How to Travel Green in 2024: Eco-Friendly Hotels and More

Traveling Green: A Guide to Eco-Friendly Travel

Are you wondering how to reduce the influence you have on the environment when you travel?

You will gain thorough insights into the field of sustainable travel from this blog.

We will examine the essential elements of vacationing sustainably, from comprehending what constitutes an eco-friendly hotel to using straightforward yet efficient procedures.

Going green is highly encouraged due to climate change and an increase in natural disasters.

We attempt to save energy at home by avoiding turning on the bathroom faucet while we wash our teeth and by minimizing our use of the thermostat, even on hot summer days.

all in an effort to protect the environment.

But how can you lessen your impact on the planet Earth whether you're on the road or traveling for work?

Everything you need to know about going green when traveling is provided here, from selecting eco-friendly lodging to packing your bags with care.

An Eco-Friendly Hotel: What Is It?

In light of the global climate problem, eco-friendly hotels are the cornerstone of sustainable tourism and are a developing trend.

Often referred to as eco hotels, these lodgings rely on environmentally friendly activities to reduce their carbon footprint and environmental effect.

But what precisely qualifies a hotel as "eco-friendly"?

A few significant types of eco-friendly projects are mentioned in the 2017 Green Lodging Trends Report:

Energy Administration

The average hotel in the United States pays $2,196 a year for energy expenses per room.

The process of producing this energy pollutes the air and releases dangerous greenhouse gases that are directly linked to global warming.

Here are some hotel initiatives that use clean or reduced energy:

• sources of renewable energy, such as solar panels and wind

• facilities for charging electric vehicles

• LED light bulbs inside

• occupancy sensors within rooms that are linked to digital thermostats

• Window films (to regulate the temperature inside)

• Appliances with EnergyStar certificatio

Management of Wastes

The "zero waste" goal, or reducing the amount of waste the hotel sends to the landfill, is one of the newest trends in eco-lodging. On average, hotel visitors produce 2.5 pounds of waste every day, of which 40–50% is not recyclable.

Common waste management practices in hotels include:

• Recycling bins in each room

• On-site composting for food scraps

• Only selling recyclable or multi-use plastics on hotel grounds

• Reusable plates, utensils, and towels

• Bathroom soap dispensers and hand dryers

• Donating excess food and supplies to the community

Conserving Water

It may surprise you to learn that a typical hotel room can use up to 73,000 gallons of water annually.

Initiatives to conserve water can lessen the chance of droughts, boost water availability, and require less energy to purify it.

Here are the most sustainable practices for water conservation:

• Low-flow toilets in guest rooms

• Rainwater collection

• More efficient faucets, showers, and bathtubs

Other Sustainable Practices in Hotels

Water, waste, and energy management are the simplest sustainable trends across the lodging industry.

Yet, there are some other practices common in eco-friendly hotels:

• Local sourcing of food ingredients (specifically organic food)

• Organic gardens to supply the restaurant with fruits and vegetables

• Non-smoking properties

• Organic mattresses (i.e., hemp)

• Green, biodegradable, and chemical-free cleaning products

• Locally sourced building materials

How to Travel in a Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Manner

Reserving rooms at hotels that use these sustainable practices is the greatest approach to start traveling in an environmentally friendly manner.

However, what steps can you take to lessen your carbon footprint whether traveling for work or pleasure?

The following seven pointers will help you travel more sustainably:

Reuse bedsheets and towels

One of the benefits of reserving a hotel suite as opposed to, say, a rental house, is daily room service. The epitome of traveling in style is a bathroom with a new stack of towels and clean, crisp linens.

However, daily delivery of these linens to off-site cleaners wastes a lot of energy and water, as well as introduces harsh chemicals into the water system.

Ask the front desk personnel to let you keep your towels and bed linens for the duration of your trip instead.

Use the Hotel Room’s Electricity Sparingly

Business trips may drag you out of your hotel room before sunrise and keep you out until after dusk. There’s no need to have electricity on while you’re out of the room.

