The popularity of sustainable tourism is on the rise at the moment, while this is a step in the right direction, this has also given rise to some myths that need to be busted. One of the many myths associated with sustainable tourism is that traveling sustainably can be quite expensive and is often associated with luxury. Sure, there are some luxe ecotourism lodges scattered throughout the world; it is just a small part of a much bigger situation. Sustainable travel isn’t about staying in expensive and luxe ecotourism lodges, instead, it is more about finding a balance between different aspects of tourism, including economic, social, and environmental. In simple words, creating awareness about green travel and making the best effort from your end is how you should approach sustainable tourism, and that includes highlighting local experiences, reducing waste, preserving resources, and giving your full support to goals that focus on protecting the environment.
If you want to join this movement and promote sustainable tourism, then here are a few simple ways to practice sustainable travel.
Choose locally-owned accommodation
One of the easiest ways to save some money while traveling is by choosing locally-owned accommodation. Most hotels and resorts tend to be really expensive; you can easily cut down on that expense by choosing to stay at locally-owned accommodation, which can be anything from B&B’s to hostels and even campgrounds. Before choosing any accommodation, make sure to do some research on the safety and quality parameters of the hostel or B&B beforehand.
Buy things from farmers markets
By shopping at farmers markets, you can tick off so many things at once. Aside from giving your support to the family farms, you will also be able to help the economy. Additionally, since you will be eating healthy, you will be facing fewer health issues, which will definitely help reduce the expenses on your medicines or other treatments. Apart from that, you will be saving some money by cooking your own meals using items bought from farmers markets and not eating outside at the restaurants.
Plan your trips during shoulder season
We all are well familiar with terms like low season and high season, the shoulder season is relatively a new term that has recently started to gain a lot of attention. The period between the high season and low season is known as the shoulder season. It begins right after the high season and before the low season. Since traveling during the high season can be incredibly expensive and the low season doesn’t offer great weather conditions, the shoulder season makes an excellent time to explore any destination. The weather may not exactly be pleasant, but it tends to be much better as compared to the low season. Additionally, organizations also start to offer better deals, allowing you to travel in a more budget-friendly way.
Visit museums
Most museums are often sponsored by private donations or government grants, which help to keep the admission fee pretty low. And considering museums are an excellent way to get familiar with a specific place’s history and heritage, visiting them would benefit you in more ways than you can count. Apart from that, visiting museums will also help to support local jobs. Therefore, if you find any museum nearby you, make sure to visit it.
Bring reusable items
Using reusable items is one of the best ways to travel sustainably. Single-use travel-sized bottles do nothing more than contributing to plastic pollution; therefore, you should avoid buying unrecyclable plastic water bottles while traveling and use a refillable water bottle instead. Apart from a water bottle, you can also invest in other reusable items like coffee mugs, portable utensils, travel-sized containers for beauty products, etc. This will help save a lot of money.