7 Ways To Travel More Sustainably

Thank you for clicking on our article about 7 ways to travel more sustainably. But first….’sustainable’ – what does it actually mean?

Sustainable living (as defined by Wikipedia) is a ‘lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual’s or society’s use of the earth’s natural resources and personal resources. People who practice sustainable living often attempt to reduce their carbon footprint by altering methods of transportation, energy consumption, and diet’.

So how can we take that forward to our travel?

Read on for 7 ways to travel more sustainably!

Consider a different mode of transport

Have you ever wondered about getting trains places rather than planes? Or to drive rather than fly? In many cases, it’s very doable and can actually add an element of fun to the holiday.

The big bonuses of overland travel rather than air travel (aside from the environmental gain) is that it is often cheaper and you get to see much more than you do from an Aeroplane. You can take it at your own pace, detour via places you want to see or even stop for the night somewhere.

The, main, and big, downside to overland travel is obvious. It takes longer. But if you have the time it really is a very lovely way to travel. After all, this is the way to really SEE places.

My love of overland travel began as a child, where, as a family we would often drive places rather than fly. We drove from England to Germany, Norway and Holland to name a few. And funnily, my memories of those trips are most often the journey there.

As adults Dave and I have done a number of overland journeys, the main ones being 3 months from Cape Town to Cairo where we travelled with a truck of other intrepid travellers, living out of backpacks and wild camping. The other main one we’ve done is London to Beijing on the Trans Siberian Railway. This was for our honeymoon and saw us pass through France, Germany, Russia, Mongolia and China amongst other with lots of stops along the way. Read more about our travels before we had kids here.

Cars are great, but trains are even better. I do emplore you to investigate your options next time before you default to a flight!

Hire an electric car

We often book a car when we go abroad (unless we’re staying in a city) and a relatively new option that is available in a growing number of locations is to book an electric car. Whilst we’ve not done it ourselves yet it sounds like an excellent way of helping the environment whilst traveling. We will definitely be investigating this the next time we go abroad!

Take plastic/reusable bags with you

I remember as a child always being amazed that in France you couldn’t get plastic bags at supermarkets. Fast forward to now and that is commonplaces in most places around the World. And so it should be!

Something that I have found useful, and have been doing for years, is to take my own plastic or reusable bags with me on holiday. This means that we have somewhere for our shopping when we go to the supermarket. We have somewhere to store dirty clothes and to use as a bin if needed. In fact, the uses for them go on and on and it saves picking up any more plastic or reusable bags whilst we are away.

Take reusable water bottles with you

We’ve always done this since having children. In fact its a habit we’ve got into at home, so we just extend it to our travels. It means the girls always a drink accessible to them and we’re not constantly buying plastic bottles of water.

Embrace refillable toiletry bottles

I know the miniature travel toiletries are very cute and tempting but they are used up SO quickly and a lot of plastic for what you get. A much better option is to get a set of reusable travel toiletry bottles to refill each time you go away. I have a really handy one that clips together and stores plenty of what you need.

Say no to plastic straws

Whilst paper straws are common in the UK now, elsewhere in the World this may not be the case. If you order drinks, ask for no straws. If, like my children, your children are obsessed with straws have a stash of paper ones in your bag that you can pop in drinks.

Tidy up after yourself

I would really hope this one is obvious but just in case. As they say – ‘Take only memories, leave only footprints’. Tidy up after yourselves. No one wants to see beaches or roadsides full of rubbish and it is everyones responsibility to ensure this doesn’t happen.

Conclusions

I hope you have enjoyed our post on 7 ways to travel more sustainably.

The list could go on and on for ways we can reduce our carbon footprint whilst traveling. And I’m sure as time goes on there’ll be even more ways we can help the environment but still pursue our love for travel and seeing the World.

I am by no means an expert in this subject, but someone who is trying to learn and do my bit to help save this wonderful planet called Earth.

There is no Planet B.