She suggests that travelers actively look at venues' sustainability pages online and determine if there is transparent wording around measuring their environmental and community impacts. Look for a robust and comprehensive sustainability action plan that is thoroughly detailed on the website rather than one that simply alludes to vague efforts.

Many hotels also publish annual sustainability reports; if these reports are easily found on the hotel's website, that's a good indication of a solid sustainability strategy.

The more information they have, the more transparent and legitimate. There are also a variety of hotel sustainability certifications. Green Globes has a list of 44 criteria that hotels must meet to achieve certification, related to factors such as project management, energy, water, and emissions.

EarthCheck is another popular certification for hotels and can signal to consumers that a property is meeting environmental and social-responsibility standards.

And more travel companies are pursuing and achieving B Corp certification , a private certification of for-profit companies noted for their social and environmental performance.

This "is really exciting," O'Connor said. She noted that hotels such as La Sultana Marrakech and the Sovena Group offer great examples of such website language. Another way to help lower carbon emissions is to power your own activities and transportation where possible instead of opting for carbon-emission-generating activities like motorcycling or off-road-vehicle riding.

They are far more rewarding, too. Indeed, when you walk or otherwise power your own adventure, you produce no harmful carbon emissions. Comparatively, motorized activities use a total of 2. Human-powered activities will also help you learn about a place as you move around it at a slower pace, which puts you in the position for unexpected discoveries.

It's also great exercise and works up your appetite to try all the local cuisine. One of the best parts of travel is enjoying the unique character of the local environment, and focusing your spending on the local economy can be good for the environment, too, experts said.

O'Connor recommends avoiding hotels and resorts that are designed to keep travelers within the property walls and don't appear to have a relationship with neighboring communities.

A great addition to any itinerary is engaging in community-based tourism activities, O'Connor said. This ensures authenticity and helps you avoid participating in cultural exploitation.

For example, you might take a cooking class with a local or bring home a souvenir from a local artisan. Each effort, small or big, helps. Ordering locally sourced dishes off the menu is a "small, sustainable action that will add local flavor and authenticity to your trip," O'Connor said.

And you may want to consider reducing your meat intake within a healthy diet. Global greenhouse-gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice as high as those from non-animal-based foods, according to a study published in Nature.

While shopping locally benefits the local community, you can reduce your impact further by opting out of some purchases altogether. Keyes advised "getting out of the mindset of thinking of travel as an excuse for purchases, especially little trinkets and souvenirs.

We don't need that. In the world shut down, countries closed their borders, and life as we knew it changed dramatically. But as we slowly and cautiously begin to emerge from the chaos and challenges of , we, as a species, have a once-in-a-generation chance to reassess, reset and restart; and where better to start than with travel?

While the tourism and travel industry accounted for Like so many aspects of life as we knew it, post-pandemic travel needs to change—and that change must be sustainable. The opportunity to re-imagine tourism to become more sustainable would be beneficial on almost every level.

For the host community, income generated from visitors stays within the community and helps develop infrastructure and standards of living, as well as preserve cultural values and traditions.

It is a win-win situation for everyone involved, and something that can be achieved with these sustainable and eco-friendly travel tips. So what if you could change the world just by changing the way you travel? Well, you can! You can also become a Sustainability Member with Bound International.

This organization provides critical sustainable travel tips, instructional videos, country profiles, and an advocacy guide for when you return home. Do study abroad and do it right!

If you must fly, carbon offset your flight with a reliable provider. You can even offset your carbon for bus and train routes!

There are countless organizations offering carbon offsetting schemes for travelers. However, you should look into which specific projects are supported, and whether these projects are actually sustainable. Two ethical and certified carbon offsetting companies, which calculate CO2 emissions very accurately, include atmosfair and myclimate.

Instead, check out airlines like KLM, Lufthansa, and American Airlines, who are actively investing into clean, biofuel technology.

Lufthansa has operated over 1, biofuel flights to date between Hamburg and Frankfurt, whilst KLM became the first airline in the world to carry passengers on a commercial biofuel flight from Amsterdam to Paris in Biofuels are made up of plant oils, agricultural waste, and wood chips.

Whilst we are talking about respect, ask locals whether you can take their photos before snapping a shot of them. Not only does this relax them and increase your chances of getting a smile from the person you are photographing, it also shows that you value and respect the person in front of the lens.

To avoid contributing towards even more plastic waste, one of our favorite eco-friendly travel tips is to invest in a reusable water bottle. Plastic waste might not be an issue in countries like Germany and Switzerland, but developing countries like Cambodia and Vietnam are truly suffering from uncontrollable plastic garbage in oceans and waterways, and on beaches.

One of the easiest sustainable travel tips? When buying gifts for your family and friends, be sure to buy at small local stores to support the local economy.

The same goes for eating out. So when you are travelling, eat as few animal products as possible. Of course, you don't have to limit this to your holiday alone. It makes a huge difference if you eat less or no animal products at home, too. Have you ever seen those pictures of travellers posing with tigers?

The tigers are semi-sedated and often live in poor maintained cages. Also, skip the elephant rides. Elephant rides are one of the worst tourist attractions in the industry. Wild animals are wild for a reason and are not suitable to serve as a tourist attraction.

The only way the serve as an attraction is when you see them in the wild. Take your own shower products with you in reusable bottles, so you don't have to use your hotel's mini shampoos and body lotions.

This way you don't add to the pile of waste at your holiday destination. Bring your own water bottles that you can refill and bring your own bags so you can say no to plastic!

Are you already travelling green? And do you have any more tips to add to this list? Toggle navigation The flight search engine that offsets your flight's CO2 emissions for free. Compare More Flights Also Compare Hotels Car Rentals Train tickets Sustainable Guides Offset CO2 CO2 Calculator Offset Flight Login Login Register English EN English Nederlands Country Settings United States United Kingdom Canada.

In this blogpost. Why would you want to travel eco-friendly. If you do fly: offset your CO2-emissions. Get economy class and pack light. Travel with sustainable, eco-friendly or fairtrade travel agencies.

Never, ever, do something touristy with wild animals. Bring your own bags, bottles and eco-friendly products. Respond to this article 6 responses in total. By Peter Harvey , 6 months ago.

I feel that the measures you have pointed out only go a small way. Encourage people to see the bigger picture.