Tim Leffel’s Cheapest Destinations

On Being an Eco-Friendly Traveler

I wrote a piece for Transitions Abroad this past December on being an eco-friendly traveler. Along the lines of this rant about carbon credit offsets, my intention was to get across the idea that easy fixes and single actions are not going to reduce your impact all that much. It takes ongoing, habit-forming attention and an honest view of the big picture.

Long-term budget travelers can start out kind of smug on this subject anyway. You take public transportation because you have to and you usually don’t have air conditioning in your hotels because well, you can’t afford those kinds of hotels. No wasteful jet-skis, ATVs, private jets, or heated plunge pools. Heck, sometimes it’s a challenge to even get a light bulb bright enough for reading! Apart from taking the occasional tuk-tuk spewing out noxious fumes, backpackers are usually having less impact on the environment abroad than they would be in a working stiff life at home.

That doesn’t mean you can’t improve the situation though with some simple steps. Read the full scoop in the article—Eco-friendly Travel–but here are the main points:

1) Find a way to create purified water on a regular basis instead of buying bottled water in plastic containers. Otherwise you’re a walking environmental disaster.

2) Use electronic items that can be recharged, or carry rechargeable batteries and a charger if it’s not built in.

3) Buy practical travel gear that lasts, not cheapo stuff that you’re going to have to toss in the trash halfway through your trip. If it’s manufactured in a low-impact way that’s nice, but don’t get carried away thinking that’s a cure-all. (The stuff still has to get shipped to you.)

4) Go local. This is not the same as “going native,” but halfway there. Eat local food, drink local drinks, buy souvenirs close to the point of origin, buy clothes manufactured in the country itself.

This is just a start, but it is part of an attitude that travelers of all budgets need to adopt: before looking outward at carbon credits, green hotel certifications, and sustainable tour practices, first take a look inward and honestly assess your daily consumption habits. Then turn off the lights when you leave the room, okay?