Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Travel Guide

Sustainable and Eco-friendly Travel Guide and Tips

Paris Parc Monceau

What is this?  It's really a mindset, and what I mean by that, is how you view the environment and society around you.  For example, if you enjoy the beauty of the outdoors and you make sure to leave no trace behind by properly disposing of your trash, and not making a negative impact on the nature around you, then you have a sustainable mindset.  

As I began to research what Environmental Travel was all about, I realized that I had been doing many of these things for years when my family traveled the globe.  But I have also realized there are so many things that can be done on future trips to make our travel more sustainable.

Here are the current sustainable steps that we take during out travels to ensure we are being eco-friendly.

Travel

Most hot spot locations are overrun by tourists these days, so we travel at non-peak times and during the off season.  Usually this means that some things will be closed and the weather may not be perfect, but we don’t waste time waiting in long lines or dealing with the crowds.  We traveled to Paris in March, and while it was cold and raining (even snow one day), we felt like we had the place to ourselves. 

Another sustainable tip is to stay awhile in one, off the beaten path place.  Our first trip to Europe we took a fast paced tour.  While we saw a ton of sites and destinations in a short amount of time, we spent most of the time traveling and missed a lot of the in-between experiences.  We decided then that future trips would be on our own and at our pace.  We slowed down and spent time getting to know the culture and met some wonderful people.

Check out the Top 40 Cities indexed by the Global Destination Sustainability Movement at https://www.gds.earth/about/ for the locations that ranked the highest and are leading the way in sustainable travel.

Transportation

Train Station in Giverny, France

Transportation is one of the big areas where you can make a difference for sustainable and eco friendly travel. Our goal is to take direct flights since most carbon emissions are at the highest during take off and landing. 

We also opt for train travel as that is a more eco-friendly way to travel compared to airplanes. Most of the places we walk so that we can discover new things.  While we end up walking 10 plus miles on some days, it is worth it to stumble upon new experiences.  Often we decide to take a bus if we can’t walk and the bus is usually more eco-friendly than a taxi or car ride.

Uber Boat Enterance

On a trip to London, we discovered the Uber Boat. It was so convenient to hop on and it was a hybrid electric boat (with zero tailpipe emissions) that took us all the way to Greenwich. For more information on the Uber Boat in London:

https://www.thamesclippers.com/plan-your-journey/route-map

https://www.thamesclippers.com/news/uk-transport-gets-greener-with-arrival-of-first-hybrid-high-speed-passenger-ferry

Packing

We only travel with a carry-on, even on a 6 week trip to Europe!  So we pack ultra light, try to have sustainable cotton clothing, and bring reusable bags/containers. We don't pack liquids and will purchase what we need once we arrive at our destination. We like to buy locally sourced products.

Reusable Items

Bring reusable bags for TSA  when you bring liquids and for shopping.  Most European countries don’t use plastic bags.  We take ours in our backpack everyday when we head out so that no matter where we go we have them handy.  They are small and fold up nicely and don’t take up too much room.

Leave No Trace

Portobelo Beach

If you want to travel in a sustainable and eco-friendly way, leave the place like you found it!  Pick up and discard garbage properly and please do not remove things (shells, etc.) instead take a pic.  While in Portobello Beach in Scotland, we saw people picking up trash from the beach.  They all had the same bag, so when we inquired they told us that if they fill up a bag of trash then they get free fries from the nearby street vendor.  I thought that was a great deal, we would do it for free!

Food

Sustainable and budget travel can go hand-in-hand.  For example, we minimize eating out at restaurants which reduces our food budget and instead we pick up local produce and items from local markets.  In Paris, we would go to the local produce stand every couple of days and get the amazing strawberries and lettuce.  We joined an app called, Too Good to Go (https://www.toogoodtogo.com/en-us ) and you can look to see who participates in your area.  Instead of throwing out food at the end of the day, you can tell them you will pick it up.  There is a minimal cost and sometimes you don’t know what it is so it’s a gamble.  We enjoyed it because we tried some new things that we otherwise would not have purchased.

Paris Street Market

Paris Aibnb Balcony

Paris Pastries too good to go

Short-term rentals

On most of our trips over 2 weeks we opt for a short-term rental.  Usually one with a kitchen, fridge, and washer/dryer.  This way we can eat in and reduce the amount of waste that gets generated.

Zoo’s & Theme Parks

I am not a fan of either of these and I feel like zoo's are cruel to animals and theme parks are not environmentally friendly places.  However, there are options that can be sustainable and environmentally friendly but they are usually hard to find.  An example of this is in Laguna Beach, California.  We were walking around one day and came upon a place called The Pacific Marine Mammal Center.  Curiosity got the best of us and we walked into the office.  This center was so amazing.  They rescue stranded and injured mammals such as seals, and they rehabilitate them and return them to the sea.  We were able to see the seals in their tanks as they were getting better and the staff was amazing to talk with us not only about the history of the center but the plans to expand.  We visit the center each time we go to Laguna and we also donate.  The center has volunteers who help and we wish we lived close enough to volunteer our time to such a worthy cause.  The center is expanding so check the website, www.pacificmmc.org, to see the availability.  Places such as this are great opportunities to see the animals while teaching children the ethics of sustainability.

We are always looking at ways to add more sustainable and eco-friendly practices to our travels. For the future, we will add more reusable items such as a reusable straw, water bottle, and flatware.  This will reduce the amount of plastic that we use and reduce the amount of garbage we create.  Also we are looking at Eco friendly luggage.  Some luggage, such as CALPack https://www.calpaktravel.com/pages/about-us & Paravel https://tourparavel.com/, use recycled plastic in the manufacturing.  I will be checking these out as well as other sustainable and eco-friendly products for future trips.

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I have a degree in Environmental Science with a 10 year career in the Environmental space, and that is why I take sustainable and Eco-friendly travel seriously.