Happy Earth Day! To celebrate this beautiful planet we call home, I’ve been contemplating sustainable travel: what it means, how I do it already, and how I can commit to being better. Here are a few thoughts if you are interested in making sustainability part of your travel practice!
Pack Smart
This is probably the quickest and easiest way that you can commit to being a more sustainable traveler! There are so many reusable items out there that offer alternatives to disposables, and I featured my own top five gear must-haves in my last post. They are all light, compact, and way convenient! Why waste precious travel time and money on trying to find a disposable rain poncho, for example, when you can invest in a pocket-packed raincoat? Reusable items are the way to go! In addition to convenience, packing light is another easy way that you can help keep your travel sustainable: less weight to carry = less fuel emissions.
Consider Your Travel Methods
While traveling light helps reduce fuel emissions, cutting flight or rental cars out completely is sometimes unavoidable because of geography, time, budget, you name it. That being said, there are some choices that you can make to help off-set your carbon footprint. Public transportation instead of renting a car, traveling slowly, and “piggybacking” trips whenever possible are all great options. Last summer I did a 10-day road trip with my dad around the Republic of Ireland, which turned into a 5-day solo trip through Northern Ireland, which then became a week-long bike-packing trip from Dublin to Cork, which led into my final 10 days solo in the Hebrides. I got four trips out of one flight over the Atlantic!
Support Local
One of my favorite parts of my piggybacked trip last summer? Eating local! We enjoyed buying groceries at the market in Cork, picking up treats and souvenirs at St. Nicholas Market in Galway, and god but I love a good Irish pub. McDonald’s every once in a while is one thing, but why not step out of your comfort zone and explore the culture of a place through its food? Whether it’s cuisine, booking local lodging (AirBNB has made this so easy!), or choosing the right tour company, there are lots of ways to to support the local economy and make a positive impact within the community of your favorite travel destinations.
Embrace Stewardship
My best friend recently reminded me of the time we, “chased water bottles at Yosemite and lamented how terrible other tourists are” during our trip to California in 2017. Even though it wasn’t our mess, we were so awe-struck by the beauty around us that we couldn’t stand to leave garbage there and let it negatively impact the park. That being said, you can only clean up after others so much and it is not any one person’s job to take on the responsibility of sustainability themself. If sustainable travel is something that you are already committed to, go one step further and start spreading the word! Embrace stewardship, educate others, and encourage change.
Invest in your home community
Part of my own efforts to encourage sustainable travel practices through stewardship includes making an effort to invest in my local community. I know that Anchorage and Alaska in general rely on tourism as part of their economies, and I want my city and state to be a place people enjoy visiting, hiking, fishing, learning, you name it. I compost and recycle, I carpool and bike when I can, I attend fundraisers to help pay for maintenance of local parks and trails, etc. It all starts at home.
To celebrate Earth Day and kick off my summer of sustainability, I have joined Anchorage’s Anchor Gardens project, am investing in Alaska State Park parking passes for myself and my boyfriend, and will be spending my afternoon cleaning up any newly visible roadside trash now that the majority of our snow has melted. Happy Earth Day, enjoy our planet, and cheers to a more sustainable future!