Before you leave your room, take some energy-saving precautions:

• Switch off the lights

• Power down the TV

• Set the in-room air conditioning unit to its energy-saving mode

• Unplug any charging devices

Bring a water bottle or travel mug

You would waste four 16-ounce plastic bottles every day, or 1,460 bottles annually, if you drank the recommended 64 ounces of water each day from these bottles.

Reusable water bottles and travel mugs are the newest big thing in sustainability, and that statistic alone explains why.

Simply locate the nearest water fountain to fill these environmentally friendly containers while on the go. In addition, they are BPA-free, with an additional 32+ ounces of water storage, and are insulated to keep your water cool for hours.

Bring containers, utensils, and reusable straws

Packing reusable items is the first step in a "zero waste" trip, whether you're ordering room service or dining out at neighborhood eateries. If you're planning a dinner, bring reusable food containers, a set of metal utensils, and a metal straw.

Or request that your server not provide you with a straw at all. Every day, half a billion plastic straws are disposed of by Americans in landfills, beginning the 200-year process until the straws fully degrade.

Pedal or Stroll to Your Goals

An average gas-powered vehicle emits 404 grams of CO2 into the atmosphere for every mile driven. Furthermore, the greenhouse gas mainly accountable for escalating the current global warming catastrophe is carbon dioxide.

The easiest way to travel sustainably is to drive as little as possible.

If your destination is within a mile of your home, walking and bicycling are suitable alternatives that produce no emissions. If it isn't feasible, arrange for a group rideshare or travel by public transit.

Trim, Reuse, and Recycle

There's a reason why "reduce, reuse, recycle" is said in that order.

Reducing the amount of waste and the amount of resources you utilize is your primary objective. For instance, you may select trinkets with little to no packing or utilize one paper towel square rather than three.

Reusing is the most crucial action to take next. That can entail putting headphones back in prescription medicine bottles or filling up water bottles.

Lastly, recycle if you have no other option. To make new goods, the neighborhood recycling facility will receive cardboard, paper, aluminum, and a variety of plastics.

Prepare Your Own Personal Care Items

Hotel rooms often come with more practical extras like toothpaste, wrapped bar soaps, and tiny shampoo bottles. But they barely survive the whole trip at only a few ounces each.

Reuse the travel-sized bottles of hygiene supplies instead of just bringing your own.

The night before you depart, replenish them with your preferred household items. They not only save space in your luggage and allow you to utilize the goods you already use on a daily basis, but they are also TSA-approved and environmentally sustainable.

How to Travel with Less Fuel Spending

Not every trip may be made using zero fuel, unless it takes place in a large city with many of hotels close by for your meeting or project.

On the other hand, using these suggestions while driving will reduce pollution and fuel expenses:

Make Hotel Reservations Near Public Transportation by Walking

Public transportation is available in most major cities and metro areas. It includes light rail, buses, subways, trains, and trollies.

About 11 million fewer gallons of petroleum are used daily in the United States thanks to public transit. You can also avoid the middlemen by making hotel reservations within a few blocks of these stations (i.e., your own car or ridesharing).

Steer clear of solo driving

The greatest option to save gasoline consumption and expenses is to carpool with your colleagues, unless you are traveling alone for business. By working in pairs, you may reduce these numbers by half. Four people will cut them down by 75%.

Hire an Electric Car

Of all the vehicle options, electric cars, or EVs, have the least carbon footprint and are the way of the future for transportation. Electric vehicles emit 60% fewer greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in the US than do conventional gasoline-powered vehicles.

For the duration of your visit, rent an electric car if the company's travel budget permits.

Take Part in the Neighborhood Bikesharing Program

You may hire a bike by the minute, hour, or day thanks to the introduction of bikeshare programs in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.

When it comes to short-distance travel and leisurely local tourism, cycling is an emission-free choice.

When driving, use the cruise control

When you step on and off the gas pedal in a car, the fuel efficiency of the vehicle decreases slightly. Until you press the brakes or switch off the cruise control setting, an automobile's cruise control setting helps the vehicle maintain a constant pace, which is great for long trips and highway travel.

