Environmental - Blog Posts
by Alex Treadway on Flickr.The Hunza Valley is a mountainous valley in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
STEWART SEMPLE IS MAKING PLANT BASED GLITTER
Recap: him and Anish Kapoor fought on everyone’s right to use the world’s blackest black pigment
Now he’s saving our ability to use glitter without creating microplastic waste and polluting the planet
Luxury Meets Sustainability: AHS Group’s Green Commitment
Absolute Hotel Services Group pledges Green Globe™ certification for all properties by 2025, redefining eco-luxury and sustainable hospitality. Continue reading Luxury Meets Sustainability: AHS Group’s Green Commitment
Paving the Way for a Greener Future: Cathay Supports Hong Kong’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Plan
Cathay backs Hong Kong’s push for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), embracing policy recommendations to strengthen the city as a global green aviation hub. Continue reading Paving the Way for a Greener Future: Cathay Supports Hong Kong’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Plan
Traveling Responsibly: Supporting Local Communities and Cultures
Travel is more than just visiting new destinations—it’s about connecting with people, learning from their way of life, and leaving a positive impact. Responsible travel, or ethical tourism, is a growing movement encouraging travelers to support local communities and preserve cultural heritage. Here’s how you can embrace responsible travel on your next adventure.
1. Stay in Locally Owned Accommodations
Choosing locally owned hotels, guesthouses, or homestays is a simple way to support the local economy. These businesses often reinvest their earnings into the community, creating jobs and promoting sustainable development. Plus, staying with locals provides authentic cultural experiences you won’t find in chain hotels.
2. Dine at Local Restaurants and Markets
Skip international fast-food chains and savor the flavors of your destination by eating at locally owned restaurants or food markets. Not only will you enjoy fresh, authentic meals, but your money will also directly benefit local farmers, chefs, and vendors.
3. Shop for Ethical Souvenirs
When buying souvenirs, look for handmade, locally crafted products instead of mass-produced items. Fair-trade shops or artisan markets are excellent places to find unique, high-quality goods while ensuring that the artisans are fairly compensated. Avoid purchasing items made from endangered species or cultural artifacts.
4. Support Local Tour Operators
Book tours and activities with locally owned operators who hire guides from the area. These companies often provide better insights into the culture and traditions of the community. They’re also more likely to respect the environment and contribute to local conservation efforts.
5. Learn About Local Customs and Traditions
Before visiting, take time to learn about the cultural norms, history, and traditions of your destination. Respect local customs, dress modestly when required, and ask for permission before taking photos of people or sacred sites. A little cultural sensitivity goes a long way in fostering mutual respect.
6. Volunteer Responsibly
Volunteering while traveling can be incredibly rewarding, but it’s important to do it ethically. Choose organizations that genuinely benefit the community and avoid programs that exploit vulnerable groups, such as orphanage tourism. Focus on activities that align with your skills and contribute sustainably.
7. Reduce Your Environmental Impact
Responsible travel isn’t just about supporting communities—it’s also about protecting the environment. Travel lightly by reducing waste, carrying a reusable water bottle, and avoiding single-use plastics. Choose eco-friendly transportation options like biking, walking, or public transit whenever possible.
8. Attend Cultural Events
Participating in cultural events, festivals, or workshops is a fun and meaningful way to support local traditions. These experiences often provide direct economic benefits to communities while allowing you to immerse yourself in their way of life.
9. Spread Awareness Through Storytelling
When you return home, share your experiences to inspire others to travel responsibly. Highlight the beauty of the culture, the kindness of the people, and the importance of supporting local communities. Social media and blogs are powerful tools for promoting ethical tourism.
10. Give Back Where You Can
Consider donating to local organizations or initiatives that support education, healthcare, or conservation in the communities you visit. Even small contributions can have a significant impact when directed to the right causes.
Why Responsible Travel Matters
Travel has the power to transform both travelers and the places they visit. By choosing to travel responsibly, you can help preserve cultural heritage, protect the environment, and uplift communities. Responsible tourism isn’t just a trend—it’s a conscious effort to make the world a better place through thoughtful actions.
Green Packing Tips: How to Travel Light and Eco-Conscious
Packing for a trip can be exciting yet overwhelming, especially when you’re trying to balance convenience with sustainability. The good news? Green packing doesn’t mean sacrificing comfort or style. By making thoughtful choices, you can reduce your environmental footprint and travel more mindfully. Here's how to pack light and eco-friendly for your next adventure.
1. Start with a Sustainable Suitcase
Your packing journey begins with the right luggage. Opt for durable suitcases or backpacks made from recycled or sustainable materials. Brands like Samsonite and Patagonia offer eco-friendly options designed to last for years. Choosing quality luggage means less waste and fewer replacements over time.
