Sustainable travel is becoming increasingly important as we strive to reduce our environmental impact while exploring the world.
By following the tips below, you can enjoy your travels while minimising your environmental footprint and at the same time support the local communities you visit.
1. Accommodation
Stay with Servas hosts when travelling. So called homestays – when you stay overnight in other peoples’ home – is one of the most climate smart forms of accommodation. It generates so little carbon dioxide (CO2) gases that it’s considered as "Climate neutral".*
When not staying with Servas members in the global network of hosts: Choose other eco-friendly accommodations, for example other organisations that offer homestays or homeswapping.
When staying at hotels, hostels, or rental properties chose the ones that that have eco-friendly practices such as energy-efficient lighting, recycling programs, and water-saving initiatives.
2. Conscious choice of transportation
Be conscious of your choices when deciding on means of transportation both for getting to – and travelling at – your destination.
According to the aviation company Flygreen you save up to 90% in CO2 emissions if you avoid flying and instead take the train or bus. If you want or must fly, you can use a number of tricks to do it as sustainably as possible by choosing direct flights, the most sustainable airline and make other informed decisions.
When you’ve arrived at your destination: Use public transportations like buses, trains, subways to get around, rather than renting a car. If the distance permits, consider walking or renting a bike.
3. Take less luggage
Each additional kilogram in an airplane means that additional fuel will be consumed. This increased use of fuel translates into additional CO2 emissions. For example, on a flight from Vilnius in Lituania to Dublin in Ireland each kilogram of luggage would mean emitting an additional 1 kg of CO2.
4.Choose direct flights
According to one estimate, every extra kilometre flown costs the planet around 160g CO2 per 1 kilometre per passenger. The negative effect is amplified by the fact that take-offs emit much more CO2 than the other stages of a flight.
5. Make minimal negative local impact
At your travel destination, choose activities that have minimal impact on the environment: opt for hiking, snorkeling, or kayaking, rather than activities that are energy and raw material demanding.
Avoid activities that has negative impact on local culture och cultural monuments. Don’t visit captive wildlife that contribute to habitat destruction.
6. Be aware and educated
Learn about the environmental, cultural and political issues facing the destinations you visit. Respect local customs, cultural identity and traditions, and strive to leave a feeling of understanding and tolerance as a positive impact on the communities you encounter.
7. Support local businesses
Eating at locally-owned restaurants, buying merchandise at small scale shops, artisans and other types of small entrepreneurs, supports the local economy and reduces the carbon footprint associated with large corporations.
8. Minimise your waste
Instead of using single-use plastic bottles, shopping bags and other containers bring your own reusable ones. Freebies like brochures or maps often end up as litter, so avoid taking them unless you really need them.
9. Minimise your use of energy and water
When you leave your accommodation, turn off lights, air conditioning, and heating. When possible take as short showers as possible, since it energy is needed to heat up water. Reuse towels to reduce water usage. If possible, offer to bring your own bed sheets to your Servas host in order to minimise the need for washing up.
10. Consider how to offset your carbon footprint
There are several organisations that offer carbon offset programs, especially in connection with air travel.
You can buy emission rights so that they cannot be used by anyone else. The financial compensation can also be based on giving money, for example, for tree planting or expansion of renewable energy, which replaces fossil energy. When you buy such climate compensation you receive a proof that corresponds to the reduced emissions.
Servas doesn’t have an established policy when it comes to carbon offset programs, but we want you to be aware that the possibility exists and that it’s offered by a variety of different types of climate finance projects and companies and organisations.
We want you to be aware about the criticism of climate compensation. The critics' view is that climate compensation risks taking focus away from efforts to reduce emissions and can become a way to buy oneself out of technological and behavioural changes.
However, there’s also the view that climate compensation can be complementary to supporting a rapid transition towards a climate-smart society and can contribute to companies that have done their homework by investing in renewable energy and in poorer countries' climate measures. The compensation can contribute to climate benefits through the projects that the climate compensator invests in. In addition, other positive side effects can be created, such as access to clean energy for resource-poor groups or restoration of ecosystems.
Sources:
Global Citizen (globalcitizen.org)
The Nature Conservation Association in Sweden (Naturskyddsföreningen)
Canary Green (canarygreen.org)
AY Institute (activeyouth.lt)
* Researchers at the technical university Chalmers in Sweden consider staying at other people’s home – homestay – as a ”Climate neutral” form of lodging. This is thanks to the minimal generation of carbon dioxide (CO2) when you stay at somebody else's home or when you host someone in your home. The researcher make the following assumption: ”The additional climate impact from this accommodation category is negligible and is therefore assumed to be 0 kg per guest night.”
Source: Travel and climate Methodology Report. Version 3.0 (PDF)