2 Ways to Make your Group Travel Eco Friendly

If you’re travelling with your friends or family and have already booked into one of the excellent hostels for groups, you're in a critical position in terms of how much of an environmental impact your group activity can have. Thankfully, we are living in a time when more and more travellers are becoming aware of their 'footprint' and are keen to minimise their personal negative contributions as much as possible. Here are a couple ways to make sure that while you enjoy your trip, the environment does not suffer for it.

Be Mindful of What You Bring

Tourists are notorious for visiting national parks or remote locations and leaving behind things that they should not, such as plastic bottles, bags, cigarette butts, and non-biodegradable food wrappers. If you’re thinking, ‘Just one little plastic wrapper would not hurt the environment’, just imagine if a thousand other people thought the same way. Those gorgeous, pristine hiking trails in the countryside would be littered with the kind of garbage that can stay in the environment for hundreds of years. If you create litter, take it back with you and dispose of it properly. The same concept goes for city areas if, for example, you go shopping at the local market - bring a reusable shopping bag you can take with you wherever you go. (Not plastic, by the way!) Reusable grocery bags are durable and can carry a heavier load – on top of that, you know you'll be doing your part to reduce waste. Before booking into one of the hostels for groups at your destination, make sure you enquire about their policy regarding the environment, and what they may be doing to help their guests do what is right. Remember, every little bit counts.

Consider Nearby Activities and Destinations

There’s often madness in travelling halfway around the world to a secluded island in the Caribbean if you have never visited the next town in your own neighbourhood! While adventurous travellers exploring the world is what makes it go around, make a concerted effort to balance your travels abroad with some that can be done overland, in the UK even! In that way, you'll be reducing the amount of carbon emissions you're contributing to. Chances are there will be many things to discover in your immediate environment—for example, you may have yet to taste the local wines the town next to yours is so famous for.

When you do travel abroad, however, there are hostels for groups offering great accommodation all over the world. By their very nature, hostels are always filled with mostly responsible, likeminded travellers who are focused on reducing their impact on the environment. Simply by interacting and socialising, you'll pick up many other handy hints and tips in order to do the same yourself.