2. Pack Reusable Travel Essentials
Single-use items create unnecessary waste. Replace them with reusable alternatives like a stainless-steel water bottle, collapsible coffee cup, bamboo cutlery, and silicone food bags. Not only do these items save space, but they also help reduce plastic waste while you’re on the go.
3. Prioritize Multipurpose Clothing
Pack versatile, lightweight clothing that you can mix and match. Opt for neutral tones and items that can be layered. Clothes made from sustainable fabrics like organic cotton, bamboo, or recycled polyester are ideal. Multipurpose clothing reduces the amount you pack and keeps your wardrobe eco-conscious.
4. Go Digital with Travel Documents
Say goodbye to printed tickets, itineraries, and maps. Use your smartphone or tablet to store all travel-related documents. Most airlines and hotels now accept digital check-ins, making it easier to go paperless and reduce waste.
5. Minimize Toiletry Waste
Replace travel-sized plastic toiletries with solid options like shampoo bars, conditioner bars, and toothpaste tablets. Store them in reusable tins or silicone containers. These products are compact, last longer, and eliminate the need for plastic packaging.
6. Pack a Travel Laundry Kit
Carrying a small travel laundry kit can help you pack less. A biodegradable laundry soap and a portable clothesline make it easy to wash and reuse clothes during your trip. This is especially helpful for longer journeys.
7. Use Packing Cubes Made from Recycled Materials
Packing cubes help you stay organized while maximizing space. Look for options made from recycled materials. They’re lightweight, durable, and make packing and unpacking a breeze.
8. Avoid Overpacking
It’s tempting to pack for every possible scenario, but overpacking leads to heavier luggage and increased fuel emissions for flights. Stick to the essentials and remember that you can usually buy or borrow items if needed.
9. Choose Eco-Friendly Accessories
Don’t forget accessories like a reusable shopping bag, travel towel, and solar-powered charger. These items are practical, lightweight, and contribute to sustainable travel practices.
10. Leave No Trace
Finally, aim to leave your destination better than you found it. Pack a small reusable bag for trash and be mindful of the environment wherever you go. Follow the principles of "leave no trace" to ensure your travels have a minimal impact on nature and local communities.
Why Green Packing Matters
Green packing is about more than just reducing waste—it’s a mindset that aligns with sustainable travel. By carefully choosing what to bring, you not only lighten your luggage but also minimize your environmental footprint. Small changes like packing reusable items or opting for sustainable fabrics make a significant difference.
10 Easy Ways to Make Your Next Trip More Sustainable
Traveling is one of life’s greatest joys, but it often comes with an environmental cost. Luckily, sustainable travel isn’t as hard or complicated as it may seem. By making a few mindful choices, you can enjoy your adventures while reducing your impact on the planet. Here are ten easy ways to make your next trip greener and more responsible.
1. Choose Eco-Friendly Accommodations
Look for hotels and resorts that prioritize sustainability. Many accommodations now have green certifications or practices, such as using renewable energy, reducing waste, or supporting local communities. Websites like Green Key or BookDifferent can help you find these eco-friendly stays.
2. Pack Light
Packing light not only makes your trip more convenient but also reduces your carbon footprint. The heavier the plane or vehicle, the more fuel it consumes. Stick to essentials, and choose reusable items like water bottles, tote bags, and travel utensils to minimize waste.
3. Travel Locally
You don’t always have to go far to have an amazing experience. Explore nearby destinations and support local tourism. This reduces the emissions associated with long-haul flights and helps boost local economies.
4. Use Public Transportation or Walk
Once you’ve arrived at your destination, ditch the rental car and opt for public transport, cycling, or walking. Not only are these options greener, but they also allow you to experience the local culture and environment more intimately.
5. Offset Your Carbon Emissions
If you must fly, consider offsetting your carbon footprint through reputable organizations like Gold Standard or Cool Effect. These initiatives support projects like reforestation and renewable energy, balancing out your travel emissions.
6. Support Local Businesses
Instead of dining at big chains or shopping at international stores, choose local restaurants, markets, and craft shops. This helps sustain the local economy and ensures your money benefits the community you’re visiting.
7. Respect Wildlife and Nature
Avoid tourist attractions that exploit animals or damage natural habitats. Choose ethical wildlife tours and respect local regulations, such as staying on designated trails or keeping a safe distance from animals.
8. Reduce Plastic Use
Plastic waste is a global issue, especially in popular tourist areas. Bring your own reusable water bottle, straws, and containers. Many airports and cities now have refill stations to encourage this practice.
