Nature First Travel Tips
Putting Nature First on your travels: tips for exploring the planet sustainably
We acknowledge that travel can have a negative impact on nature – through increasing carbon emissions and pollution and exploiting ecosystems. By identifying these areas, we are working hard to avoid and reduce these impacts. You can play a vital role during your adventures in reducing your carbon footprint and putting nature first wherever possible, giving back to nature more than you take. Here are some ways in which you can put nature first on your travels:
Avoid products and activities that degrade eco-systems
- Take a re-usable water bottle and coffee cup. Consider re-usable bottles with a filtration system.
- Take re-usable cutlery, tupperware boxes and straws.
- Take a re-usable bag to replace plastic bags.
- Avoid plastic wrapped products such as slippers or sealed tea bags.
- Take re-usable shampoo and shower gel bottles, pre-filled from home.
- Be mindful of flushing the wrong kind of waste that may contain plastic such as wet wipes.
- Avoid purchasing foods containing palm oil and souvenirs made from hardwoods such as ebony and mahogany, these are linked to deforestation.
- Avoid sunscreen that contains oxybenzone, octocrylene and octinoxate, and nanoparticles of zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, these are damaging to marine habitats.
Refusing single use plastic items shows the provider that travellers no longer want items that are damaging to nature.
Reduce activities and consumption of products that negatively impact the environment
- Consider travelling by train, which uses 80% less carbon than flying. View our train travel offering here.
- Reduce internal flights and seek alternative forms of transport such as local buses or trains.
- Reduce consumption of foods that are locally scarce, to ensure food security for locals.
- Reduce meat consumption by switching to plant-based options with a lower carbon footprint.
- Look out for certification labels such as ‘MSC’ certified fish or ‘deforestation free’ products.
- Make the most of leftovers, donate them to others or seek composting facilities to reduce waste to going to landfill.
- Reduce paper by keeping documentation saved digitally on your device.
- Reduce your resource consumption by turning the A/C off when vacating the room, using in room kettles less and taking shorter showers.
- Take any recyclable waste home with you if correct disposal facilities are not available.
Support biodiversity restoration and nature regeneration
- Choose to support nature and biodiversity restoration by taking a conservation focused trip such as Rewilding the Apennines.
- Allow endangered species to roam and prosper, by avoiding purchasing souvenirs made from wildlife part such as ivory, tortoiseshell, or reptile skins.
- Enable natural habitats to thrive when exploring, by keeping to official footpaths which decreases trampling and disturbance of local wildlife.
- Ensure the peaceful existence of wildlife in areas where they are at risk by reducing noise and light pollution, as this may disturb and distress certain species.
- Encourage regeneration of the seabed, by avoiding touching coral reefs or stepping on marine life when snorkelling and using fins.
- Support the preservation of wildlife by keeping informed on the dos and don’ts when viewing animals in the wild and do provide feedback to your guide if you have any concerns. Click here to view our Animal Welfare Policy.
- Read more about here how you can support conservation and biodiversity restoration through the Exodus Travels Foundation.
Support the generation of economic opportunities for local people
Alongside supporting biodiversity and ecosystem regeneration, we can have a positive impact on our travels by supporting local communities. Any time we choose a locally owned restaurant, hotel, or shop, or choose to visit a local marketplace or similar, not only are we getting a more authentic local experience, but we’re also providing employment opportunities and boosting the local economy. Another way to support and empower some of the communities you may meet across our destinations is through the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation.
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