Cruise control won't instantly become visible or increase a car's fuel efficiency. But according to KIA, it can save 7–14% on fuel.

Invest Less Using Gas Price Apps

Users of mobile apps like GasBuddy can save a few pennies per gallon by using real-time fuel pricing tracking at nearby stations. Find the greatest deals in your area by simply entering the zip code of your hotel and sorting by price.

You can save sixty cents every fill-up if you pay even five cents less per gallon for a 12-gallon tank. If you travel for business frequently, these savings mount up.

Reserve Seats on Non-Stop Aircraft

Did you know that takeoff, landing, and taxiing account for 16.6% of an aircraft's fuel consumption? Enrolling in nonstop flights without any stops can result in fuel savings of thousands of pounds.

Combine Business Visits to the Same Area

Business travelers typically take 6.8 trips year, with younger travelers making even more frequent reservations. Regretfully, you contribute to the pollution problem each and every time you travel.

Combining journeys is one of the best strategies to reduce emissions and save money on petrol.

Let's take an example where your company has investors in Detroit, Columbus, and Chicago, all of which are roughly 500 miles from your house. If you combine these visits and add a few more days to your vacation, you can reduce the total mileage required to visit each of these destinations from 3,000 miles to half.

Where to Look for a Green Hotel

Whether you're choosing a tiny hotel close to a natural reserve or an opulent hotel with an infinity pool, eco-friendly hotels are everywhere.

But how can you locate a sustainable hotel for your next business trip, short of phoning each front desk separately?

The following three pointers will greatly facilitate the search:

Look for Eco Credentials

Hotels can reduce their carbon footprint and get greener by implementing solar projects, recycling programs, and low-flow toilets. Nonetheless, hotels bearing green accreditation are the most environmentally aware.

Hotels that receive 40 or more points in any of the six eco-friendly areas are LEED-certified:

• Innovation and design

• Innovation in operations

• Indoor environment quality

• Materials and resources

• Energy and atmosphere

• Sustainable sites

When it comes to points, a LEED platinum hotel is at the top and is given to establishments that prioritize ecotourism by using sustainable building materials that are obtained from nearby communities.

When making a reservation, you should also search for the following additional eco-credentials: Green Seal, Green Globe, and Green Key Global.

Inquire About Their Eco-Friendly Projects

Without receiving a green certification, hotels can nevertheless adopt eco-friendly and sustainable activities. Once you've selected a small number of hotels, inquire about their green initiatives by visiting their websites or giving them a call at the front desk.

Pay attention to terms like organic, local, sustainable, and recycle.

Frequently asked questions

What defines an eco-friendly hotel?

Environmentally conscious lodgings that use sustainable methods to reduce their carbon footprint and enhance the health of the environment as a whole are known as eco-friendly hotels.

What are the main pillars of sustainability for eco-friendly hotels?

Eco-friendly hotels focus on sustainable practices in energy management, waste reduction, and water conservation.

How can we reduce our travel footprint as individuals?

When traveling, try to stay in eco-friendly accommodations, use as little electricity as possible in your accommodation, pack reusable containers and cutlery, bring a refillable water bottle, walk or bike to nearby locations, reduce waste, and bring your own personal care products to reduce the amount of single-use plastics.

What are effective ways to save fuel while driving during business trips?

Use public transit, carpool to minimize driving alone, hire an electric car if one is available, take advantage of local bike-sharing programs, use cruise control to keep speeds constant, and use gas price apps to find gas stations that use less gasoline.

How can we find eco-friendly hotels during our travels?

Search for lodgings that have earned eco-credentials, such as Green Seal or LEED certification; find out about their environmental policies and programs; and explore their websites to learn more about their dedication to sustainability.

Conclusion

In order to reduce your travel-related environmental effect, choose eco-friendly lodging options and make sustainable lifestyle choices. Bring reusable necessities, walk or ride your bike to local locations, reuse towels, and use as little electricity as possible.

Remember, you help ensure that our planet is preserved for future generations by reducing, reusing, recycling, and supporting green hotel activities. Remember to "Reduce, reuse, recycle" and make wise travel decisions to contribute to a greener future.