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Bucketlist Bri

Bucketlist Bri

Adventurous Slomad Travel

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9 Ways to Be a Sustainable Traveler for a Greener Future

Last Updated: January 5, 2023 · Responsible Travel, Slow Travel

As a purveyor of sustainable and eco-friendly travel, I want to share some ways in which we can all promote sustainable tourism for a better, greener future!

Tourism in the world as we know it today is highly destructive; natural parks and trails are getting trampled, waterways and surface waters are increasingly getting polluted, and animals are exploited for tourist attractions and activities… The list goes on and on.

Globally, it will be impossible to achieve 100% sustainable tourism, as every industry has an impact (even a sustainable one).

But the good news is we can do better.

We can achieve a sustainable tourism model that takes into account tourist satisfaction while prioritizing the environment, communities, and the economy.

Yes, collectively we have come a long way since the world’s first Earth Day in promoting sustainability and environmental consciousness in all areas of society; tourism, economics, development, social institutions, organizations, etc.

But there’s more work to do to raise awareness of sustainable tourism.

The problems we face today from mass tourism, such as plastic pollution, biodiversity loss, damage to communities and natural resources, etc., cannot be resolved by one organization alone, nor it cannot be achieved overnight.

To achieve long-lasting, sustainable tourism we first need to promote sustainable tourism globally across all levels and sectors.

And it starts with you!

If you would like to help out, here are some ways to promote sustainable tourism whether you’re an individual or a business.

Table of Contents show
9 Ways to Promote Sustainable Tourism
1. Travel Responsibly to Less-Visited Destinations
2. Lead by Example
3. Spread Awareness of Regulations & Laws that Support Sustainable Tourism
4. Drive the Demand Up!
5. Promote Sustainable Tourism with Your Inner Circle
6. Donate to Sustainable Tourism Businesses & Organizations
7. Encourage Business Owners to Be a Part of 1% for the Planet (or Become an Individual Member!)
8. Get Involved, Volunteer, & Share Real-Life Examples
9. Make Sustainable Tourism the New ‘Normal’

9 Ways to Promote Sustainable Tourism

travel to less-visited destinations (9 ways to promote sustainable tourism)
Mass tourism in Venice

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links that may earn me a small commission should you decide to click through and make a valid purchase (at no extra cost to you). Thanks so much for your support!

1. Travel Responsibly to Less-Visited Destinations

Of all the places to see in the world, about 80% of people visit only 20% of destinations, leading to huge rises in overtourism.

Venice alone receives over 30+ million tourists per year and is struggling immensely for it.

And it’s not just Venice, but dozens of destinations suffering from overtourism:

  • Bruges, Belgium stopped advertising day trips to lighten the weekend rush.
  • Cities like Paris, Barcelona, Rome, and Amsterdam (along with a dozen other European cities) are fighting Airbnb and limiting the number of beds available in licensed hotels/hostels in order to decrease overtourism.
  • Mount Everest, Nepal airlifted out 100 tonnes of waste from receiving over 100,000+ visitors to the region with over 40,000 trekkers.

The sad reality is that our impact doesn’t have a stopping point. It extends to destinations that don’t receive millions of visitors each year.

Even extremely remote islands that are uninhabited like Henderson Island are becoming a toxic wasteland polluted because of the effects of overtourism and overconsumption around the world.

Bottom line: Overtourism places such massive pressure on the local populations and the environment that soon there will be irrevocable damage to the places we love.

So how do we combat this?

For starters, we can travel to less-visited destinations around the world. This doesn’t mean we have to stop visiting iconic cities like Venice or Paris.

But we can encourage ourselves and others to explore more off-the-beaten-track!

Also Read: What Does Ethical Tourism Mean? 23 Ethical Travel Tips

2. Lead by Example

The best way to promote sustainable tourism is to lead by example!

When it comes to raising awareness of an issue, it’s always good to take a look at what actionable steps we can take as individuals (or businesses).

To promote sustainable travel and lead by example you should at least practice sustainable tourism yourself.

