It’s estimated that 1.3 Billion people travelled a year before the pandemic shut down world travel.

As we get used to the new way of living and learning how to go back to ‘normal’ ways of life with the covid virus still affecting our civilization, we can see that travelling for vacations and work is also picking up.

Unfortunately, so are natural disasters like wildfires, floods, hurricanes and more. The harm we are doing to our planet, atmosphere, and ecosystem directly results from the velocity of these disasters. One way to counter all of this is to travel more sustainably.

Here are eight helpful tips to still enjoy traveling while doing the most you can for the future of our planet.

Travel With Monos Luggage

Don’t get rid of your current travel suitcase if it’s still useable. But when you require new travel luggage, buy it from one of the first Climate Neutral Certified luggage brand in the world. Being one of the first luggage brand to join the Climate Neutral community, Monos has measured, offset and reduced their carbon footprint in every aspect of their operations.

Be sure to buy your sustainable Carry-On or Check-In from Monos. For more information about quality and amazing bags for traveling check Tucker & Bloom.

Take Public Transport

When in your destination city, take a few minutes to see what their public transit is like and how vast it reaches. If the city has a rail system like New York or Shanghai, you are set up for your trip. Other possible public transport options are trams, buses and water ferries.

A city like Copenhagen has multiple bike-share options that the locals use all the time. So be like the locals and ditch single-rider taxies and Ubers.

Travel overland when you can

Flying can be cheaper and faster than other ways to travel long distances, but the drawback is how much carbon is emitted into our atmosphere and fuel consumption. Instead of flying, look up other sources of transportation that can get you to your destination.

A few ideas are to take a ferry or train, and when doing either of these, you will be able to see more of the country you are in plus have a more comfortable trip.

Choose local foods and beer

When picking local beers and food, they will cost you less and allow you to get a more comprehensive knowledge of an area. The reason why you want to choose local to help make your trip more sustainable is that by eating products made close by. You do not add to the shipping and transport waste that is created.

Eat a local vegetable, drink a local beer, give back to the community you are visiting, and give back to the world.

Bring your own headphones when flying

If you don’t have a pair of headphones that connects with the flight’s inboard viewing systems, take a look before your flight and get an adaptor that allows your headphones to work on their system. One positive from this is that you will not create more plastic waste from this once-use option. Secondly, the movies you watch will be much more enjoyable with your quality headphones compared to the horrible acoustics from the airline’s pair.

Treat your hotel like home

The amount of water used to clean a new towel for each person every time they shower in a hotel is a significant toll on our planet. Try to use one towel for a week before you get a new one from housekeeping.

Another way to make the most out of your hotel towel is to have one dedicated towel that you take with you to the pool or beach. Choosing these two towels with their specific functions for your day, you can save up to 10 towels needing to be washed. If you were to clean ten towels at home a week, that would be two extra loads of laundry.

Bring a personal water bottle

Instead of buying a single-use plastic water bottle every day, or maybe every few hours, depending on how hot the destination is. Bring with you a reusable water bottle to refill whenever you desire. Find something that fits easily in your day pack, and that can sterilize any H2O you put in it.