Fortunately, making sustainable choices has become easier and more affordable than one might expect. There are many simple ways we can limit our environmental impact, and better support and engage with local communities during our upcoming trips. To help make it easier for everyone to travel more sustainably, Booking.com shares 7 handy tips for making a positive impact on your next trip, when it’s safe to do so again.
Choose a Permanent Housing Option
Choosing a more permanent place to stay for your next trip is a great place to start—and it doesn’t have to mean spending a lot of money. There are plenty of sustainable options for every budget and taste. Recent research shows that 98 percent of Indian travelers say that they want to live in permanent accommodation in the coming year. One of the easiest ways to book a more sustainable property with confidence is to check and see if it has an established eco-label or third-party sustainability certification.
get off the beaten track
The pandemic has prompted Indian travelers to avoid popular destinations and attractions to ensure they are not contributing to overcrowding. Being careful when choosing your next trip can help reduce over-tourism, which can be a major issue for fragile environments, ecosystems, and local communities.
Goodbye, plastic!
Limiting single-use plastics is arguably one of the biggest environmental challenges we face. Many properties have taken a number of steps to reduce or eliminate single-use plastics from their operations, but travelers can choose to use reusable water bottles instead of buying plastic water bottles or replace their favorite ones while on vacation. You can also take simple steps like packing reusable toiletry bottles. Products from home.
Book Virtue Activities That Give Back to the Community
When planning activities for your trip, look for tour companies that give back to and empower the local community, and also engage in ethical tourism practices.
Pick up an item of trash when you leave
A good rule of thumb for traveling more sustainably is to try and leave places where you see them better than when you meet them. An easy way to do this is to pick up a discarded piece of trash that isn’t yours when you leave the house – a small but important step in taking care of our environment. And every action counts – picking up one piece of plastic on the beach means one less piece ending up in the ocean.
buy locally
When you travel, one of the best ways to support the local economy and limit your carbon footprint is to shop locally and eat from street vendors or restaurants that use sustainably sourced produce. . Avoid eating at popular fast-food chains that usually import products from around the world.
Bring good habits with you on vacation
A sustainable first step can be as simple as remembering to take those mindful habits from home when you travel. While switching on LED light fixtures or having keycard controlled power in the room are not things you can control as a guest, travelers can make sure they turn off the lights when they leave their room. Pay taxes, reuse your towels or skip daily linen changes and be more mindful of the length of showers they take.
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