ARTICLE 2 OF 2
The Part 2 of this campaign is a composite article on Travelling Responsibly, that shares ideas, stories and solutions by some of the coolest brands and people that we have come across!
Read about what they suggest and/or are doing in order to limit their environmental impact and suggest this to other travelers.
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Zostel
Live It. Now.
Eco-friendly Campaign – #ITravelGreen
Zostel is run by a bunch of backpackers and free thinkers who acknowledge that our Earth is wilting under the effects of global warming. We thus encourage travellers to take Zostel’s #ITravelGreen pledge of becoming eco travellers. It is all about doing your little part in healing the Earth by reducing waste, turning it into brick bottles, saving electricity and water, picking up waste from trails as you hike, and so on. Our on-ground team of volunteers and managers also promote responsible travel with activities like tree plantation, small clean up hikes & workshops on eco-travel, which we only plan to take it a level up from here.
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Trippy Wheels
A Caravan Rental Compan
We encourage our travelers to;
- Not disturb the surrounding ecosystem; music, lights, waste, encroaching, scent etc.
- Not litter anywhere and dispose waste at designated areas.
- Respect the local communities and their values.
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Abhiraj | Following Love
Travelling for 200 days to find #100reasonstoloveindia
Responsible Travel in our opinion is traveling with minimal environmental impact and that means taking steps as small as carrying your own cutlery to avoid single use plastics to something like taking trains over any other form of transport. Trains are more sustainable means to travel and one should always opt for it to the extent possible. It reduces fuel consumption and also helps the Railways with more funds to upgrade.
With the environment in a fragile state right now, we need to look at everything we do with a microscope. Personally, my wife and I use organic cold pressed chemical free soaps. We use Reetha or Soapnut Powder to wash our clothes. We carry our own bottle and use public transport to the extent possible. We also prefer non AC rooms or hostels and eat local. I can’t stress this enough. You have to eat local. Chips and other junk is nutritionally dead but also trashes the place. It’s important to remember to be mindful of your waste. Every place may not even have a landfill for your waste.
Think about it this way, would you live in a house with all the waste you threw? That village in the mountains doesn’t like living with it either.
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Tour And Trek Solutions
Domestic and International Travel Packages
Traveling responsibly doesn’t have to be a certain type of travel. It should be embedded in the way that every single person travels, regardless of destination, budget and interests. Here’s how:
- Support local tourism boards who preserve the natural beauty, rather than supporting over development.
- Encourage businesses that fund community projects, local culture and traditions.
Shape the world by choosing destinations, tour operators and activities, prioritizing the protection of every living being.
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Travel Mere
A Spanish Biking Enthusiast
Travel Mere is run by a Spanish Biking Enthusiast, Juli Garzon Comas, in India. He is very careful about the environment and promotes the idea of keeping India trash free. He is so particular about this, that he doesn’t even throw a cigarette butt on the road, but collects all the butts in a bag until he finds a proper means to dispose it off. He often stops his bike to confront the people throwing trash on the roads. He urges them to keep their country clean.
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Mustafa Chass
Avid Wanderer and Writer
Travel has seeped into our everyday lives where social media plays a huge role in making travel decisions. If what people see is fancy and eye- pleasing, they take a decision to travel to that particular destination. What many people miss out is, the humongous responsibility they carry when going to these exotic places. Leaving the least carbon footprint is quintessential to travel responsibly. Feed your instinct, feed your soul, but not at the cost of the environment. Be aware that we are in a climate emergency, as rightly pointed by XTE. You might be watching and sharing a lot of posts about climate change and the earth dying, but what really matters in the end is what are you doing to ensure its long term survival. Don’t just sit, do your bit.
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Hearth Hostel, Leh
An Earth-friendly stay at Leh
Purnima Das, the founder and builder of this earth-friendly hostel, says that every traveler must treat a place as if it is their home. They should respect the place as much as they respect their homes. They should be sensible towards the impact that they could have on a place or its environment. She strictly believes that one should STOP BUYING plastics or products that come in plastics completely. The lesser the disposal, easier it is to recycle and save the environment.
