The Best Ways To Reduce Your Carbon Footprint When Traveling
The Basic Principle Is: Travel Less
Reducing your carbon footprint is going to be a relative goal. You’re not likely to achieve carbon neutrality (especially since offsets are of questionable efficacy—though you should still consider them). So, I’m going to focus here on measures you can take to reduce your footprint compared with what it might have been otherwise.
#1 Stay in Your Region
Generally speaking, the closer you stay to where you are, the smaller your carbon footprint. Since what we’re talking about is reducing your footprint compared to what it would be otherwise, staying in your region could mean that instead of choosing a vacation overseas, you remain on the same continent. Or that instead of traveling to the opposite side of the country, you travel to a city that’s in your larger region. Or instead of traveling to a national park further away, you choose a state park closer by. And of course, you can also choose a “staycation” and enjoy accommodations in your own city/town.
#2 When You Get There, Minimize Transit
Instead of trying to hit many tourist hotspots across a larger area, stay in one place. You can explore it more fully and take time to savor the sights and sounds and flavors. Of course, this means choosing your destination wisely and planning your itinerary well (which I’d be happy to help you with). Choose accommodations that are in close proximity to the most important things you want to see and do. The most relaxing vacation might be one where you completely avoid doing any car or bus trips at all.
#3 Choose the Least Carbon-Intensive Mode of Transit
Modes of transit from the most to least eco-friendly are generally as follows*:
Walking
Bicycle
E-scooter/e-bicycle
Train/bus
Car
Airplane
Cruise ship
(And of course, all things being equal, electric > hybrid > gas-powered in terms of eco-friendliness. I’m not prepared to say definitively whether electric car is more eco-friendly than diesel bus/train but certainly either of those is preferable to gas-powered car.)
So, to reduce your footprint, choose as high up on that list as you can. Avoid taking cruise ships or flying. Try to walk or bicycle if at all possible. Unfortunately, long distance train and bus companies in the U.S. are often very unreliable. But depending on where you are going, you can plan a rail-based vacation with trustworthy operators. I’ll try to write about that in future.
Subverting the Industry
The travel industry will generally not emphasize #1 or #3 on my list because it would narrow their profit-making opportunities. A lot of money is being made off of cruises and flight-based vacations. A lot of money is being made by enticing people to visit locales they find exotic, which are usually far away. What companies will try to get you to pay attention to is how they have reduced (or how they plan to reduce) their “net” carbon emissions. And often this is based on supposedly compensating for their emissions using offsets (which, while not pointless, are of questionable efficacy).
The bottom line is, if you want to be CONFIDENT that what you are doing is ACTUALLY reducing your carbon footprint and overall negative environmental impact, DON’T rely on offsets and don’t rely on companies telling you that they are “net zero” or otherwise “sustainable.” Take measures that you KNOW will genuinely result in reduction of emissions, like what I have just outlined above.
And as always, if you want help talking through your options and/or planning a vacation that meets your deepest needs, shoot me an email. I’d love to hear from you.
*Sources for the “least to most eco-friendly” modes of transit list:
2023 analysis by Wanderu based on data from U.S. government agencies and transportation companies: https://www.wanderu.com/blog/most-sustainable-way-to-travel/
2023 summary by Our World in Data of figures from the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero: https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint
Analysis by Navit based on data from the Eurostat database: https://www.navit.com/resources/bus-train-car-or-e-scooter-carbon-emissions-of-transport-modes-ranked
Comparison of emissions from cruise ships and airplanes by the International Council on Clean Transportation https://theicct.org/marine-cruising-flying-may22/ and Treehugger https://www.treehugger.com/what-is-greener-boat-vs-plane-emissions-5185547 .