22 Feb 2021

If travelling the world ruins the world, should we just stay at home? Are we selfish if we want the perfect escape, when the act of doing so contributes to the issues our planet is facing? These are the questions keen travellers have been asking themselves for years. In recent months, the questions have only increased as we’ve seen the positive impact a ‘no travel ban’ has had on some ecosystems around the world throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Right now, we can’t go anywhere. In April last year, the travel ban meant that daily global carbon emissions were down on a mass scale. In Venice, we saw the water of the famous canals clearly for the first time in years. There were even dolphins swimming through the iconic city.

But in the future, when we can travel again - and we know we all can’t WAIT to travel again - how can we do it sustainably? Is there a way to travel guilt-free?

Well, you can travel consciously and balance your sustainable efforts with having the grooviest time ever. There are some pretty simple ways to be sustainable! Packing reusable items, spending your money locally, researching animal experiences carefully beforehand, choosing the most ethical transport and accommodation choices, to name a few.

But hey, these sustainable practices can, for the most part, be done at home. And, can these small changes really justify the eco cost of travelling? What else can we do to give back to the planet while we’re exploring the world?

Contiki Cares, powered by TreadRight, pledges to do everything possible to make the world ‘travel’ synonymous with ‘sustainable’. The legends at Contiki have tonnes of sustainable travel experiences built into their trips across the globe to allow you to positively impact the places you visit.

With Contiki, you can travel with the knowledge that your trips are actually making a positive impact on people, planet and wildlife.

Don’t believe us?  When you travel to Iceland with Contiki, you take part in a tree planting in the Haukadalur Valley to offset your carbon-footprint and aid in the re-forestation of the country. You could make a positive impact on wildlife by volunteering with animals at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Elephant Orphanage in Kenya or help baby elephants who have lost their mothers in East Africa.

Ethical animal and environmental experiences aren’t the only things you can do when you travel consciously with Contiki.  They’re also committed to positively impacting the communities you visit – and they’re big on respecting local cultures, championing traditional heritage and working with the local artisans you’ll visit on your trip.

The founding partner for Contiki Cares, the TreadRight foundation, was established ten years ago as a not-for-profit focused on sustainable tourism and has supported over 50 sustainable projects worldwide. Because of this, you know that the whole ‘sustainable’ travelling thing isn’t a gimmick. Contiki genuinely cares.

Not only does Contiki have an abundance of sustainable travel experiences helping people, wildlife and the planet, but their coach travel is also the greenest travel option. In fact, Euro 6 engines convert dangerous fumes into a mixture of water and nitrogen, products which are harmless for the environment. This means that the air that comes out of the coaches is actually cleaner than the air that goes in. Wild, right?

One of the best parts is that Contiki knows sustainability is an on-going commitment. It’s one thing to book an ethical trip but it’s another thing to get home and keep up sustainability in your everyday life. Which is why they’re working on eliminating all single-use plastics and making their recycling regime even better worldwide. Contiki also plants trees for every single one of their travellers who uses their e-documents (because who needs actual paper anymore?).

So, to answer your question, you don’t have to stay at home to be a decent human being. Being good to the planet doesn’t mean you need to become a hermit. You can have a positive impact on the world while also having the experience of a lifetime. These days, with everything going on in the world, it can be hard knowing whether you’re actually doing the ‘right’ thing. But Contiki make it easy and you can travel knowing you’ll be positively impacting the places you visit across the globe.

If you’re keen, check out some of their trips and register your interest over here.