When we want to see change on a big scale, we should focus on starting small!

Here are a few examples of how you can lead by example:

  • Say no to fast fashion –> Thrift or buy sustainable or recycled clothing.
  • Support local –> Instead of giving your money to the $ giants, support your local shops, farms, vendors, artisans, etc.
  • Reduce your meat consumption or slowly switch to a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle.
  • Don’t throw out food –> Start an organic compost instead.
  • Avoid plastic packaging and processed foods –> Seek out ways to reduce plastic consumption in your life (try going zero waste for 1 month as a trial).
  • Don’t drive alone –> When you can, carpool, walk, bike, or take public transport to reduce emissions.
  • Travel more locally –> Take advantage of local travel in your state or country.
  • Stay aware –> Due your research when traveling to avoid contributing to something you don’t support.
  • Switch to eco-friendly alternatives –> From cutlery to shopping bags to water bottles, say no to plastic.
  • Travel mindfully and responsibly –> Consider off-beat travel to lesser-known destinations, support locally, and be conscious of your impact.

Every choice and action counts.

3. Spread Awareness of Regulations & Laws that Support Sustainable Tourism

While we might have to start and lead the sustainable tourism revolution as individuals, it’s eventually up to governments and policymakers that can enable long-term change on a systematic level.

To lead world tourism toward a sustainable model, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has created the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Program which, through multi-stakeholder partnerships, aims to mainstream sustainable consumption and production in tourism.

“When responsibly planned and managed, tourism has demonstrated its capacity to support job creation, promote inclusive social integration, protect natural and cultural heritage, conserve biodiversity, generate sustainable livelihoods and improve human wellbeing.  As the sector is experiencing tremendous growth, collective efforts to ensure its long-term sustainability are essential.”

-UNTWO One Planet

One Planet is a part of a larger effort under the One Planet network and the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production.

One Planet cooperates with over 150 organizations globally. And along with the UN Economic and Social Council, they routinely share detailed reports about their progress in advancing sustainable practices in the tourism sector.

As businesses, we should abide by the policies laid out by these leading institutions and not try to “play the system” or find loopholes in order to turn a profit.

As individuals, this means abiding by the policies and not justifying or partaking in activities while on vacation that is detrimental to the environment, local populations, or wildlife.

Key resources for further reading and reference:

  • Making Tourism More Sustainable: A Guide for Policy Makers
  • Compendium of Best Practices in Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable tourism: travel to less-visited destinations

4. Drive the Demand Up!

It’s us — the consumers — who drive the demand up.

So when you travel, where you choose to stay, what you buy, and what type of activities you do all determine your “demand.”

Remember when organic produce and dairy in the grocery store were a rarity once? Now, there’s hardly any market that doesn’t have a dedicated organic aisle.

Just one example of how demand can alter the global market is the increase in demand for organic and dairy milk alternatives.

Consumers began purchasing organic milk and its plant-based alternatives so much that standard dairy farmers across the US are increasingly filing for bankruptcy (and that’s in large part thanks to the rise of organic dairy alternatives and veganism).

The market – aka the consumer – is changing. Service providers must change along with trends or they get left behind. The same applies to sustainable products and, yes, even sustainable tourism.

🌟 In order to drive demand for sustainable travel, we have to put our money where it’s most valuable — into sustainable businesses, hotels, activities, and goods and services.

5. Promote Sustainable Tourism with Your Inner Circle 

How do you go about sharing “sustainable tourism” with your friends and family?

Although it might not be such a sensitive topic as religious differences or political views, it can still become an awkward topic; especially because going from “regular” tourism to sustainable tourism requires a behavioral change at the individual level.

And people aren’t always so ready to change their habits.

To do this gently, try to make suggestions and share your personal experiences with whomever you’re talking to.

Share small yet impactful insights about what you care about!

So for example, if you care about reducing plastic waste, you might start carrying sustainable straws to use while dining out with family or bringing reusable bags with you to the grocery store to help bag groceries instead of using plastic bags.

