By Elizabeth Herman | Posted: February 03, 2020
Do you love to travel? Do you care about the planet and the people around you? If so, it seems worthwhile to look at new initiatives in the field of sustainable travel.
A number of organizations have sprung up recently to address the needs of travelers who want to reduce their carbon footprint. Our economies increasingly depend on people who want to shore up their level of sustainability as they inevitably impact the world around them.
Being aware of the dangers of climate change includes accepting scientific facts, not feeling pessimistic and gloomy about the future. In the words of the UK’s Prince Charles, there's still a reason to be hopeful, since, “In nearly every industry, we’re seeing progress that we can build on.” So, for sustainable air and ground transportation, lodging, nourishment and every other aspect of an environmentally friendly voyage, advanced planning plays a crucial role.
Sustainable markets
Travel and tourism form a major sector of the worldwide economy. So innovations toward more sustainable travel offer great opportunities to develop technologies that will be less harmful to the planet. By developing these on a large scale, leaders and thinkers choose to steer the planet away from climate change and other crises, and toward long term healthy growth.
New organizations like Sustainable Travel International, Travelyst (a collaboration of five companies), Pack for a Purpose, and others bring the environment to the forefront of conscious travellers’ minds.
At the 2020 World Economic Forum, the Prince of Wales recently stated, “When the right sustainable goods and services are developed, proven, and affordable, the choice to adopt them will become obvious. Truly, to seize these opportunities, we need to visualize the future, and have the confidence to invest in it.” Sustainable travel practices are some of those goods and services needing to change in order to avoid tragic changes to our climate, geography and economy in the coming years.
Planes, trains, and cars
Trains are widely known to be more sustainable than other forms of transportation in terms of carbon emissions, energy use, noise, use of space, etc. If you can plan on train travel during your trip, you can benefit from these advantages, and really take the time to see the landscape of your destination without the stress of driving.
One advantage of electric cars is that they require less maintenance, although their price is generally higher than conventional vehicles. In countries like Germany that don’t rely on coal powered electricity like the U.S., electric vehicles are more popular and actually have less of a carbon footprint. Car rental companies are increasingly offering electric cars in many countries, including the U.S. If you rent an electric car, your next road trip could become a learning experience to help you adjust to a new way of driving.
According to the Atlantic.com, workable air travel that moves us beyond fossil fuels will be necessary very soon. Making routes more efficient and reducing fuel burn could save 1.4 billion dollars per year, but that will still not be enough to stop climate change. Instead of taking baby steps to save on fuel, the entire “concept of a fossil-fuel-powered airplane needs to evolve if impacts on the environment are going to be fully mitigated to prevent the worst effects of climate change.”
Electrically powered airplanes are being developed at a quick pace. Building bigger and better batteries poses a major challenge, but a flight around the world with huge lithium-ion batteries has already taken place on a plane called Solar Impulse 2. In addition, we have “opportunities to develop commercially viable, hydrogen powered electric aircraft within the decade.” Prince Charles continues, “In the interim, many in the industry are ready to adopt sustainable aviation fuel, made from waste material, that can reduce carbon emissions starting today.”
While air travel technology is advancing, those who need to fly in carbon emitting planes can take advantage of carbon offset projects, enabling travellers to proportionally support projects around the world that make communities more sustainable by reducing their footprint.
Plan to eat vegan
It has become widely known that a vegan diet is the most sustainable way to nourish your body and mind. But traveling may complicate your access to vegan food sources, so some planning in the realm of food before you travel is in order.
Two websites, Happy Cow and Yelp, can give you names and locations of restaurants in and around your intended destinations with vegan friendly ratings and menus that you can peruse ahead of time. Happy Cow is specifically geared toward including only vegetarian and vegan establishments. Yelp covers all types of places, and only includes reviews and ratings for various aspects of menus, such as vegan friendliness.
Communicating effectively can be one of the most important challenges when feeding yourself sustainably on the road. With a little bit of advanced research, you can learn how to say, “I’m vegan,” in the language of your destination.
Packing properly is also important. Bringing your own high protein vegan snacks as well as reusable food containers, water bottles, and utensils, arranging to stay where you can have access to your own kitchen, flying with plant-based coffee creamer, and checking out resources like the vegan passport and vegan travel blogs can also help.
If you agree that “we must rapidly realign our own economy to mimic nature’s economy and work in harmony with it,” then find out more about how to travel sustainably before you solidify your plans. Making educated decisions about travel is only one area of life where environmentally friendly habits will make a difference, so you can have an impact whether on the road or at home.
Elizabeth Herman writes, offers writing support to clients, teaches, and volunteers for a better world. She has a PhD in Rhetoric, Composition and Literature. Find her on Facebook or Twitter.
