Although far fewer people are traveling now than this time last year, it’s reasonable to assume that travel will eventually pick up and that people will once again be visiting different places around the world.
If this is your plan, and if you have the desire to leave this world better off than you found it, you may be wondering what you can do to ensure that your next adventure is done as sustainably as possible. To help you in figuring this out, here are three ways to be more environmentally conscious when traveling.
Venture Closer To Home
The very best way that you can have less of an impact on the environment when you’re traveling, according to Livia Albeck-Ripka, a contributor to the New York Times, is to travel closer to home.
When you choose not to travel long distances, you produce fewer emissions, use fewer resources, and put less stress on the environment that you’re visiting. And while this might not seem like an exciting way to travel, it’s very likely that you haven’t explored every corner of your city or state, so you have a good chance of experiencing something new without having to spend too much money or too many resources to do so.
Find A Responsible Place To Stay
For the trips that you take when you will be staying at a different place overnight, you’ll want to make sure that you’re giving your business to an establishment that is responsible when it comes to sustainability and the environment.
To find this out, Andrea Sachs, a contributor to the Washington Post, recommends that you either research online to see what environmentally friendly organizations have ranked the hotel you’re considering or that you call the establishment directly to ask them questions about their policies and procedures. Additionally, when you’re staying at the hotel, you can do your part to help the environment by reusing your towels, using real dishes and glasses rather than disposable ones, not having housekeeping come to your room while you’re still staying there, and recycling anything that you use during your trip.
Don’t Eat At Buffets
Many people think that a great way to save money when traveling is to visit buffets, especially if they’re provided by your lodging and accommodation. And while this might be the case, this is not a sustainable way to travel.
According to Katherine Lagrave, a contributor to Conde Nast Traveler, buffets are notorious for wasting a huge amount of food. In order to not run out of food, they usually make too much, which means a lot of that food gets thrown away. But if fewer people participated in buffets, they wouldn’t be as prevalent and waste as much food.
If you want to be more environmentally conscious when you’re traveling, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you achieve this.
