To be a green traveller you need to make some slight adjustments to your travel routine in order to benefit the environment, the people, culture and economy of the country you are visiting. