After years on the sidelines, sustainable travel has made its way to the

forefront of the travel industry. Environmentally friendly travel is now one of

the fastest-growing movements in the industry, and I, for one, welcome this
trend. It’s an incredibly important topic that I’ve been writing about for
years.

After all, why destroy what you love? No one wants to see paradise paved
over. We all cringe when we return to an overdeveloped, polluted destination.
None of us want to contribute to that.

Being an eco-friendly traveler is simply being a respectful traveler.

As we strive to become more environmentally conscious, the questions for

travelers become:

Just how do we “green” our travels?

What can we do to lower our carbon footprint as we travel the world?

How can we better interact with the communities we visit?

What changes can we make that are actually helpful?

Flight shaming people is not the answer, but do we all just stay home and
quit traveling?

Fortunately, there’s actually a lot we can do as travelers to reduce our

ecological footprint while contributing to the sustainability of the communities
we visit.

Here are 13 concrete ways to reduce your environmental impact as a traveler:

 

1. Stay Close to Home

Though the exotic is always appealing, travel doesn’t have to be about going
somewhere far away. Travel is the art of exploration and discovery — and that
can just as well be nearby. Find somewhere close to home you haven’t been,
get in your car (or better yet, take the bus), and go visit. You never know what
you’ll come across!

2. Make Greener Transportation Choices

If you can, try to travel by train or bus. Not only does this reduce your carbon
footprint but companies like FlixBus, Megabus, and Greyhound always have
some cheap tickets, so you can save money too.

And when traveling by car, consider offering rides to other travelers to lower
your collective emissions and cut costs. Many people will be happy to chip in
for gas if it saves them time, which means you can save money and lower
your carbon footprint at the same time. Win-win! That will cut your per-person
transportation emissions in half (if not more). Use platforms
like BlaBlaCar, Couchsurfing, and Craigslist to find rideshares near you.