Things Travellers Do Without Realising How Bad It Is For Our Sexy Planet

travel environmental impact

Travelling the world is a rite of passage – if you don’t do it, you risk becoming a grandma who regrets a whole lot more than her unexpected wee-laugh at bingo.


But seriously, it’s really important that you’re not a numnut while galivanting the world. Every lil’ decision can have major impact, so keep reading to see how you can ensure the calls you make are good ones.

STOP BUYING DAMN WATER BOTTLES

According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 771,800 Aussies are venturing to Europe annually, each using an average of 3 x plastic water bottles a day. If your holiday’s two weeks, for example, you’re contributing to roughly 32 million empty bottles a year.

It’s important to stay hydrated while travelling the world, don’t get me wrong, and I know heaps of people are now conscious enough to be on the reusable bottle train. However, there are still so many countries where it’s unsafe to drink from the tap (it’s only safe to drink the water in 58% of European countries), with many’a savaged toilet bowls living to tell the tale.

Contiki has a Contiki Cares bottle as part of their commitment to sustainable travel, which is foldable (so it’s not a punish to lug it around) and has an in-built filtration system (so you can drink water from any tap in the world). That’s pretty neat. Get more info + be notified once they’re available for purchase by heading here.

EASE UP ON THE TOWEL CLEANING

So you’re staying in the same hotel / hostel / motel for a couple of days. Hoorah. That doesn’t mean you need to be supplied with a fresh, clean towel for your showering needs every day. Do you use a new towel every day at home? I’m guessing not.

I know you’re on holiday and all, but contributing to the bulk washing of these towels wastes a ton of water unnecessarily. Don’t be that person. Take note of the bathroom signage and follow their prompts – it’s usually that communicating your need for a fresh towel is putting your old one on the floor. Act accordingly.

travelling environmental impact

CHILL OUT ON THE ELECTRICITY  USAGE

The only thing worse than betting actual money on who will win The Bachelor is leaving electricity on unnecessarily. Don’t do that. Why are you doing that? Just because you’re not paying the electricity bill, it doesn’t make it OK to leave things like lights and aircon on when you leave for the day. The same goes for charging your phones and cameras – once they’re charged, they’re charged. Turn the switch off. Take it out of the powerpoint. It’s not rocket science.


BE CONSIDERATE OF YOUR FOOTPRINT

There’s a lot of travel involved with, um, travel. Make good decisions where you can. How? Trade in the hire car for a bus, bike or hike. It’s this kind of choice that means you can mingle with the locals and actually slow down to experience your surroundings anyway, so it’s kind of win-win.

If you’re doing a travel group like Contiki, don’t freak out – coach travel is actually the greenest travel option with 5 x less carbon dioxide emissions, per passenger per km, than a plane on the same route. For every coach, there’s also 16 fewer cars on the road. Contiki coaches are actually the greenest on the road too – the air that comes out of the engines is actually cleaner than the air that goes in. How ’bout that.

BE KIND YOU LOT.

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