How to Travel More Sustainably in 2024

What goes better with travel than sustainability? As someone whose tagline is literally: “obsessed with local travel and sustainability,” I don’t think there’s a better combo, so I’m writing a post on it: traveling sustainably in 2024.

First and foremost, let’s just say it – big businesses are the ones that need to pull their weight for the damage they’ve done to the environment, since in the past 25 years just 100 companies have been responsible for 70%+ of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. So it’s not really all on us.

That said, I don’t want to act carelessly. Especially since (brace yourself) the top 10% of CO2 emitters contributed half of global emissions, compared with a mere 0.2% for the bottom 10% in 2021. Guess where most of the top 10% live? In countries like Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, China, and you guessed it, America. So it’s also an equity problem. Why am I entitled to use so many resources when the impact of that consumption almost always falls on another person?

Following my last post on my travel goals for this year, I wanted to look into some ways to travel more sustainably in 2024 since I usually achieve this by local travel but with some not-so-local trips in the works, I wanted some fresh ideas.

Travel Light = Fuel Efficient

Packing light means saving on fuel, which means saving on carbon emissions. I will be the first to admit this is tricky; I like to be prepared for every situation, but when I fly I never check a bag. It’s a win-win. I save the time and headache of a checked bag, never have to worry about losing my stuff, and help the environment. Plus, there are so many innovative packing solutions nowadays that allow you to be more efficient (i.e. do you really need three pairs of shoes?) and do more with less (think packing cubes).

Avoid Single-Use Plastics

This one seems like a no brainer but it can be hard when you travel – there’s the throw away packing from your airplane meal, the travel sized toiletries and the storage bag you put them in, the plastic water bottle you bought for $7 at the airport, the list goes on and on. The good news is most of these are not hard fixes; you just need to be aware of them and prepare. Pack your own bamboo utensils, use refillable containers for beauty supplies and get a reusable storage bag for liquids and pack your own water bottle.

Drive

Or take the bus/train. People are always surprised when I tell them my family drives to Florida, Maine, and everywhere in between. We’re definitely a driving family. My first instinct is never to book a flight if it’s somewhere I can drive to. Airplanes use the most fuel during takeoff and landing so if it’s a quick flight, so for shorter trips, opt out of flying (though airlines are improving their efficiency, trains still beat them every time). You can also google carbon emissions calculator for driving versus flying.

Research Greener Airlines

As I mentioned above, many airlines are making moves to be greener with efforts like single engine taxiing, and the installation of winglets to reduce drag. You can also look at comparison sites, like Skyscanner, which let you see an emissions score usually based off things like the plane’s age, number of seats, fuel efficiency, and the number of stopovers, etc. Airports can have degrees of sustainability too (shoutout to the Portland Jetport). Most airlines will also let you purchase a carbon offset for your emissions – it’s not perfect but it’s better than nothing.

Travel in the Offseason

I’ve talked about this before and is one I do a lot with local travel. There are so many benefits: less people means smaller crowds and fewer people in your pictures. Parking’s never an issue and some places offer discounts as an incentive to visit outside of tourist season. It’s more sustainable to travel this way because there is less strain on the natural resource capacity and gives the area has time to recover.

There is so much to think about when planning a trip that how to be more sustainable rarely crosses anyone’s mind. But this year I’m challenging you, me, and anyone reading this to try one thing when they travel (locally, nationally, or internationally) this year to be a better steward of the planet! Happy sustainable travels :))