As seasoned high-frequency travelers, we fully recognize the immense responsibility we bear in minimizing the carbon footprint of our journeys.
We understand that even the most eco-conscious individuals and organizations may struggle to maintain their sustainability practices while on the road.
Some times we don't have control over how much we travel (corporate travel), and sometimes it's for personal reasons. No matter the reason you're traveling, we have broken down our favorite sustainable practices to make it easy for you.
From the planning stage, to the traveling stage, these easy + practical suggestions will help aid in minimizing our collective carbon footprint.
Sustainable Travel Tips When Planning:
Look for flights that have lower emissions.
If you’re using Google flights, click here to see how to find lower emissions flights.
Gruener Fliegen is an amazing resource + booking tool that allows you to offset your impact in 3 ways.
Avoid flights with extra stops. Direct flights can sometimes be more expensive but many times this will literally cut your emissions by 50% many search features search engines and airline websites have a filter that you can select to find these easily.
Rideshare when possible. Don’t be afraid to learn the local travel systems on trays and buses. Many of them have apps to make this easier than ever for you!
Car Rentals: If you do rent cars look for flex, fuel, and other eco-friendly versions. Rent cars through Turo. They are certified carbon neutral providers.
Sustainable Travel Tips When Packing:
Purchase used gear. There are many great sites where you can buy gently used good quality gear for any upcoming adventures that you might have. GearTrade is one of our favorite used gear websites!
Pack reusable grocery bags that are small and easy to bring with so when you go grocery shopping for clothes shopping at your destination, you can avoid using any plastic bags.
Bring reusable Ziploc bags. These can be used for TSA pre-check for your liquids, but they can also be used for any food storage on the go.
Water bottles continue to be one of the biggest ways sources globally. Some places that you visit might not have easy access to purified water so even a reusable water bottle would not help in this situation. In this case we recommend a lark cleansing UV filtration water bottle to sanitize your water and avoid any bottled sources.
Avoid travel sized toiletry bottles and instead use + refill reusable bottles to eliminate multiple small plastic bottles + single use plastics.
Sustainable Travel Tips When Traveling:
Ask for emailed receipts when eating out and shopping. These are often safer and less difficult to lose and reduce waste.
Grab a trash bag and commit to cleaning up when you see trash out and about.
Watch the towel and linen usage. Reuse your towels and make sure you allow them to dry after use so you don't have to use more towels and create more laundry to wash.
Let the staff know not to clean. Some hotels have small signs you can hang outside your door, or you can request that your room isn't cleaned as often. This reduces water waste used for cleaning.
Do you have any great tips to help reduce our footprint while traveling? Make sure to comment below, as well as sign up for our newsletter for more information on all things travel, team building & retreats!