Sustainable travel
Photo: Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
- See Responsible travel for the economic and cultural impact/sustainability of travel.
This travel topic on Sustainable travel deals with how to best avoid negative impacts on the global and local natural environment while traveling and how to best preserve the places you visit for future generations to enjoy.
UnderstandWe stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair.
PrepareBefore you leave, unplug all electronic devices that don't have to keep running. Not only does this save money and electricity, it also eliminates the risk of lightning strike destroying your appliances, TV or the likes.
Get inTransportation is the single largest contributor of CO2 emissions for travellers.
Get aroundif solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then... we should change the system itself. Walking, cycling, rail travel (including urban rail) and bus travel minimize emissions per distance and passenger.
SeeResearch your destination beforehand — some places (both natural sites and human structures) cannot cope with the current stress of the number of visitors, making for crumbling steps or trampled flora.
DoTake all your trash with you, or throw it into the bins provided. If the local bins are full or emptying may be costly (as when the sight is away from cities), ignore the bins and carry your waste out regardless.
BuyTravel just for shopping can be controversial, in particular for intercontinental flights with heavy baggage.
EatLocal food should go over imported food. The point of travel is to get to know other cultures, so step out of your comfort zone and try the local food, prepared by locals in a restaurant owned by locals.
SleepAccommodation is tourism’s second largest CO₂ contributor, at 20% of total emissions. Travellers produce an average of 19kg CO₂ per night resulting from their electricity, gas and water use.
Flora and faunaIn the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa dung beetles have right of way. If you see one crossing the road in front of you, you are required to stop and wait for them to pass.
BuyBuy local whenever and wherever possible.
CO emissionsTraveling, or transport in general, is one of the biggest sources of global CO2 emissions (26% in 2004), the cause of climate change.
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Sustainable travel" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons