Live, love, laugh, and travel to see the earth’s wonders.
And while you are about it, make sure you do your bit to keep the earth as wonderful it is and still have a beautiful journey to remember.
Here are my exclusive tips on how you can travel in eco-friendly manner around the beautiful destinations.
1. Carry less luggage
Yes this makes a difference to the carbon footprint. The less luggage you carry, the lighter the aircraft and the lesser fuel consumption you opt for. It’s that simple.
And yes, you will sweat and swear less on the journey as you lug those bags around.
2. Flight savvy
Try to book non-stop flights whenever you can. It’s the take-offs and landings that create most of an airplane’s carbon emissions.
If you have the time, try to travel by a bus or train as this has a much less negative environmental impact than traveling by plane.
3. Road trip time!
If you are feeling particularly adventurous, take that road trip you have always wanted to.
Take off with your friends, stop as many times as you want to, savour those sunsets and chai at roadside dhabas, put on your favourite music, take loads of pictures whenever and wherever you want and laugh as loud as you want.
It will be the most memorable trip of your life.
4. Save paper on tickets and boarding passes
Do a web check in or use your cell phone to show the e-ticket. Save the paper on the ticket that gets thrown away anyway.
Imagine the hundreds of flights and the thousands of tickets saved every day and feel good that you have done your bit even before the trip starts!
5. Homestays
Make yourself at home at your favorite destination and make some lifetime friends, too, in the process. Instead of staying at large resorts, stay in comfy and tastefully furnished home-stays in the true local tradition. Save on electricity and resources. What’s more, this will enable you to experience the most authentic flavor of a place, staying with locals, savouring their traditional cuisine and immersing yourself in their culture.
Japan, Greece and Spain come particularly well recommended for the above. And closer home, there is Kashmir, Ladakh, Kerala and Meghalaya.
6. Minimize the use of plastic
This cannot be stressed enough. Plastics have clogged up the seas, the earth and caused unlimited harm to animals both on land and sea. You know it. So, carry reusable things like your own refillable bottle. These can be filled up at airports, hotels, anywhere!
Try carrying your own bags instead of plastic carry bags. There are stylish and trendy beach bags, totes and backpacks in canvas, jute, denim and cloth that can be toted around in style.
7. Do not litter
Would you like to go back to your favorite pristine beach and find your dream destination strewn with packets of chips and stray polythene bags?
Be the change you want to be and refrain from throwing away those tissues, used sunscreen bottles, and paper plates in the nearest bin. If not, just carry a garbage bag and dispose of the litter at the nearest available bin.
Be particularly aware on those treks and beach trips.
8. Reduce, reuse, recycle
These three Rs (Reduce – Reuse and Recycle) will save the planet one day. Try staying at a place with a recycling programme. Or an eco-friendly place like Ladakh that encourages you to save on water and makes use of solar energy and sustainable agricultural practices. Encourage tourism to such spots.
Check out places that inspire you to live a Zero-Waste policy. Guest houses, lodges, or home-stays that follow a recycling programme, or eco-friendly practices like rainwater harvesting and solar electricity.
If in a hotel, hang up your towels after each use, which is the universal sign that you’d like to use them again.
9. Walk, ride, save
Walk, bike, or use public transportation to get around places of tourists places.
Exploring Kolkata, take the tram or metro.
When you are in London, take a Red Bus.
In the hills, walk.
Why rush when you can drink in so much beauty when going slow? You are on holiday after all. Savour the moments.
10. Don’t buy anything made from endangered plants/animals, unsustainable hardwoods, or artifacts
You are probably encouraging wildlife trade or inhuman practices. Also, you probably won’t be able to get them back through customs.
Don’t take any tours that promises hands-on encounters with wild animals, such as riding elephants. If you do, you’re supporting an industry that illegally captures, transports, and abuses millions of animals each year.
11. Use less, not more
Try toting your own toiletries in reusable bottles or in travel kits because all those tonnes of little bottles used to dispense shower gels etc in hotel rooms aren’t generally bio-degradable.
We may travel from place to place, but ultimately, we have one home.
Keep it green, keep it clean and most importantly, respect every species’ right to share our existence on this planet. Be a friend.
