How to reduce your ecological impact when traveling?

Do you want to reduce your ecological impact when traveling without compromising your desire for adventure? At home and on the road, our choices and behaviors have an impact on the environment. Whether it is through the food and water we consume, the products we buy or the waste and the carbon dioxide we reject, our journey on Earth leaves traces. A great trip is not an excuse to let go of one’s responsibilities, on the contrary. Several ways have been imagined to relieve both the Earth and your consciousness.

3 Ways to Reduce your ecological impact when traveling

Drinking water

In some parts of the world, water quality is a daily concern for travelers who want to maintain their health. It is tempting to consume only bottled water to minimize the risks that would never be consumed at home. However, it is possible to add a treatment to sanitize the water: disinfectant pellets, chlorination, microfiltration, UV treatment, straw-filter, etc. Sometimes you have to consider the availability of freshwater in a particular place. Taking a shower daily does not have the same impact in Iceland as in the Sahara. A good strategy is to align its practices and consumption with the local population, for a while.

The food

The way we eat has multiple impacts on the environment. Agriculture not only occupies a large area but also consumes a lot of fresh water, fossil fuels and often chemicals such as fertilizers or pesticides that have a lasting impact on soils and surface water. Added to this is the processing, transport and distribution of food that often requires water and energy at all stages.

To reduce its environmental footprint to level the power, you are advised to eat fruits and local vegetables and season, favoring a diet low in meat and fish and avoiding prepared and overpackaged dishes. Finally, you can minimize the waste of food by never ordering more than necessary and always having a container with you to win the leftover food.

Waste

At home and on the road, travelers can adopt effective reduction strategies inspired by the zero-waste approach, in this order:

• Refuse anything that is not useful to you, that you do not intend to keep or use. If it is a gift and it would be wrong to refuse it, consider giving it as a gift further down the road, to keep the gift chain alive and happy.
• Reduce the content of your backpack by deliberately choosing your material, with durable and versatile objects. Also reduce packaging by refueling at markets, halls, bulk warehouses and organic stores. Consider renting or borrowing equipment rather than buying it if you use it very occasionally
• Reuse containers, bottles and bags that you could not do without. Go to washable and reusable hygienic products (cups, napkins, tissues). Always have your flask or goblet with you.
• Recycle to the extent of local infrastructure. Remind yourself that these sometimes differ greatly from those you are accustomed to and value upcycling projects with a social purpose.
• Compost where possible your organic waste.

We were on a trip recently, exploring San Francisco California. We noticed while site seeing throughout the city, a towing company that was working really hard to reduce its environmental impact on the environment. San Francisco Bay Area Towing was really working on their vehicles to reduce emissions. If you visit their site at https://www.sfcitytowing.com, they talk about their vehicles and some of the precautionary measures they take to protect the future of this planet, while providing their valuable services to San Francisco CA.

If you travel year around, you should know that traveling in winter is best for the environment because not as many people are traveling. The pollution in the air is not as critical; so the environment has an easier time of consuming the greenhouse gases. As far as an ecological impact, you will be inside more often, so there wont be as much happening in the outside environment.