Green Travel - Better Environmental Travel Choices
We all hear the term “global warming” all the time.
During recent months I have started to read travel stories how the
permanent ice cap of Mount Kilimanjaro is melting, how ski resorts in
the Alps are going to be closing permanently due to lack of snow fall,
how glaciers are melting in the Arctic, how increasingly more frequent
and severe weather disturbances are disrupting tourism, and on and on
the stories go. Some of these stories even exhort us to go now before
some of these scenic places will be transformed or gone forever. Climate
change has now become an issue of concern for global travelers.
Travel, of course, has environmental consequences. Long-distance travel
involves the creation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases,
airliners are some of the most intense pollutants in existence today. In
addition, wherever we go, we consume food and other services, and we
create waste. So what to do?
As far as airplane emissions are concerned, there are actually a few
concrete things we can do. There are ways of offsetting the greenhouse
gas emissions generated by air travel by means of purchasing trees that
will be planted to offset these emissions. At Trees for the Future, your
US 40.00 will actually pay for the planting of 400 trees which will help
offset greenhouse gases. You will also get a Global Cooling Certificate
and bumper sticker. On their website you will also see a list of
partners, including lodges and bed and breakfasts that are powered by
renewable energy sources.
The Rainforest Alliance actually offers a variety of information to
eco-savvy travelers. They also offer a sustainable tourism certification
to tourism establishments which is based on methods for reducing the
consumption of water, energy and other resources, and to improve the
management, handling and disposal of waste. They even make a toolkit for
best sustainable tourism practices available for small and medium
enterprises in the tourism industry.
On their website, the Rainforest Alliance also advocates a number of
simple eco-friendly behaviors that we can all try to follow:
• Support local economies by seeking out locally owned lodging and
dining establishments, locally grown food and locally manufactured
products and crafts.
• Patronize green hotels whose managers have programs that save water
and energy.
• Stay on hiking trails. Clean up your own mess and dispose of waste
properly. Keep a distance from wildlife.
• Travel by mass transit as much as possible.
• Avoid vehicles with two-stroke engines such as jet skis, scooters and
certain boats, which are enormously polluting.
• Be culturally sensitive to local customs, greetings, dress codes and
food habits.
• Treat others with the same respect that you would ask for in your own
community.
Other eco-certification programs for tourism operators and tips for
eco-savvy consumers include the following websites:
- Terra Choice
- Green Globe 21
- Environmental Choice
- Green Seal
- The 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 have been proving people with a variety of
environmental gifts since 1997. You can dedicate a tree, for example,
for $10.00. You can even plan carbon-neutral weddings with Future
Forests.
One neat 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 check this out,
so I entered some assumed data for a flight from New York City to
London, England.
Instantaneously I found out that this flight would produce 1.22 tonnes
of CO2. The calculator also tells me if I dedicate 2 trees I can make
this flight carbon neutral. Alternatively I would be able to supply 2
energy saving light bulbs to a small community in the developing world.
Both options would be £30. I also checked their carbon emissions driving
calculator. If I travel 400 km (250 miles) every week in a car with an
engine size between 1.4 and 2 litres, I would generate 4 tonnes of CO2 a
year, which would take 5 trees to offset.
In addition to planting trees, you can also purchase “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 may include tree planting or reforestation,
building retrofits (i.e. installing more efficient heating/cooling
systems) or wind power projects.
According to the Better World Club's website, this is the way it works:
you can book a flight through Better World Travel - Members and get a
free carbon offset for their US domestic flight ($11 value.) If you book
a flight through the Internet, another travel agency or airline, send
them a tax-deductible donation to offset the CO2 emissions from your
flight. ($11 for domestic flights or $22 for international flights.)
So the good news is there are indeed ways of counterbalancing the
environmental impact that we all have, even while we travel.
About the author
Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions(http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.