2 emissions.

Although you might have heard that budget airlines companies have a worse impact than the rest of the companies, that is not true. What is good about these companies is that they squeeze the maximum amount of passengers in the minimum space, which means, a lower carbon footprint per person.

As we have mentioned before, use Skyscanner to check the greener flights.

Using eco-friendly travel products is one of the best ways of being a sustainable traveler. These products have been produced in a sustainable way using eco-friendly products.

The list of these amazing products include the world’s smallest washing machine, organic odorless clothes, reusable bottles, bamboo cutlery…

These travel products will help you reducing your impact on the planet when traveling and also, they will help you saving money.

Any kind of tourism that involves animals out of their habitats or interacting with humans is unethical. That means that those animals are being used illegally by the tourism industry and seriously, you don’t want to have anything to do with that if you are reading this.

That is why people should say no, to riding animals, taking pictures with encaged sedated tigers (as that is the only way you could possibly have a selfie with one) and any other activity in which you should see the animal out of their natural habitat. Also, those activities in which humans enter the habitat of wild animals are not very recommended.

Moving around places also leaves an important carbon footprint depending on which transport mode you use, that is why we should find ways of reducing it. Using public transport when traveling is a good practice, trying to share taxis if necessary and increase moving around by bicycle and when possible, enjoy a walk.

Also, if you need to rent a car, we you should rent electric ones as a way of reducing your CO2 emissions.

When we visit a new destination we love seeing new places and exploring around, but we try to do it always the most sustainable way and if possible, walk or bike.

That means, when looking for accommodation avoid big hotel chains and stay in hotels run by locals. Also avoid the famous restaurant chains like McDonald’s and eat at locally-sourced restaurants. 

From our experience, this is the perfect way to help the local economy and also, the best experience to get to know the local culture. You will not regret it.

When shopping, chose to buy in local shops as you will be helping local people and you will get more unique items than in any other shop that you can find back home.

You guys cannot imagine how much plastic is generated by water bottles. Just think how much water a person needs a day, times by days of holidays and then times by thousand and thousands of tourists. It is just unsustainable.

The solution for this is easy, take a reusable water bottle like this amazing one. Not only you will save lots of money and contribute to helping the planet but also, you will be able to drink from places where water is not clean thanks to its wonderful filter.

This might sound obvious but some people like to get off the beaten track when hiking and it is not a good idea.

Some hiking trails have been designed to preserve nature and animal habitats. That means, If you get off the beaten track you are damaging it, not to mention if you also leave your rubbish behind

Nowadays there are many sustainable tour companies that focus on eco-tourism and sustainable travel, organizing eco-friendly activities.

These companies have the aim to respect the environment promoting eco-friendly values and putting something back into the local community. We always try to book with these companies as a way to contribute to their mission.

The ones we use and trust the most for this are:

• Intrepid Travel. For responsible trips
• GetYourGuide. For activities and tours

Another sustainable travel tips is about accommodation. When you choose your hotel, look for more eco-friendly hotels. That means staying away from the big hotel chains.

Try to always choose a hotel that has made significant improvements to reduce significantly its environmental impact. If you are not sure whether a certain hotel is sustainable, do your research. It truly makes a difference.

This is something we have heard repeatedly but some people still find it hard. I am not the one to talk about this as I easily lose track of time in the shower and take longer ones. But I have found out ways to shorten them, one is by adding 3 songs to a playlist so that I now when they finish I need to be out. Another way is to set up a timer. Not that hard, and it saves lots of water.

One of the best things I discovered recently and that has made my trips smoother is to pack light. The truth is that I started doing this for the pleasure of not carrying around a heavy backpack but then I found out that I am contributing to reducing the carbon emissions in every flight I take.

The more the plane weights, the more emissions. So I am not only traveling with more comfort but also, I am contributing to a good cause. Win-win.

Although this word is quite new, overtourism refers to “the situation when too many people visit a place on holiday, so that the place is spoiled and life is made difficult for the people who live there”

With this in mind, it is better to choose destinations that are not suffering from overtourism and discover new ones. From our experience, it has nothing to do with visiting places that are not overcrowded with tourists. There you can enjoy local life, tranquility and even locals are pleased to interact with you. That normally doesn’t happen in places that are full of tourists and locals end up fed up with them.

Something I think is very annoying is people who leave towels to wash every day. If you hang your towels after using them, you can reuse them the next day avoiding using lots of water to wash them and energy.

Also, you don’t need to get your room vacuumed every day, so it is a great practice to hang the Don’t disturb signed when you leave your room.

Another good practice is to try to eat more vegetarian when traveling and reduce the consumption of meat. Nowaydays is very easy to find vegetarian options in every restaurant and even if you are in a local restaurant, they will probably have vegetarian options.

You will be surprised by how great you can feel when you reduce significantly eating meat and also, it is normally cheaper.

The most sustainable way to travel is by being conscious of the many sustainable travel options that you can choose.

Following these sustainable travel tips is a beneficial way of traveling reducing the impact on the planet, starting by reducing your CO2 footprint to behaving more responsibly.

Lastly, if you are traveling to a national park, you should check. “An Essential Guide To Enjoying National Parks Responsibly”

Together, we can contribute to reducing our negative impact on the environment, will you join us?