9. Embrace Slow Travel
Instead of cramming as many destinations into one trip as possible, focus on exploring one location deeply. Slow travel reduces transportation emissions and allows you to form a stronger connection with the place and its people.
10. Educate Yourself and Others
Sustainability starts with awareness. Learn about the environmental and social challenges in the places you visit and share your knowledge with fellow travelers. The more people adopt eco-friendly practices, the bigger the collective impact.
Why It Matters
Sustainable travel is more than just a trend; it’s a responsibility we all share to protect the planet and its communities. Every small step counts, from packing smarter to supporting local businesses. By incorporating these tips into your next adventure, you can enjoy the beauty of the world while ensuring it remains vibrant and accessible for future generations.
If you care even a little bit about climate change, animal abuse, world hunger, deforestation, human health, the oceans, you really really really need to take a long hard look at what you eat. As much as people don’t want to admit it, animal agriculture is killing the environment, animals, and humans, and the longer society refuses to admit it the more damage is going to be done.
Ways to start becoming zero waste
1. Don’t go out and buy new products. Even though you think going out and buying a bunch of containers or food bags is a good idea. Its not. You have all this already. Start by going through what you have and how you can use it in multiple ways. Use old containers that have no lids to store things in your cupboard or fridge. Use canvas bags you have received from clothing stores for your shopping bags. You can use a lot of what you already have, you just forgot about them.
2. Always carry a water bottle. This will stop you from buying unnecessary drinks while you’re out and producing more waste. Plus if you have a large enough bottle you can get stores to put their drinks into your bottle instead of using their own takeaway cups.
3. When you start to see your house becoming more zero waste, when you go for your next shop start by making one room in the house zero waste at a time. Maybe work on this per month. Here is a guide i found on pinterest that i think is a great idea.
being a part of the forest feels good
for all of you guys getting anxious about the environment and pollution
y’all deserve to hear the good news too, and yes i fact checked these.
7 miles of habitat for bees will be planted in london
the biggest coal plant in north america has been converted to solar panels
roads in edinburgh will close once a month to help pollution
maine has banned styrofoam
new york city and los angeles have both made “green new deals”
The london marathon replaced 200,000 single use water bottles with seaweed water pods
the bees in notre dame survived the fire, and the roof could possibly built in a more eco-friendly way.
the population of flightless kakapos (a cool bird) is rising
the carbon emissions in the uk are the lowest they’ve been since 1998
Another large bee habitat (.5 mil acres) has been created
there is a robot that delivers young coral to help repopulate the great barrier reef
portugal plans to stop using plastic on fruit, vegetables, and bread by 2020
106 new species of bees have been discovered in australia since 2010
a group of Sikhs plan to plant 1,000,000 trees as a gift to the earth
disney has made a mickey-shaped solar farm
Morgan freeman turned a 124 acre ranch in mississippi to a bee habitat
China plans on making a “forest city” to help clean up their air
An increasing amount of countries and states are beginning to ban single use plastics.
A couple replanted a whole forest in brazil (2.7 mil trees) in 20 years, and the animals have come back to live there
The hole in the ozone layer is repairing itself more each year
China plans on spending 360 billion dollars to improve renewable energy and has scrapped plans for coal powered plants that were going to be built.
A national park has been built in the amazon (3.3 mil acres in peru) to preserve the rainforest
Ireland and the uk have declared a climate emergency
The guy who played aquaman (jason momoa) has spent 31,000 dollars to help clean up plastic
South korea is now recycling 95% of food waste
There is a cleanup campaign being planned for mt. everest
Puerto rico wants to use all renewable energy by 2050 and is setting official goals for that
Some schools have special water bottle fill-up stations that encourage you to use refill and reuse plastic bottles rather than throwing them out after one use, these are becoming more common.
9 endangered species are thought to make a comeback this year
20 countries in africa are planning to make a “green wall” of trees and plants that will span the width of africa to stop desertification
recently, a lot of volunteers and organizations are planting a ton of trees.
Awareness about the environment and climate change is growing super fast right now among people and countries, which will only help us
Most pollution is caused by like 100 companies, but a few of those (like pepsi) are trying to cut down on that.
if this stuff keeps happening things will get even better, and the only thing stopping us really are those big companies who don’t want to pay the money to switch to more eco-friendly energy sources. i know the media tends to cause fear and stress about this stuff for a lot of people, but there really is hope.
easy things we can do:
Recycle
Plant gardens in your yard for bees if you can
Participate in community volunteer things that plant trees and gardens
Theres this search engine called ecosia that plants a tree for every 45 searches you make, it has almost 2 mil users.
