WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL IN 2021?
Do you remember all the fuss about plastic straws? It wasn’t long ago when company after company realised that handing out 4.7 billion plastic straws each year in England alone wasn’t such a great idea after all. Hotels were quick to jump on that ‘green’ bandwagon. It was a clear win: something easy to phase out, that represented both a cost saving and a simple way of showing a brand’s eco credentials. Reducing single-use plastic is of course hugely important, and plastic straws and stirrers have now been banned in England. But when it comes to sustainability in travel, plastic straws are a drop in the ocean. They’re a good example of how ideas around sustainability can be misused and narrowed down to a very simple — and not particularly meaningful — issue.
Sustainability isn’t simple. It can’t be boiled down. It isn’t a quick win. A hotel might declare it’s eliminated straws, but does that make it sustainable? What about its energy use, its food waste, its track record on environmental protection and community engagement?
Sustainable travel is complicated; even the term is flawed. According to a survey in 2019, while 42% of travellers would
