There has been a significant push in the travel industry in recent years to become more eco-friendly. Many countries have been rolling out new initiatives and other efforts to protect the environment for both the present and future. The drive to save the planet for not only local residents and wildlife, but visitors as well means that vacation destinations have become more environmentally-friendly than ever.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the countries that have been leading the way in the eco-friendly movement, and how their efforts already have and will continue to provide visitors with a cleaner, more real experience than ever before.
Iceland
Iceland has traditionally been ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to their environmentally-conscious mentality, and they haven’t lost any ground as the rest of the world has embarked down a similar path. With their beautiful landscape of glaciers, hot springs, fjords, volcanoes, and even the Northern Lights, they have good reason to protect what they have.
They use their significant natural potential for geothermal energy to produce electricity and heat, rather than relying on traditional fossil fuels. They’ve also instituted new practices designed to curb pollution and protect against excessive fishing that could threaten fish populations.
Finland
Not far behind Iceland in the quest for a greener world is Finland, who has set a goal to reach carbon neutrality by the year 2050. Boasting more forested land than any country in Europe, they’ve strived to protect the habitats of the wildlife residing in those forests, while also maintaining clean water and performing environmentally-conscious sanitation practices. With more than 40 dedicated national parks, they have plenty of power to ensure the protection of the pure land within their borders.
The Netherlands
Eco-friendliness is nothing new to the Netherlands, whose National Environmental Policy has been in place for more than two decades. During that time, they’ve met approximately 75% of their goals related to reducing air pollution and carbon emissions, increasingly responsible waste management, and fighting river pollution.
On top of that, a large portion of the population gets around via bicycle rather than a car, recycles and composts their trash, and much of the restaurant food is made from locally-sourced ingredients.
New Zealand
Easily the most remote country on this list, yet in no way the least driven to protect the environment, New Zealand has made the bold pledge to eliminate the use of fossil fuels by 2025 completely. With an abundance of geothermal energy potential on par with Iceland, and a reasonably small population spread across the two islands forming the country, there’s no reason to think they won’t attain their goal and preserve the beautiful and diverse landscape of glaciers, lakes, rivers, mountains, caves, beaches, and forests.
Australia
New Zealand’s next-door neighbor is a bit newer to the eco-friendly revolution than other countries on this list but has set some modest ambitions to try and catch up. With essential features like the Great Barrier Reef, Fraser Island, and the Gondwana Rainforest relying on their efforts, the Australians have set a goal of deriving 20% of their energy nationwide from solar, wind, and geothermal sources by 2020. They also plan to reduce their use of coal, while also implementing broad-ranging carbon capture initiatives to reduce their overall carbon footprint.
Costa Rica
This Central American country has long been a popular tourist destination thanks to its beautiful rainforests, beaches, and other unspoiled lands, but they have also been at the cutting edge of eco-friendly tourism. Aside from the fact that they’ve already set aside a full quarter of their country as protected national parks and wildlife refuges, they’re already using 95% renewable energy sources, and are on track to meet their goal of becoming the first utterly carbon-neutral country in the world before 2021.
Caribbean
The islands of the Caribbean are the preferred destination of many for winter getaways, and vacationers are continuing to insist on sustainable practices from the resort operators that they choose to visit. These operators are responding by developing comprehensive sustainability plans with the goal of preserving natural environments, minimizing usage of single use plastics and overall waste in general, reducing energy consumption and the protection of water supplies.
British Columbia, Canada
Canada is already one of the most environmentally-conscious countries in the world, and with good reason since so much of their vast territory, from the American border on up to the Arctic, is still in its natural state. However, British Columbia is generally regarded as the greenest province in the country, leading the rest of Canada in terms of energy efficiency, green jobs, and buildings, and producing organic, locally-sourced food. The extensive forests, rivers, lakes, mountains, and coastline give BC plenty of reasons to keep doing what they’re doing.
Minimizing the Impact of Flying
While it’s true that flying to any of these destinations will have an environmental impact on your overall vacation carbon contribution, it’s important to know that there are ways that you can minimize the impact you create. Airlines know that it is in their best interest to use the most fuel-efficient aircraft since using less fuel not only reduces their environmental impact but it also saves them money.
Most airlines are actively working to upgrade their aircraft so that they are flying the newest and most fuel-efficient aircraft available. When booking any flights you can always see what type of aircraft is utilized on a particular flight and, if flight options exist, you can choose to fly on newer aircraft if they are available. You can also look to find the most direct route if choices exist as opposed to having to connect and use multiple aircraft. However, if you are limited in choices of routes or aircraft you can always make the decision to purchase carbon offsets to mitigate your personal impact from flying. There are many organizations who allow you to purchase carbon offsets based on the distance you fly, with the money raised from the purchase of these offsets going toward the funding of sustainable initiatives around the world.
Airlines, airplane manufacturers and even airports are actively working to minimize the environmental impact of flying. Initiatives such as bio-fuels, and alternative sources of fuel such as hydrogen fuel cells and even battery-operated aircraft are all in development. While we won’t be flying in an electric plane tomorrow on a large scale, the push for innovation in the industry means that these changes may be here sooner than we think.
Conclusion
With summer travel season in high gear now and with some already envisioning their next winter getaway, now is the time to start looking at how your vacation plans can ultimately have a smaller environmental impact. If beautiful natural environments are crucial to your ideal vacation, the countries mentioned above are a great starting point when considering the best destination for you, and the suggestions on how to fly with minimal impact should help with plans for both a memorable and more sustainable vacation overall.
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