by Zero Co 07/02/2023
Sponsored Content, Travel
This is a sponsored article from SustainabilityTracker.com member Zero Co.
From choosing greener transportation to supporting local businesses, we’ll help you reduce your carbon footprint while still having a fantastic time on holiday. Let’s do it!
The new year is the most prime of times to start making plans and setting goals for the months ahead and if travel is at the top of your wish list for 2023, team Zero Co are right there with you! As more and more people are choosing to prioritise sustainability in their daily lives, it’s important to also consider the environmental impact of our travel and time on holiday.
That’s why we’ve put together a list of 4 sustainable travel tips to help you have an eco-friendly holiday. From choosing greener transportation to supporting local businesses, we’ll help you reduce your carbon footprint while still having a fantastic time on holiday. Let’s do it!
Sustainable travel incorporates environmentally, culturally, and economically responsible practices to your travel. This means minimising your negative impact on the places you visit, while also protecting the natural and cultural heritage of the region. By adopting a sustainable approach to travelling, we’ll be able to place pressure on the tourism sector to adopt sustainable consumption and production.
Becoming a sustainable traveller begins in the planning portion of your holiday, from the comfort of your couch, you can make some easy choices that will help to minimise your carbon footprint before you set out on your adventure. From what to pack to how you can travel around, here are our 4 tips for sustainable travelling.
While many hotels may provide toiletries for your stay, often they come wrapped in single-use plastic and may be mass-produced containing nasty chemicals. Eliminate the need for these by creating your own eco-friendly toiletries kit. Decant your Zero Co shampoo, conditioner, body wash and body lotion into smaller, reusable bottles, pack reusable makeup wipes and use toothpaste pellets to cut down on waste whilst on the go. Taking a small amount of laundry liquid is always a great idea, too (you never know when you might need it!).
You can also minimise your plastic consumption by packing a reusable bag, water bottle, cutlery set and coffee cup with you. Nothing says I’m relaxing and helping the planet like sipping your piña colada through a reusable straw!
Many people find that sustainable accommodation provides a more peaceful and authentic travel experience, offering a greater sense of connection to the local community and environment. A sustainable home incorporates eco-friendly practices into your stay, like using renewable energy sources, facilitating waste reduction through composting and avoiding anything single-use by offering refilled household products that won’t harm the environment. By reducing the environmental impact of your stay, you can contribute to the long-term sustainability of the region you’re so lucky to be exploring – how good! If you’re planning your next getaway in Australia, take a look at the long list of Sustainable Stays that align with Zero Co’s planet-loving values and are kicking environmental goals with every stay.
A large part of being a sustainable traveller is considering your carbon emissions via the transport you take from A to B. Minimising your impact can be simple with thoughtful forward planning or structuring your holiday around alternative modes of transportation.
Walk – Free Tour offers budget and free guided walking tours in over 120 countries that allow you to see and experience your destination through the eyes of a local. Not only are you reducing your footprint to almost zero by walking, but your guide will be able to recommend great options for dining and entertainment that may not have made it into the guidebooks, giving you the most authentic experience possible.
Cycle – Popular tourist destinations like Melbourne, Paris, Amsterdam and most wine regions are extremely bike-friendly, and you’ll find it’s a popular mode of transport with the locals too. Bike and scooter rentals are widely available in most capital cities, so you can plan your day and sightseeing around linking up between each of the rental stations, or book an entire luxury bike tour and cycling vacation through companies like Trek Travel.
Drive – Driving may be an unavoidable part of getting from A to B while on holidays. Thankfully, all major car rental companies have shown a real shift towards greener practices by offering both hybrid and electric cars as a part of their fleet. Both Hertz and Enterprise have now switched to using non-toxic, waterless wash solutions to clean their cars once you return them to the depot, drastically reducing unnecessary water wastage.
Air travel is one of the leading producers of carbon emissions, however, sometimes, it’s unavoidable. Whether it’s due to time restraints or you’re planning an international trip, you can offset your emissions through any of these Aussie companies:
It’s important to note that while carbon offsetting can be a useful way to mitigate the impact of your air travel, it’s not a substitute for reducing your overall carbon emissions. Consider combining carbon offsetting with other measures when you arrive at your destination.
Vibrant local produce and authentic cuisine are two of the joys you will experience while travelling. Make the most of local produce markets and street food vendors when planning your meals during your trip. By doing so you will be directly supporting local farmers and business owners, consuming seasonal produce and experiencing amazing cuisine without the tourist-trap price tag.
When shopping for souvenirs or gifts to bring home, ask yourself what will bring more joy in the years to come, a mass-produced statue or a beautifully hand-woven item made by a local artisan? If you do a little digging, you can experience amazing craft markets and galleries showcasing local talents who provide culturally authentic and sustainable trinkets for you to cherish.
If you’d like to take it one step further and really give back to the local community during your travels, you can consider WWOOFing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). This allows you to immerse yourself in local culture, spend time outdoors and be involved in organic, sustainable and local agricultural work while on holiday. From beekeeping to winemaking and picking every fruit under the sun, WWOOFing is available in over 132 countries, so your possibilities are endless.
Did you know that by using Zero Co’s reusable products, you are actively helping to fund cleanup projects around the world and pull rubbish out of our natural environment? We use the HDPE plastic collected at cleanups to make our reusable Forever Bottles that you can keep and refill at your place, forever. That feels good, right?
You can read more about our mission on our profile. In the meantime…happy travelling!
To date, Zero Co has removed over 3,407,761 water bottles worth of rubbish from our planet and stopped the equivalent of 2,132,596 water bottles from being made, used once and thrown away. We do what we do to ensure our planet stays plastic-free and beautiful, so future generation travellers can enjoy the natural beauty that we have on our own adventures. So whilst you’re on holiday, we’ll continue to Untrash the Planet.
This is an article from a SustainabilityTracker.com Member. The views and opinions we express here don’t necessarily reflect our organisation.
