Travel is an important lens through which people experience education, empathy and awareness of others’ cultures and societies. However, it has an environmental cost that must be addressed including carbon emissions, resource consumption and additional pressure on local ecosystems. As global citizens, we must cultivate awareness of and experiences to develop not only better travel experiences, but a commitment to sustainability in our travels. In my own travels, especially international placements for academic and professional experiences, I am committed to practices aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
To reduce my environmental impacts, I intentionally opt for lower-emission transportation where as possible. For domestic travel, I choose rail or bus transportation most often over short-haul flights. When I must fly for international placements, I remove carbon emissions through credible programs that invest in reforestation, or the production of renewable energy. I also attempt to extend my travel experiences when practical in order to reduce the unnecessarily frequent requirement for flights. This model is referred to as slow travel. It allows me time and enables deeper engagement with local people and communities, but at a much lower carbon commitment.
Sustainability is also about lowering resource consumption on the ground. I use reusable containers and stay in Earth-certified accommodations that incorporate renewable energy and utilize smart waste practices to mitigate the environmental impacts of travel. I support the local economy by buying from small businesses and avoiding tours that exploit locals or damage the environment. By doing this, I am engaging in ethical tourism, which supports local communities instead of extracting their resources and sustainable tourism. I try to engage with communities in a culturally responsible manner by learning from communities rather than consuming from them. For example, in one of my past placements, I worked with local NGOs to aid in developing environmental education curriculum by incorporating sustainable agriculture practices. I will think of these lessons in all future placements, particularly from a policy or research perspective about sustainability. Ultimately, advocating for sustainable travel is about systems change too, not just individual action. I take an advocacy approach, both in my academic work and the policy work I do, by highlighting environmental justice and global inequality and their intersections. And as someone from a generation that has witnessed the climate crisis, and with the climate crisis stable and worsening, I believe that responsible international engagement needs a commitment to reducing one’s environmental footprint.