Pick up trash if you see it when you’re at the beach or in nature
If you have a fair amount of money, consider donating some to trustworthy environmental organizations
Start using a reusable water bottle (like those ones at target) rather than relying on single use plastic ones.
Cut the plastic rings on plastic milk bottles. You know, the little spiky plastic ring near the cap. Birds get those things stuck around their neck and die, so cut them so that they can’t get stuck on a neck.
If you can afford it, get some of those reusable grocery bags and sue those. most grocery stores have them, and it saves a lot of waste.
Journey to zero waste #23 🌱💚
A good day!! Got coffee with my bud and did a little thriftin!
-the most convenient zero waste swap is a mason jar! Mason jars are perfect for storing things, used for take out, bulk shopping, and my favorite iced coffee
-did a little thrifting! It can be super tempting at times to but from fast fashion stores but a little thrifting and you can find just what you’re looking for and so much cheaper! I wanted woven sandals and if I had bought the ones I wanted they would have been $120 but I got these for $2.99!!!
-also working a lot harder to buy things from thrift stores I’ve either really been wanting if am most definitely going to wear! Just because it’s from a thrift store doesn’t mean you need to buy it!
“we’re ruining the planet” i’m sorry who is this we i don’t recall myself running a billion dollar oil business
Simple guide on how to create less waste
Happy Earth Day!! Tick off your progress of your zero-waste journey! How many do you do already and how many will you be able to do by the end of the year?
Going zero waste is something that everyone adapts to differently according to what they have available, so do what you can, be aware and spread the word!
I wanted to add a link to every product, and I also need to add some other things but if you want to help me out that’d be great!
today is earth day! in honor of Mother Earth let’s guillotine every ceo that’s willfully contributing to climate change despite having billions of dollars that could be used to stop it!
It feels very rewarding to go to the bulk store with a bunch of mason jars and fill them up! I’m saving money and waste just by doing this simple thing. Food in mason jars looks way better than a bunch of boxes and bags in my shelf anyways.
Instagram: vibing.vegan
A great source for students interested in sustainable living!
🌲🌿 Being A Green Student 🌿🌲
Hello my studious friends! I’ve decided I’d (finally) make the green student guide that I’ve been promising forever. Here you’ll find a handy list of ways you can stay environmentally conscious while hitting the books. Feel free to pick a choose what suggestions work best for you and your lifestyle. Again, these are purely suggestions, but I really recommend adopting as many as you can. All of us, especially those in the traditionally “western” nations with outrageous carbon footprints (aka America and many parts of Europe), need to start thinking about how we impact our planet in our daily lives. It’s the only one we have. At first, these suggestions may seem excessive or strange, but I promise, after a week or two, they’ll feel like second nature. So, I hope you take up these tips, and enjoy my guide to be a greener student!
Disclaimer: I understand that being green can be expensive, with little reward besides a cleaner lifestyle and conscious. I’m a financially impaired student, just like many of you. I’m not one to go around attacking people for not trying to be sustainable, just passing along tips I’ve picked up. That said, most of these tips can be modified, with a dash of creativity, to fit your monetary needs. And, obviously, I’m not saying that if you’re struggling to feed yourself you should go drop all your money on recycled notebooks, because that would be ridiculous.
Open the Read More to, well, read more!
Keep reading
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.
Native American Proverb (via earthlingmag)
I just started using reusable bamboo pads as another small step to reducing my waste. If you use cotton pads, I recommend investing in reusable ones. Like most things, we don’t realize how much waste they produce. When you factor in the packaging they come in, plus using them once every day or two, the waste adds up. Not to mention the energy it takes to produce them. These are from Marleys Monsters and they’re great!
Instagram: vibing.vegan
Daily reminder that companies litter and pollute 100 times more than any one person and we should shame them daily.
I’m just so terrified that my children will never be able to experience nature as it is with all the animals and diversity and plants and insects and forests and snow because this generation didn’t wake up.
Composting questions? We have answers
Why did I decide to use bamboo toothbrushes?
I’m reducing the use of plastic at home
Bamboo handles are naturally antimicrobial and biodegradable
They are as effective as plastic and electric toothbrushes
They are organic while having good quality and design
Plastic toothbrushes are really difficult to recycle
All plastic toothbrushes you ever used are still out there!
low waste walmart grocery haul :)
If ur highkey pissed off that eco-activism is constantly written off as reefer hippie bullshit so much so that even the lower class, who would normally benefit from it, are willing to push this false narrative of giving a fuck about the earth being bad or embarassing, all because the capitalists who brainwash them would sooner watch it die than lose a single dollar, and it all makes you sick to your fucking stomach, clap your hands