These little actions can influence the people around you in subtle, yet impactful ways. Instead of arguing about it, you can share the benefits of sustainable tourism as you act with intention.

Sustainable tourism is centralized around these three main pillars:

  • Environmental preservation
  • Socio-cultural support of local populations/communities
  • Economic good standing

There is much more that plays into the meaning of sustainable tourism, but those three are at the heart of its purpose.

With that said, if you always get lost about how to share with your inner circle, you can tie these pillars into how sustainable tourism is beneficial for all involved.

9 effective ways to promote sustainable tourism

6. Donate to Sustainable Tourism Businesses & Organizations

Donating to or financially supporting your favorite sustainable businesses or organizations is a great way to help them continue in their efforts to attain a greener world for all of us.

There are HUNDREDS of sustainable businesses and organizations you can support by donating or joining their cause. I’ll name just a few of my favorites here:

  • Patagonia — A sustainable clothing and outdoor brand that led the sustainable fashion revolution.
  • The Jane Goodall Institute — An organization dedicated to global education of environmental conservation, founded by my heroine Jane Goodall.
  • Coral Gardeners — The French Tahitian organization fighting for coral reef restoration and conservation. You can support their efforts by adopting your own little coral!
  • 4ocean — A socially and environmentally responsible business that makes recycled bracelets from ocean plastic. Every purchase funds the removal of one pound of trash from the ocean and coastlines.
  • Sierra Club — Founded by environmentalist John Muir, the Sierra Club advocates for clean air, water, national parks, and wildlife conservation. You can add your voice to support causes or give a financial donation.
  • Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) — The international marine wildlife conservation organization dedicated to tracking down illegal fishing boats, enforcing laws around deep-sea fishing, and exposing and preventing the unlawful killing of whales.
  • tentree — Vancouver-based “Earth-First Lifestyle Apparel” brand that donates 10 trees for every 1 purchase. They have an awesome sustainable backpack I want to buy!
  • Allbirds — Sustainable shoe brand that creates their earth-friendly shoes out of New Zealand Merino Wool, castor oil, eucalyptus tree, and sugarcane. I’ve had their women’s tree runners for 3 years and love them!!
  • Want more? Click here for an awesome list of more environmentally-friendly organizations & nonprofits.

7. Encourage Business Owners to Be a Part of 1% for the Planet (or Become an Individual Member!)

1% for the Planet is an international organization co-founded by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and outdoorsman Craig Mathews.

The goal for 1%FTP is to bring together “dollars and doers” that goes toward funding thousands of environmental programs around the world.

Thanks to the 1%FTP community, over $250 million dollars have been donated to environmental nonprofits!

“We’re in business to save our home planet. We aim to use the resources we have – our business, our investments, our voice and our imaginations – to do something about it.”

— YVON CHOUINARD, PATAGONIA FOUNDER

Why 1%?

Businesses that join 1% for the Planet commit to giving 1% of gross sales each year to approved nonprofit partners (here’s their member directory).

Why is this attractive for businesses? Members can then use the 1%FTP logo on their products to proudly show-off their dedication to environmental causes.

Individuals without a business can also become a part of the movement by donating 1% of their salary or volunteering.

Members around the world can partake in 1% for the Planet so it’s another great way to promote sustainability even in the tourism sector, as brands and businesses will want to be a part of the movement and those that do, often receive a little extra love from the sustainable travel community!

8. Get Involved, Volunteer, & Share Real-Life Examples

By getting involved in sustainable travel you become a direct participant in its global growth and awareness. One of the best ways I like to get involved is through volunteering.

Volunteering is an awesome way to promote sustainable tourism, even on your travels.

You can volunteer for beach and river clean-ups, pick up trash on hikes (inspired by Jackson’s Adventure Bag movement), help inspire recycling programs in local communities, volunteer for environmental programs, community centers, and more!

Ever since we moved to our small beach town in Mexico, we have learned so much more about sustainability and the power it has to transform a community.

We’ve attended beach clean-ups, educational workshops, and environmental fairs and have become a part of the sustainable tourism movement.

