Our top tips on how to travel with an environmental conscience
As someone who cares deeply about the environment (and is extremely concerned about the future of our planet), there are days when it's feels strange to take regular overseas trips to explore faraway lands, knowing the impact that even the journey there can have.
But travelling doesn't have to damage the environment - and far from it! Here is a quick whistle-stop tour through some best practices for traveling with an environmental conscious.
Where are we now?
We've known for decades that human activities are causing environmental degradation on a catastrophic level. The 'point of no return' threshold of 400 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was reached in 2016, and it is unlikely that atmospheric CO2 will dip below this mark, possibly ever again.
In short, the world is in serious trouble.
Mercifully, it's not all bad news. Thanks to incredible conservation and reforestation efforts, multilateral environmental agreements, individual green campaigns and popular documentaries such as Our Planet, the tide is turning and more and more people, just like you and I, are becoming environmentally conscious and fighting back against the seemingly endless tide of bad climate news.
This is what it'll take to turn the tide on climate: a concerted effort by everyone everywhere to alter their behaviour to stop the degradation of the environment - and your travel plans can help! Let's take a look.
Carbon offset your travels
Accepting that your trip (like almost all things in today's world) has a carbon footprint - and a significant one, at that - you can choose to 'offset' the CO2 your trip produces, by investing in projects which actively sequester or remove carbon from the atmosphere elsewhere.
Using simple online calculators like this one, you can plug in the details of your trip (the easiest place to start is with your flights) to work out how much carbon dioxide your itinerary will produce. Once you've calculated your emissions, the website will offer you several options where you can donate the equivalent amount of cash required to reduce that amount of carbon from the atmosphere, to a cause or charity which will do exactly that!
If you’re taking on a challenge with us in 2020, you’ll be able to easily carbon offset your travels through the registration portal when signing up. In 2021, we will be entirely carbon-neutral.
Donate your food before you travel
When you leave home for an extended time, make sure you aren't leaving behind an entire fridge full of fresh food which will go to waste while you're away!
We've all been guilty of this, returning home after a week or more to find a loaf of mouldy bread or who-knows-what-vegetable-that-used-to-be stuffed down the back of a cupboard... but it doesn't have to be that way. In the days and weeks in the run up to your challenge, use up, or donate, food before you go.
This can be given to housemates or to those in need - but don't be silly and let all your food go to waste while you're on the other side of the world.
Don't overpack
Here at Choose a Challenge, we go on and on about packing light - and for good reason. There are a vast number of trekking-related reasons you shouldn't overpack your main bag when traveling.
The environmental reasons are just as important: the heavier the cargo on your flight, the more drag, and the more drag, the more fuel is used to make the journey.
While we're all guilty of overpacking from time to time, pack light and leave any unnecessary items behind - I promise you will enjoy your trip more, and you'll help save the environment little by little along the way.
Say NO to single-use plastics
You've heard this before. Whether it's because of a mindset-altering documentaries, like Our Planet, or the campaigns to ban plastic straws in popular restaurant and fast-food chains, you already know that single-use plastics are a scourge on our planet. But sometimes conceptualising the scale of this issue is really, really difficult.
Plastics last a really, really long time. When you buy a bottled drink from a vending machine, you're not just buying the drink. You're buying (for very cheap, I might add) the entire lifetime of that plastic bottle, from the industrial-scale resources required to manufacture it, to the minimum 450-500 years it will continue to exist, either in landfill or in the ocean. That plastic Coke bottle will outlive you, several times over.
Combatting this isn't easy: single-use plastics are everywhere. But you can say no in a few simple ways:
Travel with a water bottle. All major airports and most hotels have water fountains or bottle-filling stations.
Travel with a reusable shopping bag or tote bag and use it for any purchases both en-route and in-country.
Pick a green restaurant over one which makes unnecessary use of single-use plastics.
While some destinations will require you to drink bottled water, think before you drink bottled items!
If you really want that fizzy drink, try to choose cans or glass over plastic bottles.
Be mindful when you’re at a hotel
Most hotels these days come with polite notices in each room, requesting that you reuse your towels instead of leaving them to be washed every day, and turn lights off when not in use, but there are more easy ways to help the planet while you're in-country.
For example, resist the temptation to leave the AC on all day when you're out exploring. Air-conditioning is a huge drain on power, and corrupted AC and fridge parts are one of the most significant sources of damaging CFCs and HFCs in the world today.
Reduce your meat consumption
This is the controversial one, sorry!
Evidence from recent scientific studies suggests that cutting meat and dairy from your diet is one of the most effective ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Substituting meat dishes for non-meat or substitute meat dishes is an excellent way to reduce your carbon output in daily life, and that extends to travel as well.
The one sticking point with travel is that it's not advisable to eat certain things, including salads washed in local tap water. However, remember that some meats (lamb, beef, pork) have higher carbon outputs than others (turkey, chicken, other poultry). So if you can't face the vegetarian or vegan life, even substituting that steak for a chicken-based meal can make a difference. Be conscious of your choices, and consider the sources of your food before you buy.
Choose the right operator
At Choose a Challenge, it's really important to us that all of our operations are carried out ethically and responsibly.
We are one of a select group of operators accredited by Tourism Concern's Ethical Tour Operators program, and we take a great deal of pride in sourcing ethical, sustainable trips and working with responsible suppliers all over the world.
Whether you're traveling with us, or any other tour operator, do your research and satisfy yourself that your operator is responsible and meets your environmental needs. If they don't, think twice before booking!
You can find out more about the ways we are committed to ethical and sustainable practices in all areas of our work here and don’t forget, we are one of the only tour operators who offer carbon offsetting on our trips and have helped plant over 14,000 trees through our WeForest project.
Do good while you roam
If you're traveling with us, you're already contributing to something amazing. In travelling for a cause, by the time you reach your destination country, you've already helped to raise thousands of pounds for a charity which is helping to build a better world.
But don't get complacent, and don't stop there! There are thousands of locally-led initiatives and projects both in-country and more globally which you can contribute your time, effort and money to.
Whether it's buying local coffee in Cusco, or buying crafts and souvenirs to the benefit of local Tanzanian women, little by little, your choices change the world.
Hopefully you've found this guide useful to help make informed decisions about travelling with an environmental conscience. Please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions or comments about the above by emailing us at hello@chooseachallenge.com.
