How to be a responsible tourist when on holiday

While there isn't such a thing as a completely eco-friendly holiday (unless you fancy camping in your garden) there are plenty of ways that you can make your holidays less damaging to the environment. Here we will list some of the ways you can make a positive impact on the place you are travelling to. Remember, you don't need to necessarily follow every suggestion made here – just try and take a few on board where you can.

Think hard about travel

Our rising carbon footprint is having a transformative effect on our environment – and not a positive one either. Rising temperatures from CO2 are leading to soaring sea levels, droughts, forest fires, ice melts and the highest extinction rates since records began. Dangerous stuff.

While a proportion of the burden needs to be carried by industry and government, the average consumer has a responsibility to act too. With this in mind a great many people are trying to reduce their carbon output in their daily lives.

Air travel sadly is one of the biggest polluters and dwarves pretty much every other form of travel when it comes to carbon emissions. This doesn't mean that you can't fly, but that you should consider alternatives. For instance, you could take a city break in the UK or a beach holiday, rather than flying abroad. However, if you do have your heart set on a destination abroad then there are some ways that you can feel less guilty about your travel. One is to pay to offset your emissions.

While this might sound drastic at first, it does make sense. We recycle at home, have shorter showers and many of us have changed our bulbs to energy efficient options – why not pay to reduce your footprint too? The website Climate Care features a handy calculator which tells you exactly how much you would need to pay to an environmental project to offset your emissions and can facilitate the transaction for you.

Once you're on holiday, try and keep your vehicular travel to a minimum. Apps like Google Maps make travelling by foot and finding the places you need relatively easy. If somewhere is too far to walk or you're short on time, then opt for a public bus or share a taxi rather than travelling solo.

Look after your surroundings

We've all visited the seaside and bore witness to the cigarette ends, plastic wrappers, bottles and abandoned toys that litter our beaches. Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans and a large proportion of this can arise from litter leftover at beaches and on the streets of coastal towns. Whenever you visit one of these places be sure to pick up and dispose of your waste. If you want to go the extra step, then you could bring a bag and even spend just five minutes collecting the waste that other people have left behind. It's a great way to teach responsible tourism to your friends and family and a tidy beach is less likely to encourage other people to litter.

This attitude of respecting your surroundings should extend to other aspects of your travel too. Try and avoid disrupting local wildlife and leave them alone unless they approach you first. Equally, pay attention to signs and information boards. Often areas that are restricted are so for a reason and are there to protect and conserve.

Research your stay

With the rise in environmental consciousness many travel operators have become savvy for the need to 'greenwash' their properties. This is when they capitalize on the buzzwords of the day to list their accommodation as eco-friendly when in fact, they are far from it. You can separate the wheat from the chaff by looking for evidence of an environmental policy on their website or contacting them for further evidence of one. Employing local people, sourcing products from the nearby area, using positive schemes for waste management and supporting conservation efforts in their area are all good signs.

Educate yourself on local issues

Being a responsible tourist goes beyond simply the environmental aspect. Many areas of tourism have a negative impact in other ways. Take the impact of tourism on cities like Barcelona. There are regular protests by local people who have been forced to live in the suburbs of the city after the price of apartments has skyrocketed with the rise of short-stay travel sites like Air BNB.

One contentious issue that often rears its head with tourism is the use of captive animals. Elephant rides, captive lions and orcas are just some examples. Often these animals are bred or forced to live in captivity and are either sedated or are physically forced to behave in a tame manner around humans. There are of course exceptions and some animal sanctuaries do encourage visits from the public to maintain their work. However, you should always do your research on websites like Trip Advisor before visiting to be doubly sure of the validity of their claims.

Act with respect

Another important aspect of responsible tourism is to treat the people you encounter with respect. You can learn about local cultures and customs in advance – YouTube often has some great videos explaining how to behave and act. Being loud and noisy, dressing inappropriately, excessive drinking, or violating local or religious norms are some examples of how you can inadvertently offend people.

A major source of annoyance can be to take photographs of people without their permission – so always ask first if they mind you taking a photograph. Something that may seem 'unusual' and 'exotic' to you might simply be someone's way of life and photographing them without their permission can be upsetting for them.

Spend your money wisely

Buying gifts on holiday – especially items that are locally made and unique are a great way to remind you of your trip and also to share with your loved ones a part of the local culture. However, it is important to be mindful of what you are buying. Try and avoid products made from shells, coral, endangered species of wood, gem stones and ivory.

Spending money on local businesses is a great way to make a positive impact on the place you are visiting. If you eat in authentic, independent restaurants, buy souvenirs crafted by local hands and hire a local tour guide then there is a higher chance that your money will benefit and support the local economy.

By following these tips, you can be sure that not only will you have a great experience on holiday, but you'll be able to make sure that other people can too, and for years to come. To find out more about responsible tourism, research forums and video sharing websites online and speak to your travel agent.