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It is what we see every day in famous cities all over the world. It is the result of how fast we stared living our lives and the urging feel that we need to enjoy every second filling it with experiences. When we go on a city break, we tend to go to the main tourist highlights to see (and to be seen at) the most relevant highlights of a city – in the beginning taking pictures to show relatives or to display them at home, nowadays especially focused on social media. We want to see the most, in the least time possible. As city breaks are an important segment in the Tourism industry for a lot of countries in Europe, it is important to understand that this practice can be more sustainable and responsible towards the impact it has on the destination. This way, to make my contribution to your introduction to Sustainable Travel, I have created a list of 10 actions for an Eco City Break.
#1 – Use public transportation
First of all, walk! It is the best way to get to know a city. You see a lot more, you feel the environment and the “local vibes” better and (very important) you can take better pictures too. If the place you want to visit is too far for you to walk and there is no information about places of interest along the way (or if you’re just in a hurry because the time is short), give preference to public transportation. Use buses, trains, trams, metro, anything. Maybe try to avoid rush hour (make the most of your hotel bed, enjoy a nice breakfast!), since the locals need to go to work, available seats and space around oneself are always pleasant “amenities” when using public transportation, for both locals and visitor.
#2 – Visit local parks and gardens
Save some of your time to stroll and explore some local parks and gardens. Very often visitors’ attention is concentrated mostly on erected cultural patrimony, but in many cities there are a lot of natural elements that also belong to the heritage and historical background of a place. Instead of wasting your (little) time in lines, plan to your visits to gardens and parks during the busiest hours for museums or monuments. This will contribute for the improvement of the quality of the overall experience of everyone: visitors more spread around the city, shorter lines and wait times, stress decrease of the local workers, less likely to experience an overcrowded monument.
#3 – Souvenirs Made in Portugal
First of all, question yourself about the amount of happiness and fulfillment you will get from the items you buy. Are they your own souvenirs or are you going to buy them as a gift? What will the person – you give them to – do with your gift? Will they keep it, because they appreciate your gesture, but throw it away as a useless item in a couple of months/years? Any of the above are possible and valid. Not everyone is a minimalist, and it is good to have variety in our society! And if you really like to buy souvenirs, go for it! Just try to make sure they are meaningful to you and the person you thought them for. But mostly, pay attention to the label on the product. Your purchases will not have such a determinant impact on the local economy if you are buying imported goods. Try to get information from hotel concierge, tourist information offices or (even better) your local guide about places to buy products that are locally (or within the country) made. This way you are leaving your money in the country/city, creating more demand for these items and increasing the possibility of employing more people with better salaries. Your purchases matter, A LOT!
#4 – Eat/drink in
Being Portuguese, I didn’t grow up seeing people rushing and eating their meals “on the go”. In Portugal, people who don’t have time to wait for an available table usually eat at the counter. I understand this may not be common for other cultures, but you can always try to implement the concept elsewhere (as a suggestion, some restaurants might not have the facilities/proper counters for this). Try sitting down for a meal or drink. Even if it is just a quick sandwich. Eating on the go requires single-use items that are avoidable if you sit down for a meal. Less paper/packaging leads to less waste. Less likely for it to end in landfills or even on the streets, rivers, etc. Having a break to eat and drink will allow your body to rest for a while, and your mind will be focused on savoring the local delicacies you are trying, creating and enhancing your memories about the place you are visiting.
#5 – Bring your own reusable water bottle and utensils
This tip might seem obvious, since there is a growing number of people buying and using reusable water bottles every day. However, the data (WWF 2018 report – “Out of the plastic trap: Saving the Mediterranean from plastic pollution”) shows that in southern European countries, during summer, the number of marine littler (plastic bottles, bags, cigarette filters, balloons, straws, etc) increases by 40%. Here are some replacement suggestions:
Single-use plastic bottles – Reusable bottle that you can refill almost anywhere in European cities.
Plastic bags – Keep one or two bags that you already have at home in your travel purse/backpack. Do not buy cloth bags until you run out of plastic ones. We need to use what we have first, since these are items that were already produced. Let’s make the most out of them!
Cigarette filters: Bring your portable ashtray! This way you don’t need to finish your cigarette by a bin, and it will be less likely to dispose of it to the street. But mostly, don’t smoke, it is bad for you! And before you toss it away on the street, think about how it will find its way to the rivers and ocean, ending up on our children’s mouths as they find them while playing on the beach.
Straws – If you really like straws (because you don’t NEED them if you are a healthy grownup person), bring your own. There are tons of material variety, colors… There are even some that are foldable and occupy as much room as a case of smartphone ear buds.
#6 – Buy tickets online use their digital version
This is a daily growing trend all over Europe, which began its first few steps long before the pandemic. After that, the Tourism Industry had to adapt, measures were taken to decrease the physical contact between people to contain the virus, and now it is a new normal. Several were the investments made to meet the travelers’ expectations regarding their safety and also to spend less of their precious vacation time in lines.
#7 – Book lodging with sustainable providers
This fairly new topic is still a little blurry for the consumer. What is a sustainable lodging? How can I distinguish them? What about green washing in the hotel industry? How can I be sure if they are doing their part? Well, long story short: A sustainable type of lodging (hotel, B&B, apartment, etc) take action in decreasing their business’ environmental impact. Proposals rely mostly on reducing water consumption, energy savings and reduction of waste. There are different organizations/companies that provide certification so that businesses can communicate their efforts better. Meaning: If they’re doing something about the environment, they will make sure it will make them stand out from others. I will try to go deeper into this in another post.
#8 – Travel light
Before you travel you have to figure out what is the forecast of the place you are going to visit, what activities are you going to do while you’re there, and only then start packing accordingly. This may be a hot topic to negotiate to some people (I’m thinking of my grandmothers’ hand bag which probably weights around 5kg/11pounds, and she has THE ENTIRE WORLD in there, that she can’t leave the house without! – I love you anyway Avozinha!). But we really need to think about the impact this has on you and the environment. Starting by you: hard work to pack a lot of items, then unpack them just to pack them back again to come back home; the cost it adds on your well earned break from day to day life (spend the money at a restaurant instead, improve your experience); time loss at the airport to check the luggage on departure, and to claim it upon arrival; more likeliness to leave something behind (this one is me, by the way!). Now the environment: if you pack light, the amount of CO2 of your flight/airport transfer will decrease and your city break will be less pollutant. Besides cutting down on your carbon footprint, you can also compensate it by investing your money in funds applied to sustainable development initiatives.
#9 – Hire activities locally
This follows the same train of thought as tip #3 of this post. But I this specific case, you need to pay more attention, since there isn’t a label that will make you able to tell the difference between one and the other. In the tourism business’ world, the more middleman there are, the less each party is getting, especially the ones that are directly delivering the experience to the traveler. Try to look for local companies or providers to hire your activities or continue using your travel agent, but make sure to ask if the workers are being paid what they consider a fare rate/price. This is a very sensitive subject to approach, but very important when it comes to social responsibility. There should be a “Fare trade” label for Tourism as there is for chocolate production for example. Do you know any that could apply to this? Please share if you do!
#10 – Spread the word
Sharing is caring. If you feel that this information could contribute to a better approach to city breaks, please share this content. The more people read it, the more likely it is that they will think about (at least) one of these tips. Together we can be the change we want to see in the world!