The basics of environmentally conscious travel
What is going green and why does it matter?
Going green is a term that I re-purposed to mean being environmentally conscious while traveling, or getting where you’re going while being green. Get it?
Going green matters because pollution, dummy. Not to put a guilt trip on my fellow travelers, but pollution from travel contributes to a plethora of environmental issues. For now, we’ll focus on two of the biggest issues – climate change and waste – some of the ways that travel contributes to them and how you can reduce your impact.
Climate Change
You may have heard of something called climate change, the disaster formerly known as global warming. For those of you living under a mound of rocks, climate change refers to the increase in Earth’s average temperature caused by humans pumping heat-retaining gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, into the atmosphere. These heat-retaining gases are known as greenhouse gases or GHGs for short.
That definition doesn’t sound very scary but the extra heat trapped in the atmosphere from climate change is causing sea-level rise, more frequent extreme weather events, severe droughts, more frequent and more intense wildfires, massive loss of wildlife, threats to iconic tourist destinations, and a whole mess of other issues. It’s a big, big problem and the aviation industry isn’t helping. Air travel is responsible for an estimated 4.9% of global warming world-wide and GHG emissions from the industry are increasing rapidly as travel becomes more accessible and popular.
Waste
Single-use items like those cups and utensils that you use on planes, are often made of plastic. Those items are so prevalent and so poorly disposed of that there is a floating mass of plastic in the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of France. This patch, and four others like it across the world, entangle wildlife and and pieces of plastic from them are inadvertently swallowed by surface feeders like whales and sea turtles, exposing them to plastic’s toxins. Airlines aren’t particularly thoughtful about their role in the single-use bonanza. In fact, they throw away (i.e., do not recycle) four million plastic cups every day. To see what that many cups looks like, check out the first ten minutes of this TED Talk from Chris Jordan.
Like airlines, Americans in general aren’t great about recycling which means that a lot of our plastics end up in landfills. In fact, trashed plastics accounted for 12% of our solid waste in landfills in 2008. And that brings us right back to climate change. Landfills produce 14.1% of methane gas emissions in the US, and given that methane is a GHG, that means that the single-use items that you use while traveling contribute to climate change. As we continue to consuming single-use items, our landfills are showing no signs of slowing their growth, or their GHG emissions.
These environmental catastrophes are devastating natural habitats and wildlife, and are an existential threat to humanity. So, not great.
Whoa. Okay, I’m terrified and convinced that going green is important. How do I do it?
Great question. You can make a bunch of small changes to be a little greener when you travel. I’ve picked a few below to get you started.
Purchase Carbon Offsets: Carbon offsets are investments in projects that lower CO2 emissions. With sites like Atmosfair, you can calculate your personal carbon emissions from your flights and invest in one of their programs to offset your emissions. While an imperfect solution for reasons briefly covered in the An Airplane’s Footprint post, carbon offsets are one of the few options for offsetting your emissions from air travel.
Get a collapsible water bottle: Collapsible water bottles are easy to pack and save you from having to buy bottled water in the airport. I love the Kemier Silicone Bottle and it’s only $11.95.
Bring your own cup and utensils: Instead of getting a cup from your flight attendant, ask them to fill one of your reusable, collapsible cups like these ones from ME.FAN. You can also ask your flight attendants to keep their plastic utensils and use these bamboo utensils instead. They come in a compact travel pouch and easily fit into a carry on, though it’s best to leave the knife at home to avoid issues with the security screening.
Carry a collapsible, reusable shopping bag: Avoid single-use plastic bags when traveling by bringing your own reusable bag. There are plenty of good options out there but this one from Cruise On is durable and folds to fit into your pocket, making it easy to pack and carry with you throughout your trip.
Use eco-friendly hotels and tour operators: When booking your trip, check to see if your hotel and tour operators have green certifications from trustworthy organizations. The easiest way that I know of to find green hotels is by searching “green hotels” on TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor has their GreenLeaders Program which works with the UN Environment Program, Energy Star, and the US Green Building Council to certify environmentally friendly practices. There are many other reputable certifications out there like EarthCheck and Green Globe but not all certifications are equivalent, so do some research to ensure that hotels or operators are truly green before booking.
This is great. How can I do more?
Follow the Going Green blog and check back often for tips, resources, and green trip itineraries.
I’d love to hear from you! Send in your own green travel tips, itineraries, feedback, post ideas, and questions to goinggreentravelblog@gmail.com.
Sources
NASA, BBC, NPR, Time, The Guardian, Green Matters, CNN, Transport & Environment, Vox, The Ocean Cleanup, TED Talks-Chris Jordan, Case University-Tarique Zaman, EPA, Defenders of Wildlife, The United Nations
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