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Project One Life
Travel | Adventure | Social Work
As a responsible traveller and earthling, we have minimized our plastic and, carbon footprint.
We dispose of the waste, especially plastic, responsibly by not throwing them on mountains or in rivers and carrying them back with us because it amalgamates with the water, further creating repercussions for marine life.
In our daily lives, we try to eliminate the usage of non-biodegradable plastic items like straws, toothbrush, single-use bags, cutlery, bottles, ketchup sachets. In fact, we prefer reusable items like bamboo straws and toothbrush, cotton tote bags, refill our own bottles are among a few methods we use to do our bit towards nature.
We reduce our carbon footprint by travelling via public transportation and changing eating habits to vegetarian food instead of meat and a strict no food wastage policy.
We know we aren’t doing it perfectly but we believe, “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly” – Anne Marie Bonneau
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The Campper
Check in-to Outdoors
Travelling responsibly is the greatest need of the time. We as the host urge all our guests to spend and experience the nature in a green and responsible manner. Steps we have taken:
- Minimize the use of ‘One Time Usage’ (OTU) plastic bottles:
We inform our guests not to carry any packed water bottles during their trip. Clean & secure drinking water will be made available at our properties. - Plastic free treks:
We ensure our guests won’t be taking any disposable things with them (especially water bottles & food packets) during treks. Even if we are taking it with us, we make sure it’s safely taken back to our property and dispersed properly. - Occasional cleanups:
We arrange occasional cleanups inside forest areas (which turned a tourist place aka waste land) & at public places.
Volunteering groups and sometimes even guests join us.
As a solution to the prevailing problems and doing our bit towards the same, we are in planning process to launch a new initiative to “Plant a Tree”. As a part of this initiative, guests can plant a tree in our premises and pay a minimal charge for taking care of it. The plant/ tree can be named as per their wish. Periodical updates of the plant’s growth (photos & videos) will be sent to the guests whom planted it. (However this is a tentative plan which is still in progress and there might be a few changes here and there to work it out in the best manner)
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Himalayan Sikh & Company
Providing Mountain Retreats and Getaways to Nature
In Himalayas, We’re committed to the stewardship and conservation of the natural areas and communities of our region, especially those surrounding our sacred The Great mountains range. We consider conservation and proper care of natural areas as essential for the sustainability of our natural heritage. We support and promote this goal at a global level and we carry out responsible practices and sustainable, environmentally-aware tourism activities.
You too can be part of the change!
Himalayan Sikh & Co. is an organization dedicated to promoting access to mountaineering and climbing areas, which since 2017 has convoked a simultaneous clean-up action across all Himachal Pradesh, with the goal of generating positive environmental impacts in the diverse natural landscapes of our Region.
Diverse organizations, climbers’ clubs and people who share a love for the mountains unite under the designation “Clean Mountain”, to raise awareness about the impacts of human activities in natural areas, and to take part in clean-up actions and to get involved in conservation actions in their own regions.
Everyone is invited to be part of this and other initiatives that seek to contribute to the conservation of our wonderful natural and cultural heritage.
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Chris
Educator, Cyclist, and Photographer
I think there are a lot of little things you can do to be an environmentally and socially responsible traveler, but they can all be reduced to one root concept – treat everyone as an equal and with respect. If you keep this core idea in mind, all of the other things, like environmental conservation, reducing economic exploitation, cultural sensitivity, etc, will follow.
We hope that these stories and solutions have inspired you to take even more steps towards travelling responsibly. We urge you to share these thoughts with other travelers and remind them to travel responsibly.
Read the Part 1 of this Article – 6 Basic Checks to Start Travelling Responsibly where we lay out six simple solutions that each & every traveler can take in order to travel responsibly. Read it and remind yourself to implement them on your next trip!
Don’t Forget to Share this with your Travel Buddies!