Whenever you travel, seek out similar community centers and volunteer opportunities that promote environmental awareness! There are even opportunities to get involved in your hometown!

9. Make Sustainable Tourism the New ‘Normal’

Right now, mass tourism is the norm.

Anything sustainable has an indication that it is so. Isn’t that interesting? It has to identify itself as different from the norm — because the norm is unsustainable.

Moving forward, we have to start making sustainable travel – and all that it entails – our new ‘normal.’ This implies a few things…

  • Refusing to partake in paid activities with animals in captivity.
  • Supporting local businesses, shops, vendors, and indigenous populations while traveling.
  • Ending our single-use plastic consumption and replacing it with reusable/sustainable alternatives.
  • Eating at restaurants that source locally from local, regional, and organic farmers.
  • Reducing/stopping our consumption of meat products, especially in developing nations where meat consumption is rising exponentially due to foreign demand.
  • Supporting eco-tourism and environmentally-conscious tour operators and companies.
  • Ending fast fashion.
  • Putting a stop to the illegal trade of animals, goods, and products (i.e. refusing to buy animal souvenirs like tortoiseshell bowls…).
  • and I detail even more responsible and eco-friendly travel tips right here!

Lastly, try your best! Sustainable travel will not happen overnight. But if we all continue to do our part, eventually we will get there.

There are many more ways to promote sustainable tourism. I hope these 9 can already inspire you to get involved and promote sustainability and responsible travel. You can do these both at home or while you’re on your next trip!

Are there other ways to promote sustainable tourism not mentioned here? Drop your thoughts and suggestions down below! 

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By: Bri · In: Responsible Travel, Slow Travel

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Traveling solo in Nepal has awakened in me a confi Traveling solo in Nepal has awakened in me a confidence & sense of self (at the risk of sounding cliché), of “my essence” and inner Knowing, and where my compassion and passions mingle and thrive. I was reading some of your comments on my recent Reel about solo travel and how I put myself at great risk/in danger. But as I was telling my Tibetan friend, Sonam, tonight (yes, the new one I made last week!), I inform my decisions mostly by 1. Asking myself, “Would this make a good story?” and 2. Listening to my body and emotions. Yes, it’s risky to travel solo, to be a female in a male-dominated culture, to go out after hours with people you just met, etc. But doing that — and all the magic that followed by “allowing” — reminded me exactly of who I am at my core: Curious and open to the world, willing to get uncomfortable for the sake of finding magic and serendipity. Some of you said, “I’m too scared to do this, how do you overcome that fear of personal safety?” And to this I say, I don’t! Fear accompanies me along the journey. Living life is one big risk. It’s uncomfortable to be open, vulnerable, and unsure. But once you accept that and once you begin to let compassion and curiosity guide you rather than your fear, the real magic starts to happen in all areas of life, not just travel. I find these moments most in travel though, when I’m confronted with contrast and am left vulnerable to the world and the kindness of my fellow humans. My Reels are not meant to romanticize or gloss over very real risks/threats in life, but rather to share a real account of what’s possible (adventure, connections, love, etc) when you worry less about societal norms and what’s “safe not safe” “right not right” and allow your over-active fears to take a backseat. 
This is your reminder to trust your inner compass to guide you in writing your epic life story. ✨✨

To sum it up: 

1. Choose a life of adventure 
2. Stay curious
3. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable (otherwise said, seek discomfort)
4. Let love and light flow in and out 
5. Change is the only constant 

#solotravel #nepaltravel #solofemaletraveler #soloadventure #localtravel #trekkingnepal #adventurethatislife
The strength of women 💛 These ladies were lau The strength of women 💛 

These ladies were laughing so sweetly while filling up their water jugs at the Manga Hiti fountain in Patan. I watched them for a while and then plucked up the courage to ask if I could take their photos, which only made them giggle more. 

