Travel takes us out of our comfort zones and inspires us to see, taste and try new things.
It constantly challenges us, not only to adapt to and explore new surroundings, but also to engage with different people, to embrace adventures as they come and to share new and meaningful experiences with friends and loved ones.
Travel enriches our lives, as it shows us to appreciate what we have and creates respect towards different cultures and lives. It forces us to refocus on what really matters.
Air travel emissions increased by 32% in recent years
If emissions continue to grow, sea levels could rise by up to 3.6 feet by 2100
Severe coral bleaching is now happening 5x more frequently than in past decades
Alpine resorts could lose up to 70% of their snow cover by the end of the century
Tourism is responsible for roughly 8% of the world’s carbon emissions.
From plane flights and cruises to souvenirs and lodging, various activities contribute to tourism’s carbon footprint.
The majority of this footprint is emitted by visitors from high-income countries, with U.S. travelers at the top of the list.
As the number of people who can afford to travel grows, so will tourism’s environmental footprint.
So how to proceed? We all want to travel, and we would like for our children and grandchildren to be able to travel as well.
With the impacts of climate change becoming increasingly evident, we all -together- have to take our responsibility and take action to reduce the industry’s reliance on fossil fuels.
New technologies are being developed, but we also have to change our behavior and the choices we make to lessen travel’s carbon footprint.
Be aware of these facts when you are looking to book a flight.
Cruise ships are a catastrophe for the environment. They are worse for the climate than flying. Even the most efficient cruise ships emit 3 to 4 times more carbon dioxide per passenger-mile than a jet.
Simply Google and you find articles similar to these from the Guardian or Euronews.travel, who explain why these emissions are so high.
Obviously, cruise companies want you to still book their cruises and spend your money with them. So they all have protocols on how they try to be sustainable. They are working on it, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, most is Greenwashing.
Until some serious improvements are made in the cruise industry, it would be better to choose other ways to travel.
To help you select a place to stay, we have handpicked sustainable hotels you might like.
When you are a visitor to a new place, consider that you are voting with your “money and feet and wallet,”.
A walking vacation, starting from your front door, is probably the most sustainable way to travel. And although it is a great way to see and enjoy your own area, we also like a change of scenery sometimes and travel further away. Reducing travel emissions is always the best option to minimize your Carbon-offset.
For the travel emissions you are still producing, you can support a program that helps take CO2 out of our air.
But first, let’s calculate how much your travel emission is:
