Now more than ever it’s crucial to consider your impact on the planet. While most of us are trying to limit our plastic use or cutting back on meat, an unfortunate side-effect of travel is that it can have a negative impact on the earth. With all the news about climate change, should we even still be travelling?
The answer, of course, is yes – there’s much to learn about conservation through travel, and what better way to appreciate the earth than to see all it has to offer? However, savvy travellers are always looking for ways to decrease their carbon footprint on their adventures. Often, the biggest contributor to your carbon footprint while you’re travelling is your transportation – and if you’re planning a journey across the world, you can be limited in your options for getting there in a way that serves the planet as much as it does you.
The two most common ways of reaching long distances are trains and planes – both have pros and cons for both your travel and the earth. If you’re curious about the differences in your carbon footprint when you travel via train vs. plane, read on!
Your carbon footprint with train travel
While it may seem like a no-brainer that train travel is the more sustainable option when it comes to travel, there are actually many considerations travellers should make before booking that train ticket!
While over the course of a train’s lifetime it will generally produce fewer carbon emissions than a plane would, the infrastructure needed for a rail system – including things like parking lots, train stations, and the rails themselves – can badly damage their environments. However, when travelling shorter distances on an established rail line, such as the Eurostar or Japan’s high-speed rail network, travellers are usually able to cut their CO2 emissions by up to 90% versus travelling the same distance on a plane.
Ways to lower your carbon footprint with train travel
- Make sure you’re travelling with a reputable train line. Many train companies recognize their environmental impact and encourage travellers to make adjustments to their itineraries to reduce their carbon footprint. However, other companies take it a step further – Amtrack in the USA, for example, has managed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 17% since 2010.
- Consider offsetting your emissions. By paying a small fee (usually up to about $20 USD) to an organization that uses the money for things like reforestation efforts and research into sustainable technology.
Your carbon footprint with plane travel
Air travel is a contentious area – experts agree that it’s the most harmful way to travel, but often there are very few other ways travellers can reach their destination. One long-haul flight can emit the same amount of CO2 as the average person in many countries will emit over the course of a year! If there are alternatives to flying, such as train travel, buses, or even travelling via boat or another creative method, it can be beneficial to consider them before flying.
However, it’s understandable that some plane travel is inevitable! Don’t fear if you can’t exactly get from New York to Bali by boat – there are always ways to decrease your impact on the planet when you’re travelling via plane.
Ways to lower your carbon footprint with plane travel
- Take longer vacations. Taking longer vacations means maximizing your time in your destination, which means you’ll have put your carbon emissions to good use rather than taking several smaller trips via plane.
- Use public transportation. Once you arrive at your destination, there are many ways to limit your CO2 emissions during your travels! One of the best ways to do this is via public transportation to get around, as opposed to taxis or rental cars.
- Fly smart. Where possible, take direct flights and fly economy – in first-class or business class, fewer people are sitting in more space, which makes their individual carbon footprints larger.
- Offset your emissions. Just like with train travel, there are always options to donate to causes that will contribute to green initiatives.
Low-impact travel
There are ways to offset your carbon footprint before you even leave for your trip! Think carefully about what you pack – instead of buying bottled water at your destination, bring a reusable bottle (or, if you’re travelling to an area in which the tap water isn’t safe to drink, consider investing in a portable water purifier), for example.
Group tours are a great way to reduce your carbon footprint while you travel. Often, tour operators take extra care to make sure their itineraries and excursions are sustainable and serve and support the locals in your destination. Always make sure to think twice before reusing towels in hotels, or leave your campsites as clean as possible – leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photos!
The first step of lowering your carbon footprint while you travel is to acknowledge that you leave one behind in the first place! A little bit of thought and consideration can go a long way when it comes to the environment – while corporations, and not individual people, are the leading cause of climate change, help can begin with you.
Whether you’re thinking about embarking on a cross-country road trip or an epic journey around the world, there are always ways to decrease your carbon footprint and leave the world a little better off than you found it.
How do you protect the earth while you travel?
