7 Ways To Travel More Sustainably On A Road Trip
Photo©OlenaYakobchuk/123rf
With inflation taking a bite out of nearly every budget, finding affordable getaways makes sense for many families. A road trip saves significant money on plane fare, but how can you make it more eco-friendly? Fortunately, the right approach can make a road trip more affordable and more sustainable than flying the friendly skies.
Greening your vacation begins with the planning stages. Here are seven ways to travel more sustainably on a road trip.
1. Choose Your Ride With Care
Emissions might be the biggest polluter on your road trip — but not if you eliminate them. Even if you don’t own an electric car, you can rent one. Renting a car means sparing wear and tear on your primary vehicle.
Additionally, most modern EVs have upgrades that you won’t find in your 15-year-old beater. You’ll enjoy additional comfort from superior climate control and often better entertainment options to calm cries of “Are we there yet?” Most major car rental companies have considerable EV fleets, letting you choose from several styles to best fit your family’s needs.
2. Plan Around Traffic
What if you don’t have the cash to rent an EV? You can still minimize your emissions and make your road trip more sustainable by planning your route around traffic.
Most major metro areas operate on similar rush-hour schedules. Plan to avoid driving during those times. When booking tickets for various attractions and events, choose those that begin mid-morning or mid-afternoon to avoid peak traffic times.
Construction and accidents can cause unavoidable delays. However, today’s apps make going around the mess easier than ever. Download an app that provides real-time traffic updates, helping you avoid pileups.
Travel in the off-season whenever possible. While the roads around popular tourist destinations can become parking lots around spring break or summer vacation, the crowds ebb once school returns to session. Fall may be the best time to snap some award-winning photographs of gorgeous foliage, so take advantage and bring a camera.
3. Carry Bags
You can never have too many bags on a road trip. You’ll need a stash for your souvenirs and a second one for managing recycling on the road.
While some jurisdictions have banned those awful plastic bags that choke ocean wildlife, many areas still use them. You can readily refuse the checker’s offer when you bring a canvas version. As a bonus, it’s less likely to break, shattering that precious figurine you bought as a souvenir.
Furthermore, bring a reusable water bottle with you, too. You’ll reduce the amount of recycling you create by far, and nearly every coffee shop has returned to allowing you to bring yours in for a fill-up of go-juice if you’ve been driving all night.
4. Enjoy Some Local Flavor
Did you know that food plays a significant role in global warming? However, the same practices that keep your diet greener at home also work on the road. They also fill your journey with delicious memories.
One of the best things you can do to reduce your dinner plate’s carbon footprint is dining local with intentionally sourced ingredients — and doing so introduces you to fabulous local flavors you won’t find at a chain. What if you plan to camp on your road trip? A visit to an area farmer’s market is an absolute joy. You can find organic goodness for lower prices than a typical grocery while conversing with the producers about the methods they use to raise their goodies free from pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
5. Choose Sustainable Lodging
Most road trips include at least one or two overnight stays. What should you look for in a hotel? One quick way to judge an establishment’s eco-friendliness is to check for LEED certification. It’s the U.S. Green Building Council’s stamp of approval for facilities that go above and beyond to slash energy and water consumption while reducing waste.
Even if your hotel isn’t LEED certified, ask if it has sustainable upgrades, such as:
- Low-flow devices in bathroom facilities
- Motion detectors that guests can set to automatically turn off the TV and lights when exiting the room
- Wall-mounted soap and shampoo dispensers instead of tiny plastic bottles
- Onsite recycling
- Other green features, such as the use of renewable energy like solar
Camping is another option for your sustainable road trip — all you need is a tent. Ensure you have plenty of bear spray, follow site safety rules when camping and reserve your spot in advance, especially if traveling during the summer. You might have better luck in the fall off-season before many campgrounds close for the winter.
6. Prioritize Experience Over Consumption
Sure, you want a souvenir or two — but photographs, a bit of sand and some shells can preserve your memories just as well. For a more sustainable road trip adventure, prioritize experience over consumption.
For example, book an afternoon of swimming with the sharks or dolphins if heading to the shore instead of strolling boardwalk shops. Headed for the mountains? Many ski resorts keep the lifts running to let you view the scenery during the warmer months, or you could canoe, mountain bike, hike or fish.
7. Follow “Leave No Trace” Principles Everywhere
Leave no trace principles read, “Take only photographs — leave only footprints.” While many people associate this advice with camping, it matters for urban adventurers, too. Litter contributes to greenhouse gas emissions from the anaerobic decay of trash in such conditions, which creates methane. Show the planet some love by leaving your destination a little better than you found it. Picking up that stray bottle may generate good road trip karma.
A road trip vacation need not pollute the environment. You can make it more sustainable by reducing or eliminating your emissions and mindfully choosing your adventures. Reduce waste by focusing on the experience and leave your destination a little cleaner. You’ll return feeling refreshed after a guilt-free getaway.
Mia Barnes is a freelance writer and researcher with a passion for holistic healing and healthy living. She is also the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the online publication Body+Mind magazine.
