How to explore the world in an eco-friendly way, here are some tips by the Guide me Green team!
Sometimes it can be hard to surf through all the holiday deals and offers when looking for vacations. Planning for sustainable holidays can be even harder. What does sustainability actually mean? Which offers are actually sustainable and what should I do to explore the world in an eco-friendly way? The GMG team is here to give you some tips!
If you feel a bit lost when it comes to sustainability you can refer to the sustainable tourism development guidelines and management practice. These sustainability principles refer to the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability.
Sustainable tourism should:
1.
Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity.
2.
Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance.
3.
Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.
Now that the concept is clearer, let’s have a look at some tips to respect all of them!
- Minimize you waste: when travelling you should always mind the trash you leave behind. Not only should you pay attention to waste disposal, you should also try to avoid plastic usage. When going on trips avoid for example disposable plastic straws and water bottles. It is a good habit instead to bring a flask with you and some reusable container for your food. Not only will you save money on take away, you will always have fresh water with you whether you are on a hike or visiting some old monument!
- Avoid mass tourism destinations: holidays are meant to be relaxing. Especially if you are running away from the crowded streets of your hometown, it does not make any sense to end up in an overcrowded location that are usually also more pricy. Mass tourism is not only bad for your nerves but also for local communities that suffer from the overexploitation of their territories and witness every year hordes of tourist being loud and leaving a lot of trash behind. By choosing unusual destinations, you will have the chance to foster less known areas and local communities and enjoy yourself even more. L’Avenc tavertet is a great example of how tourism and destinations can benefit from tourist without damaging the local resources and negatively affecting the local communities
- Choose ecological restaurants or visit organic farms: there is no doubt that trying new foods is a big part of the travel experience. If you really want to embrace the local cuisine, why not choose ecological restaurants? These mostly make use of biological, km0 products or even self-grown products that best represent the tradition and resources that the location you are visiting has to offer. Another example could be visiting organic farms; many of them also offer accommodation and workshops on local products, which can add up even more to your holiday experience. You can explore many of these options on the webpage of WWOOF provides.
- Support the local business: when buying souvenirs avoid buying useless amenities and explore the local shops! Try to support the artisans of the area you are visiting or buy traditional delicacies. By doing so, you will most likely find unique traditional pieces and products!
- Mind your means of transportation:when travelling long distance you should consider in advance which means of transport is more sustainable. For example, if possible, you should avoid flying and use busses or trams. If you are moving by car, you can think of reducing your impact and transportation costs by using car-sharing options. Once you reach your destination, you can rent a bike or do a walking tour. This way not only will you be able to enjoy your destination even more, but you will also save some money and do some extra exercise! If you prefer green means of transportation like the bike in some cases, you could even benefits from free accommodation if you sign up to some platforms like “Warmshowers”.
- Book eco-tours: for lovers of organized excursions, choose companies that offer ecological tours. This ranges from responsible tourism practices with animals, to plastic-free excursions, and tours with special care and respect for the environment. There are many platforms that help you find these kind of offers, an example is Ecotour Albania that helps you organize eco-friendly activities around the country.
On the whole, these are just afew examples of things you can do to travel more sustainable, this list could go on and on for really long! If you want to gather more ideas on sustainable travel or want some more concrete examples, or if you want to find out more about practices like L’Avenc tavertet, WWOOF, Warmshowers, Ecotour Albania and many more you can go and have a look at the Guide Me Green Manual on Good Practices!