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Travel, even if you are very environmentally conscious, should not be treated as something you need to avoid at all costs in order to reduce your carbon and ecological footprint – this is my view. Frequency – yes, short distance flights – yes, business travel – yes (do we really need to travel for business in 2025? I doubt it. This could be significantly reduced.) But for leisure, one big holiday a year and choosing travel companies and transport modes wisely – we should be able to do that. Slow and green travel are becoming more and more popular amongst people, espceially the younger generation, which is great! Travel is a wonderful thing, one of the best things. In my view, it’s also very important for everyone to see the world and all its beauty: only by seeing and experiencing it will help us to have a deeper understanding of how everything and everyone of us are connected and wanting to preserve its beauty and diversity. If we are more mindful about traveling, it can be done without leaving a heavy ecological footprint.
So in this blog post, let’s talk about how to make cruising more environmentally friendly – because cruising is a popular way to see the world.
Cruising is getting sustainable
The future of cruising is definitely green. Even now, some cruise ships now repurpose all of the waste generated on-board by converting it into energy. Following the first ship company (Hurtigruten) going plastic free two years ago, many of them started to make similar changes. But cruise companies are making changes on other areas too, to make cruising sustainable: using low-energy LED lights, recycling hot water to use for heating, using newly-developed window coatings to reduce the need for air-conditioning and a technology is now being rolled out to power cruise ships using renewable energy sources. So, it’s all moving into the right direction!
Book a no-flight cruise
Avoiding flying to get to the cruise ship and looking to book no fly cruises from the UK can make a significant difference in the overall carbon footprint of your trip. Air travel, although a relatively small industry, has a very negative impact on the global environment. In comparison to other modes of transportation, such as cars or trains, airplanes, have the greatest climate impact per passenger kilometre.
Cruise companies for eco-conscious clients
Look up different cruise companies. Some of them are really tying to make a difference from buying locally and reducing and recycling waste on a daily basis. Or their chefs visit local markets and the line buy other produce from organic wineries and small, family-run businesses. Others offset carbon emissions too, donate to conservation projects.
Social impact travel
Finding ways to make cruising more environmentally friendly might definitely make it my kind of trip. Social impact travel means passengers can work alongside locals and become involved in community schemes, such as helping to teach English, planting trees and clean drinking water projects. This could be a wonderful, life changing experience in my view.