Eco-Responsible Travel Tips for the Summer

Tourism now produces nearly one of every 11 tons of greenhouse gases the world emits. A 2024 analysis published in Nature Communications found that global tourism generated about 5.7 billion U.S. tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019, or about 8.8% of total global emissions, and that the sector’s footprint grew 3.5% per year between 2009 and 2019, double the growth rate of the rest of the world economy.

The travelers behind those numbers keep multiplying. UN Tourism counted a record 1.52 billion international arrivals in 2025, up 4% from 2024 and well past the 1.4 billion recorded in 2018, when this article was last updated. The good news: the biggest sources of travel emissions are also the ones you control directly, and the data now lets us put numbers on each choice.

1. Choose Your Transportation — the Biggest Lever You Control

How you get there typically outweighs everything you do after you arrive. Per-kilometer comparisons compiled by Our World in Data from U.K. government emissions factors show how wide the gap between modes really is:

When you do fly, three choices shrink the damage.

Fly direct: takeoff and climb burn the most fuel, so every connection adds a second high-emission phase to your trip.

Fly economy: the International Council on Clean Transportation calculates that premium seats emit 2.6 to 4.3 times more CO2 per passenger-kilometer than economy seats because they occupy more of the aircraft — premium cabins accounted for nearly 20% of all commercial aviation passenger emissions in 2019.

And once you land, your choice of transit, walking, or biking rather than defaulting to a rental car, has a significant impact on your journey’s carbon impact.

2. Bring a Reusable Water Bottle — Because Two of Every Three Bottles You’d Buy Become Waste

The UN Environment Programme estimates the world purchases about 1 million plastic drinking bottles every minute, and travelers in unfamiliar places are reliable customers. In the U.S., only 30.2% of PET bottles were recycled in 2024, according to the National Association for PET Container Resources, which means roughly seven of every 10 bottles bought on a domestic road trip end up landfilled, burned, or littered.

A filled reusable bottle also gets you past airport water prices; most U.S. airports now offer refill stations beyond security. Where tap water isn’t potable, a bottle with a built-in filter or purifier still beats a week of single-use purchases.

3. Use Reef-Friendly Sunscreen — Up to 6,000 Tons Wash Into U.S. Reef Areas Each Year

The National Park Service estimates that up to 6,000 tons of sunscreen wash through U.S. reef areas annually. A 2022 Stanford study published in Science showed why that matters: corals and anemones metabolize oxybenzone, a common UV filter, into a compound that sunlight turns toxic, and bleached corals, already stressed by warming water, are the most vulnerable. NOAA research at Oahu’s Hanauma Bay found that a single day’s sunscreen pollution can linger in the enclosed bay for another two days.

However, regulation is catching up. Hawaii banned the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate beginning in 2021, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Palau, and Bonaire have adopted similar restrictions; Maui County goes further, allowing only mineral sunscreens.

Because “reef safe” is a marketing term without a consistent labeling standard, read the ingredient list: look for non-nano zinc oxide or titanium dioxide as the active ingredients, and skip oxybenzone and octinoxate whenever you plan to swim.

4. Eat Local — for Your Plate’s Sake and the Community’s

Eating at farmers’ markets, street stands, and neighborhood restaurants keeps your travel dollars in the local economy and connects you to the place you came to see. On the climate side, the accounting is more specific than “local food equals low carbon.” Data from the largest global food-systems study, compiled by Our World in Data, shows transport accounts for only about 5% of food’s total emissions, because most food moves by ship. What you order matters far more, because producing a kilogram of beef emits about 60 kilograms of greenhouse gases, versus 1 kilogram for peas.

Local, in-season eating still delivers a real climate benefit in one specific case: it steers you away from air-freighted perishables. Flying food emits roughly 50 times more greenhouse gas per ton-mile than shipping it by sea, so the out-of-season berries and asparagus at a resort buffet carry an outsized footprint.

Order what grows where you are, lean toward plants and local seafood, and you cover both the carbon and the culture.

5. Treat Your Hotel Room Like You Pay Its Utility Bill

Heating and cooling account for almost 40% of the electricity and more than half of the natural gas that U.S. hotels and motels consume, according to the Deparment of Energy’s ENERGY STAR program, and the average guest room sits empty about 12 hours a day, often with the air conditioner running the whole time. Setting the thermostat back several degrees and switching off lights and the TV when you head out is the single most effective in-room habit a summer traveler has, especially in hot destinations where that electricity is likely generated with fossil fuels.

Smaller habits compound. Hang your towels and skip daily housekeeping so linens aren’t laundered after every night. And rather than dropping a single wrapper in the room’s trash can, which prompts housekeeping to replace the plastic liner, carry small trash out to public or lobby receptacles.

6. Slow Down and Stay Longer

Because transportation usually dominates a trip’s footprint, staying longer can lower the carbon cost of each vacation day. One 10-day trip produces far less travel-related carbon than three long weekends that use the same number of vacation days. The researchers behind the 2024 tourism-emissions study identify long-haul flight growth as one of the trends most at odds with climate goals. Fewer, longer trips closer to home — and the Pacific Northwest offers plenty — give you more vacation for each ton of carbon emitted.

Before You Go: A Quick Checklist

• Book direct flights in economy or take the train where routes allow.
• Pack a reusable water bottle (and filter, if needed) and a mineral-based, non-nano zinc oxide sunscreen.
• Plan one longer trip instead of several short flights.
• At the hotel: set back the AC when you leave, reuse towels, decline daily housekeeping.
• Eat what’s local and in season; go easy on beef and air-freighted produce.

Related Reading on Earth911

• 19 Ways To Reduce Your Environmental Impact While Overlanding
• Which Reef-Safe Sunscreen Should You Buy?
• How Big Is the Carbon Footprint of Your Transportation?

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on June 2, 2015, and was most recently updated in July 2026.

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