I've always felt that not being able to communicate in the same language makes for even more interesting encounters. Without words, we have to touch each other's humanity with eyes and gestures, and most of the time it leads to unspoken mutual understanding, acceptance, and love. We three walked away with the biggest smiles on our faces. I yelled out "Dhayabad!" (Thank you!) as they hoisted their jugs up the stairs, laughing all the way. I won't forget this shared moment between us 🙏 

Check stories for the landscape orientation for some of these photos ✨ 

#nepal #nepalnow #nepalphotography #nepaliculture #nepalisbeautiful #natgeoyourshot #patan #kathmanduvalley #lifetimeexperiences #photonepal #nepaltravel
Did you feel it? Nepal’s ancient wisdom, its swi Did you feel it? Nepal’s ancient wisdom, its swirling spirituality, its raw humanity? ✨🇳🇵❤️

#nepal #visitnepal #nepalnow #travelstories #localtravel #mindfultravel #slowtravel #natgeotravel
When you say “yes” as a solo traveler and stay When you say “yes” as a solo traveler and stay open to the randomness of life and the kindness of strangers, really wonderful memories can be made. Thank you Lama family and my new Tibetan friends for such a fun and insightful sequence of experiences 🙏 💛

#solotravel #localtravel #nepaltravel #nepaldiaries #nepali #solofemaletravel #kathmandunepal #thamel #tibetanfood #solotraveldiaries
My first week back in the chaos of Kathmandu, 💛 My first week back in the chaos of Kathmandu, 💛 

Being back after 7 long years away has jolted my body, brain, and spirit. At first, I felt overwhelmed with the recurring thought of, "I don't know what to do with myself." It was only when acceptance knocked on my door, and I finally decided to let it in, that things began to shift and flow.
 
In Nepal, particularly Kathmandu, everything around me swarms like a hive. I have nowhere else to go but inside myself. I've discovered through years of slow traveling (and solo travel) that peace awaits me there -- a sense of independence, power, and knowing that is still, comforting, and safe. And I can tap into it whenever I need to.

Chaos and peace reside in all of us, and Nepal has a cosmic, ancient way of reminding you of just that. 

📍 Patan Durbar Square, Lalitpur

#nepaltravel #patan #durbarsquare #nepalphotography #slowtravel #nepal #solotravel #lalitpur
They ask, “Why?” I was 29 when I embarked on They ask, “Why?” 

I was 29 when I embarked on the plane on the 21st, and 30 when I disembarked on the 23rd. How fitting. I spent all of my 20s abroad (except for my two final semesters in undergrad), and moved to Nepal when I was 21. 

What better way to say goodbye to my twenties than by returning to the start? I felt the desperate urge to start my 30s this way—alone on a one-way ticket with no concrete plans. I have both feared and longed to come back all these years. You see, I had made a promise to one of my closest Nepali friends that I’d see her again, but the reality is that I no longer can. 

She, along with another dear friend, passed away from cancer a couple of years back. The thought of returning to my old life here without my friends made me, well, incredibly sad. I had thought that, upon landing in Kathmandu—or taking a bite of my first momo—after so long, I’d find myself bursting into tears of both grief and gratitude. But I didn’t. Instead, I found familiarity in the chaos and chaos in the strangeness. 

Just being here—and the decisions and actions it took to get here—has reminded me of the preciousness of this one very short life. And that, by choosing to celebrate mine—at the exciting turn of a decade no less—by coming back to Nepal on a solo trip that would force me into daring discomfort when I could instead retreat to the comforts of family or my partner, is how I want to live it.

Truth is, a couple of months ago the thought of Nepal felt out of reach. It felt risky, unattainable. But the idea itself pushed open, just a crack at first, a door that had been otherwise closed. I could have more easily ignored my “what if?” daydreams—calling them off as too hard, too uncomfortable, or too far-fetched to actually pursue—and kept it shut.
But sometime in mid-July, I decided to look at flights. And I found one (truly, just one) option that could work. And it just so happened that it would fall on my birthday, or rather bridge my birthday. The idea of getting on a plane at 29 and getting off it at 30—back in Nepal—sold me. I fell in love with the story, the adventure, the unknowingness of it all. 

So, yeah. That’s why. Or as I prefer, “Why not?”
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