Often when I encounter the grand terms “global warming,” “climate change,” “environmental crisis,” and “greenhouse gases,” I am overcome by a wave of fear and dread. For these words are problems far larger than my life itself: bigger than my body, mostly immune to my daily actions, and unforgiving to my individual capacity to influence them. As someone who has experienced flash floods in my home country (India) and intense heatwaves in my study destination (France), I still experience these global issues personally. And yet, I cannot solve them on my own. Thinking about how it might only get worse from here
(https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/earths-climate-swings-increasingly-out-of-balance),
leaves me with a deep sense of helplessness and anxiety for the future.
This is why I appreciate the concept of ‘sustainable travel.’ To me, it is one of the many ways that I as an individual can make meaningful change. I understand it to be not about grand gestures or claiming the title of a world-saving action-adventure character, but about one’s attitude! It is a conscious choice, a good decision that one can make, and even a chance to engage with and interact with and understand the cultures and biomes I visit.
The measures I have taken so far to practice eco-friendly travel include:
1. Packing as little as possible, thereby minimising the need to dispose of excess luggage at airports or during returns (SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production)
2. Completely avoiding single-use plastics such as bottles and bags: I rely instead on reusable cloth bags, many of which have become cherished souvenirs carrying the logos and memories of places I’ve lived as an international student! (SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production)
3. Prioritising walking or cycling over any form of transport whenever in Europe, a freedom I rarely enjoy in my metropolitan hometown of Delhi. (SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities)
4. Choosing sustainable rail travel: Eurostar my beloved (SDG 13: Climate Action, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities)
Of course, I intend to continue these practices in the UK.
Apart from endeavoring my international placement to be sustainable, I also hope to study hard and become a person who can bring wider, more systemic change on our planet through my career in diplomacy and law.
