As we continue our countdown
to Earth Hour on Saturday, March 23rd, 2013 at 8:30 p.m., here are
some tips for reducing your ecological footprint while traveling.
One Planet Living’s 10 Top Tips for Changing How We
Travel to Help the Earth
- save money by reducing car use, especially for short journeys (eg less than 3 km)
- walk and cycle more - it’s free!
- avoid unnecessary travel - is that meeting really necessary, or can it be done over the phone/internet?
- use public transport instead of the car - keeping a car is a huge drain on the household budget even before you start the engine
- car share if driving is unavoidable - it will halve costs, as well as halving your carbon footprint
- buy the smallest car that fits your needs - It will be cheaper to run, cheaper to tax, cheaper to insure as well as being more environmentally friendly
- switch off your engine while stationary - you will save on fuel costs as well as CO2 emissions
- take holidays closer to home - a local holiday could be a lot cheaper and less stressful, and avoids lengthy waits at airport check-in and security
- fly less, avoiding short haul flights (less than 500km) wherever possible
- offset your flight emissions if air travel is unavoidable
Are you interested in doing
more to help? Click here to take the One Planet Challenge! Their calculator
will measure your ecological footprint and carbon emissions and provide you
with a personalized action plan packed with practical things you can do to
achieve One Planet Living and make it easier for you to shrink your footprint.
