The Great, Green Holiday: Is Your Trip Sustainable or Greenwashed?
It happens. It’s everywhere. It’s problematic. But just how destructive is greenwashing? And what does it mean for you and your travel choices?
Greenwashing is a tricky thing to pinpoint. It’s a specific brand of marketing, expertly created and curated to mask some of the worst environmental sins of the world’s largest corporations.
So, 1) how do we identify it? and 2) can we escape it?
Sustainable Travel Is Hard — So Why Bother?
Being sustainable while travelling is not always easy. From the moment you decide to plan a trip, you’re bombarded with information about ‘the best way’ to make better travel choices — presented in heavily edited, perfectly curated, bite-sized content that makes sustainable travel look simple and sexy. It’s understandable that as a travel-planner trying to be conscientious, you become frustrated, deflated, and feel as though your efforts are useless in comparison to shiny, glitzy media content.
What the Fuck Is Conscientious Travel?
I feel guilt when I travel.
I live a privileged existence — not as much as some, but far more than most.
I am white. By birth, I have passports from not one wealthy country but two. I have had access to primary and further education. I earn an alright amount of money and have disposable income. I am cis-het or straight — and am rarely mistaken for anything but that. I have been told that I am pretty. I have a man’s name, and not just any man’s name, the most mediocre-khaki-trousers-wearing-takes-shirtless-selfies-in-the-gym-works-in-sales-white-man’s name, Kyle. All qualities that, on the global social hierarchy, puts me firmly in a position of privilege.
When I travel, the world is, for the most part, my oyster.
Travel by Music - Vol. 5 - France
Two of the greatest pleasures in life are travel and music. As we make our way through a world that, at least at the moment, feels increasingly manic and troubled, more of us are searching for escape routes, with many of us turning to travel – be it for a short city break or a permanent change of scene. Whatever the reason for travel, it can be an experience that sparks joy and wonder.
Travel by Music - Vol. 4 - Japan
Two of the greatest pleasures in life are travel and music. As we make our way through a world that, at least at the moment, feels increasingly manic and troubled, more of us are searching for escape routes, with many of us turning to travel – be it for a short city break or a permanent change of scene. Whatever the reason for travel, it can be an experience that sparks joy and wonder.
Travel by Music - Vol. 3 - Peru
Two of the greatest pleasures in life are travel and music. As we make our way through a world that, at least at the moment, feels increasingly manic and troubled, more of us are searching for escape routes, with many of us turning to travel – be it for a short city break or a permanent change of scene. Whatever the reason for travel, it can be an experience that sparks joy and wonder.
Touring with Death and Danger: Exploring the World through Dark and Morbid Tourism
‘Where do they keep them now?’
It was common enough to get absurd, borderline offensive questions in my line of work as a tour guide in Berlin. But this question asked by a young South Korean woman to one of my colleagues would go down in Berlin tour guide history. Over a decade later, it still comes up when any of us former guides get together and reminisce about the complexities, joys, and difficulties of educating hoards of holidaying tourists about the horrors of Germany’s 20th century activities.
Travel by Music - Vol. 2 - New Zealand
Two of the greatest pleasures in life are travel and music. As we make our way through a world that, at least at the moment, feels increasingly manic and troubled, more of us are searching for escape routes, with many of us turning to travel – be it for a short city break or a permanent change of scene. Whatever the reason for travel, it can be an experience that sparks joy and wonder.