July: TRAVEL

Since we welcomed July, our team decided to focus on a new topic for this month: GREEN TRAVEL. So, I would like to discuss how we can make our travels more green or sustainable. But first, before knowing how, we need to understand what green travel is. 

Sustainable tourism, green travel, or ecotourism is all about diminishing the negative impacts on nature and thinking about ecology during every stage of the travel by being more responsible and sensitive. It should also aim to improve the well-being of local people. It is essential to focus on and increase awareness about environmental issues and make people more conscious of eco-friendly lifestyles. Basically, sustainable traveling is about minimizing the negative effects and traveling without harming natural environments. 

While it is one thing to understand what sustainable travel means, it is another to actually realize it. Now, we can come back to the important question: How can we achieve green travel? We all like to travel as much as possible, but how can we reduce the negative impacts of traveling? Here, I tried to figure out some tips about green travel:

First of all, it’s better to think twice about transportation before travel if we want to be greener. Depending on where we go, we should try to choose more sustainable options. For instance, taking a train or the bus can be a better idea than driving a car or flying in this sense. However, if you need to fly, then direct flights and economy classes can be the best option. On the other hand, bikes and going by foot are the greenest options for shorter distances (or even long ones if you have time). Moreover, green traveler also supports the local owners, so it means it would be better to stay in locally owned accommodation instead of shiny, luxurious hotels. Couch surfing and camping are also quite good ideas.

All in all, it may seem difficult to put the idea of green travel into practice, but it is just hiding in our simple attitudes and daily acts. Even little steps during the travel will be a great result in the long term if each person tries to do it.  Have green days and travels!