being a eco-friendly traveler
I am currently in Peru volunteering in a small local school in Cusco. Even though my Spanish is questionable I was able to pick up a bit of what the teacher was teaching the 6 year old kids. They had a 2 hour lesson about how to be more eco-friendly in their day to day lives. As well as raising awareness about climate change, deforestation, pollution, etc..
While I was sitting at the back of the class, I just thought to myself how to great it was to see these kids so enthusiastic about this subject. They were all answering the questions and sharing with their "compañeros"how to make a better world for their future selves and how concerned they were about the environment.
Growing up in Mauritius made me super conscious about the ocean and how important it is for us, may it be on a climate level or even on the local economical touristic level. And so for them nature is as important. Furthermore, the Inca culture is based around nature - pachamama - Mother Earth. They have an immense respect for nature which I think is absolutely beautiful and I think we should all respect pachamama a bit more.
Travelling can be a very polluting action however you can make some small changes to your day to day travelling plans to be a bit more eco-friendly. Here are some of my tips:
1) Go to hostels:
Going to hostels has been my favorite decision I've made in my travels. Being in a hostel means you're sharing your room, shower, kitchen with a bunch of strangers. For one it is obviously way more fun and interesting and most and first and foremost this means you are using less electricity. As a bonus it's way cheaper than airbnb and hotels.
Some of my favorite:
-San Jordi in Barcelona
-Athens Hawks in Athens
-All Iron Hostel in Bilbao
-Yust Hostel in Liege (a bit more fancy)
- The ASH in Antwerp
Going to the restaurant 3 times a day is: expensive but also super consuming. So cook your own food, the world has the most amazing markets. This will also be a chance for you to taste new products that you probably wouldn't have tasted if you had had lunch in the nearest burger place. My favorite market is definitely the one in Barcelona- La Boqueria. However the San Pedro market in Cusco is a close second.
3) Use public transport:
This one sounds quite obvious but I am stressing it. Europe has super easy bus and metro traffics. The best one I've seen is the one in Bilbao, it's an award winning metro designed by Norman Foster. Furthermore, using buses in places like Peru gives you a real feel of how it would be to be a local which I think is the most important thing to do when you're visiting a country. Don't forget about trains! They are on the cheaper side and super easy to use but they are also much less polluting than planes. I spent one week in Belgium and was able to see 7 different towns thanks to the trains. One ticket was 6$ and it would take me about 2 hours to get from one town to the other which is absolutely amazing!
4) Use reusable containers and bags:
Everywhere in Europe you can get water fountains, the town of Santander in the North of Spain is probably the one where I've seen the most foutains - literally every 25 meters. So keep your reusable bottle with you and fill it up- I'm using my atlasware that I bought in Mauritius! Buy a tote bag, this is my favourite travel accessory because it is so easy to just fill up with your groceries. Last but not least buy a tuperwave so that you can store your leftovers, no throwing away food here!
Last but not least WALK AROUND. Walking is the best way to see stuff, little details and places you would miss if you were in a car. Appreciate the nature, the buildings, the people that surround you. Go to the beach, to parcs, walk in the tiny alleys! You'll see the most if you just walk around. And if you don't have a lot of time in a place do a free walking tour, you'll find them on Tripadvisor!
Here are some of my favorites:
- The Dark Side of Gent
- Guruwalk in Santander
- Guruwalk - Gaudi tour in Barcelona
Fantastic Eva keep going Paul durban
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