The word sustainability has grown and made its place in the lives of the people in the last decade where the awareness about being sustainable across every domain is increasing and as far as travel is concerned, every small step towards a leisure trip leaves a huge impact on the environment in the form of carbon footprints. There are many ways in which you can make your relaxing trip even more relaxing by helping save the environment, one step at a time.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Shivaprasad, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Uppercase, suggested the following few tips on how you can travel sustainably:
– Use environmentally friendly sustainable gears, there are many brands nowadays which are working towards using plastic bottles to make travel luggage. Explore such options.
– Instead of buying plastic bottles, carry your own water bottle which can be refilled.
– Travel light, do not pack your entire wardrobe for a few days of trip.
– Try to travel by train or by road as far as you can, because as we all know, airplanes leave huge carbon footprints.
According to Anirudh Gupta, Co-Founder of Climes, any and all travel comes with a carbon footprint and this extends to choice of transport, the food and beverages we consume during travel, as well as emissions from our stay. He said, “Even people who are typically mindful of their everyday footprint, tend to emit more during travel because they consume more than they would in their daily lives. Increased consumption, while it is great for the economy, comes at a cost to the planet. Tourism is responsible for roughly 8% of all global greenhouse emissions.”
He highlighted, “While system level changes are preferred, they are also long-drawn. In the meanwhile, it is up to individuals to consciously choose sustainable alternatives, wherever available and whenever possible. There are already a number of sustainable options available, but some travel brands stand out from the crowd. Some travel companies have taken the bold step to be transparent about the carbon footprint of their services and offer their customers the option to neutralise these emissions at checkout. A sustainably inclined traveler can now experience an almost entirely carbon neutral vacation, should they choose more of these climate-friendly solutions.”