Make it a Green Holiday!

Andrea Varga-Darabos Make it a Green Holiday! 12 August 2016 | 2 minute reading time

Have you ever wondered how you could pack and relax in an environmentally friendly way?

It’s not easy but it’s doable. I’ve rounded up a few ideas on how to reduce your carbon footprint when travelling:

If you take the car to your holiday destination, it’s worth sharing the vehicle with others to cut costs and emissions.

Save on water and energy at your accommodation – just as you would do at home. Don’t leave your mobile charger plugged in longer than needed, avoid unnecessary use of lights and air-conditioning. Turn taps off properly.

When staying at a hotel, think carefully about cleaning and towel change – you can save a lot of energy, water and chemicals by not requesting room cleaning and new towels every single day.

When on holiday, hop on a bike or use public transport whenever possible. If you end up renting a car, try to get a hybrid instead of a petrol car.

Make sure you don’t leave any rubbish behind. Choose recyclable packaging, keep the number of cosmetics low (and their size small) – and that holds for water too. Bring your own bottle and refill it as often as you can.

Whenever possible, throw your rubbish in recycling bins and containers.

Find the local farmers’ market and buy locally-grown/produced food.

Don’t veer off the designated footpath when hiking – and you will help to protect local species. Avoid picking flowers and plants and think twice about collecting local species and minerals as souvenirs.