Green Travel: Best Environmental Travel Options

We all hear the term “global warming” all the time. Over the past few months I have started reading travel stories about how the permanent ice sheet on Mount Kilimanjaro is melting, how the ski resorts in the Alps are going to be closed permanently due to lack of snow, how the mountains are melting. glaciers in the Arctic, how increasingly. More frequent and severe weather disturbances are disrupting tourism, and the stories continue. Some of these stories even exhort us to go now before some of these scenic spots transform or disappear forever. Climate change has now become an issue of concern for global travelers.

Traveling, of course, has environmental consequences. Long-distance travel involves the creation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, airplanes are some of the most intense pollutants that exist today. Furthermore, wherever we go, we consume food and other services, and we generate waste. So what to do?

When it comes to aircraft emissions, there are actually some concrete things that we can do. There are ways to offset greenhouse gas emissions generated by air travel by purchasing trees that will be planted to offset these emissions. At Trees for the Future, your $ 40.00 will actually pay for the planting of 400 trees that will help offset greenhouse gases. You will also receive a global cooling certificate and bumper sticker. You’ll also see a list of partners on their website, including hostels and bed and breakfasts that are powered by renewable energy sources.

Rainforest Alliance actually offers a variety of information to environmentally savvy travelers. They also offer a sustainable tourism certification to tourist establishments that is based on methods to reduce the consumption of water, energy and other resources, and to improve the management, handling and disposal of waste. They even make available to small and medium-sized companies in the tourism industry a set of tools for best sustainable tourism practices.

On its website, the Rainforest Alliance also advocates for a number of simple green behaviors that we can all try to follow:

o Support local economies by seeking out locally owned lodging and food establishments, locally grown food, and locally made products and crafts.

o Sponsor green hotels whose managers have programs that save water and energy.

o Stay on the hiking trails. Clean up your own mess and dispose of waste properly. Stay away from wildlife.

o Travel by public transport as much as possible.

o Avoid vehicles with a two-stroke engine such as jet skis, scooters, and certain boats, which are highly polluting.

o Be culturally sensitive to local customs, greetings, dress codes, and eating habits.

o Treat others with the same respect that you would ask in your own community.

Other green certification programs for tour operators and tips for environmentally savvy consumers include the following websites:

– Choice of Terra

– Green balloon 21

– Environmental choice

– Green stamp

– Global ecolabelling network

– The climate neutral network

Another interesting website is Future Forests: it advocates a “carbon neutral” lifestyle, in order to neutralize our impact on the environment. Future Forests has been testing people with a variety of environmental gifts since 1997. You can dedicate a tree, for example, for $ 10.00. You can even plan carbon-free weddings with Future Forests.

One cool thing about their website is that they offer a really cool carbon emissions calculator that allows you to calculate your anticipated flying or driving emissions. I thought let’s look at this, so I entered some assumed data for a flight from New York City to London, England.

Instantly I discovered that this flight would produce 1.22 tons of CO2. The calculator also tells me that if I dedicate 2 trees I can make this flight carbon neutral. Alternatively you could supply 2 energy saving light bulbs to a small community in the developing world. Both options would cost £ 30. I also checked their carbon emissions driving calculator. If I travel 400 km (250 miles) each week in a car with an engine size between 1.4 and 2 liters, it would generate 4 tons of CO2 per year, which would take 5 trees to compensate.

Besides planting trees, you can also buy “carbon offsets”. A “carbon offset” is actually an investment in a project or action with the goal of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions. Offset projects come in many varieties and can include tree planting or reforestation, building remodeling (i.e. installing more efficient heating / cooling systems), or wind power projects.

According to the Better World Club website, here’s how it works: You can book a flight through Better World Travel – Members and get free carbon offset for your US domestic flight ($ 11 value). The Internet, another travel agency or airline, send them a tax deductible donation to offset the CO2 emissions of your flight. ($ 11 for domestic flights or $ 22 for international flights).

So the good news is, in fact, there are ways to counter the environmental impact that we all have, even while traveling.