As you prepare for your summer travel plans, it is important to consider how to make sustainable choices before and during your trip. Now is the perfect time to stop, rethink your previous habits and reshape the way you travel. In order to help refocus your travels, we put together a list of eco-friendly travel tips and tricks to ensure you help promote sustainable traveling!
Sustainable tourism
First and foremost, it is important to understand what sustainable tourism and traveling is. Sustainable traveling is all about creating a balance between environmental health, human well-being and economic growth, with a focus on how to maximize positive benefits for communities, cultures, ecosystems and the world. This includes all decisions you make now and how they affect the present, as well as the future.
How to make sustainable choices while traveling
Use efficient modes of transportation
How you arrive to and from your destination really makes a difference. Airplane travel, driving and other forms of transportation make up the largest percentage of carbon footprint as a result of tourism. While air and car travel seem to be the fastest, most efficient modes of transportation, they require the most amount of energy. Consider making the conscious choice of traveling by train or bus instead. Once you arrive to your destination, bike, walk and take public transportation as much as possible. This is a great way to experience the city, sightsee and plan your trip! If you rent a car, try to find one that is an electric or hybrid model to help reduce the carbon footprint. When traveling with friends and family, suggest carpooling together in one car to travel smarter, not harder.
Avoid single-use plastics
In order to be a more conscious traveler and help create a zero-waste lifestyle, we highly suggest investing in a reusable water bottle so you can easily take water with you no matter where you are going AND to help eliminate waste. There are a number of brands that sell reusable bottles in various shapes, sizes and designs, so you are more than likely to find the perfect one. The same goes for utensils and straws -- you can purchase reusable utensils and bring with you on the go! You can even bring our reusable cups with you, too!
Conserve energy as much as possible
While on vacation, do all you can to conserve energy resources. Turn off all the lights, TV and any other electronics when not in use. Before leaving your hotel room or Airbnb stay, turn the air conditioning off and set the thermostat to a few degrees higher. Invest in a multi-purpose charging port that is compatible with your devices to help conserve energy and reduce the amount of charging ports you need to pack. Make sure to take advantage of the USB charging port in your laptop computer as well.
Water
Be mindful of how much water you are using while on traveling. If possible, take a quick shower instead of a bath, hand wash your clothes and hang dry your towels. These small changes will help reduce the excess amount of water used.
Support the locals
One thing we all learned from the pandemic is the importance of supporting our local community, businesses, restaurants and shops. Keep this in mind while traveling and dine in at a local restaurant, check out local owned stores and spots around town. This is a unique way for you to experience the city and its culture. Make sure to support the local parks and conservation centers, too!
Toiletries and personal care
Before leaving for your trip, pack a small makeup bag with all of your toiletries (travel-sized shampoo, conditioner, tooth brush, tooth paste, face wash, etc.) to help reduce the amount of single-use toiletries hotels provide. Invest in eco-friendly brands to create a more sustainable life both at home and on vacation!
Go paperless
Consider saving your boarding pass, hotel reservations and tickets to your phone instead of printing hard paper copies. This will help you reduce paper waste, while also keeping things all in one place to avoid confusion.
Don’t forget, your trip is not complete without taking our broth concentrates with you! Our broth pouches and reusable cups are travel friendly and TSA-approved and should be at the top of your priority packing list. Our broths are made from real, organic ingredients, with NO pesticides added and our pouches may be recycled once rinsed, too.
Here is to making more eco-friendly choices while traveling!
