Ten Tips on Travelling Green by Daniel Scott
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In these days of climate change and global warming, many people are re-evaluating the impact we have personally on the environment and the way we travel is no exception. After all, tourism is now one of the biggest industries in the world so it would be remarkable if it wasn’t having some effect.
But with so many tourism products labelling themselves “eco” and with so much environmental jargon to wade through it can be confusing choosing the right kind of travel.
The good news is that there are now plenty of environmentally-friendly holidays available, especially in Australia. It is just a question of finding the right one for you. Your travels could actually end up being a positive thing, not just for you but for the places that you visit. So here are some suggestions and explanations to help you choose.
Responsible Travel
The organisation ResponsibleTravel.com, founded in the UK in 2001 to try to reinvent tourism, defines the term like this: “Responsible travel is a new way of travelling for those who've had enough of mass tourism. It's about respecting and benefiting local people and the environment.” On their website they offer a number of tips for traveling responsibly, including minimising carbon emissions on your trip and trying to ensure you are staying in eco-friendly accommodation.
Minimise Carbon Emissions
As we go about our daily lives we all emit CO2, which is one known cause of global warming. This is sometimes referred to as our “carbon footprint.” Household electricity emits, cars emit and the growing number of planes in our skies emit significant amounts of carbon. Estimates of the contribution of air travel to total global carbon emissions vary from 2-5%. So clearly, if everybody that could fly decided instead to take a train (a greener alternative) or to walk or cycle to their destination, then that figure would begin to decline.
Carbon Offset Schemes
Of course, flying is often the only practicable way for us to get to our destination. But if you do have to take a plane then most airlines now have schemes to offset the emissions caused by your flight. In Australia both Qantas and Virgin Blue offer the opportunity on their websites to fly “carbon neutral”. As an example my recent Sydney-Perth return flights produced 0.658 tonnes of CO2, according to Qantas. To offset that cost me just $7.90, an amount calculated by the airline to take into account all aspects of my flight including use of the airport terminal etc. The money I paid contributed to a government greenhouse gas abatement scheme, which funds ways of reducing CO2 emissions such as planting new trees.
Sustainable Tourism
Like responsible travel, this term refers to travel that has positive effect on the environment as possible. For the individual, it involves having respect for nature and people while on holiday, treading lightly both literally and metaphorically, for instance not littering places you visit. It is also about not traveling en masse as this makes tourism much more difficult to control and about seeking to learn about the world we live in. For operators and hotels it is about having clearly defined environmental policies and about doing everything they can not to pollute and to decrease the carbon footprint of their activities.
Ecotourism
Eco, short for ecology or ecological, is a synonym for the word environment. The word is increasingly applied to holidays as in “ecotourism”, “eco-friendly resort” or “eco-sensitive accommodation”. Similar to both sustainable and responsible travel, Ecotourism seeks not to destroy the natural ecological balance of an area and seeks to promote environmental and cultural knowledge and conservation. Its primary focus is on providing managed experiences of natural attractions.
Eco-accredited
In Australia, “eco-accredited” should mean that the operator, accommodation or individual offering a tourism product has been approved by an official body like the Eco-tourism Assocation of Australia. Visit ecotourism.org.au to find out what their criteria are and for a list of members.
Environmentally-Sensitive Accommodation
Apart from checking whether your accommodation is eco-accredited, you can ask your hotel or lodge a few questions. Do they have a written environmental policy? What percentage of the produce and goods that they use comes from within 25 kilometres? Do they have any alternative energy sources such as solar paneling? How do they treat their waste water? Do they have rainwater tanks? On a personal level, you can do your bit at your destination by keeping water use to a minimum and sticking with the same towels and bed linen.
Codes of Conduct
When you go wildlife watching try to abide by any code of conduct as not doing so can harm the very animals you are trying to see. I saw a prime example of this recently when I visited Ningaloo Reef during turtle nesting and hatching season. Unmanaged tourism, such as visitors churning up the beach or disturbing turtles with bright lights and noise can dramatically decrease the chance of female nesting successfully or of baby turtles surviving. That was why a “Turtle Watchers Code Of Conduct” was put in place. The same principle applies to snorkelling and diving on delicate coral reefs, whalewatching and to viewing any animals sensitive to our presence.
Be Informed
If you want to have a minimal impact when you visit somewhere try to read and learn as much as possible about a destination and its issues. It will help you not to add to any problem and if the environment where you are staying is in a mess, then gently challenge local authorities to do something about it, pointing out that their livelihood may be at stake.
Go Local
Find time for a tour with a local guide and try to buy in local shops and eat in authentic restaurants. This all adds to a destination’s sustainable tourism and helps to reduce your carbon footprint while you are away – as the goods you are buying haven’t been flown or trucked in.