It has taken a long time, but more and more travellers are recognising the need to be sustainable in their travels. With planes being responsible for significant emissions every year, finding ways to offset this while travelling has become an issue that is changing the way people travel. And there’s good reason for this – if you aren’t taking care of the thing you’re exploring, there’s a good chance it won’t be there one day. Understanding where to start is certainly the tough bit, but there are quite a few things that can be done to help. In this article, we cover a few of the best ways to help ensure your travel becomes more sustainable. 

Be aware of what you travel with

One of the first things you should consider (and also one of the easiest) is packing smarter for your trip. Taking a little bit of time to think about what you’re bringing can help you save a lot of resources in the long-term. So, rather than bring four pairs of Roxy bathers, try and use that space for items like reusable water bottles, water filters (if you’re travelling to an area with poor water quality), travel utensils and even a small Tupperware container if you’re planning on moving around with food. When you’re considering how to move about, you should already know that taking a plane is not the best option for the environment, so if your location permits it, instead try to travel by train or by bus. It might slow your travel slightly, but these forms of transportation are an experience unto themselves, and will significantly reduce your carbon footprint. Plus, there’s the other huge upside of buses and trains being (for the most part) far cheaper so you can save a whole bunch at the same time!

Travel close to home

Its understandable that with so many exotic locations around the world, the thought of travelling within your own country isn’t always the most exciting prospect. This is actually completely false – no matter where you live in the world, its guaranteed that your home country has a wide variety of treasures begging to be explored – why else would everyone travel from around the world to see them? If you still feel the need to travel overseas, the best way to do it is slowly. Make sure to take your time in each destination, soaking in all of the possible sights. It’s not uncommon that people spend a day or two in a city before jetting off – if you’re only really there for a few hours, how can you really experience the city? With transportation being the big contributor to your carbon footprint, the fewer places you travel to will ensure that you not only travel greener, but you’ll be able to properly experience the locations you’re in. 

Let’s make travel greener today

Finding ways to lower their carbon footprint as they travel should be at the forefront of every traveller’s mind. If everyone started committing to the idea of greener travel, we’d be doing quite a lot to help preserve this beautiful planet we love to explore so much. And if we do this, there’ll be many generations after us who will be able to keep doing so. The best thing is, many of these are simple and requite minimal effort, so there’s no reason not to be doing them!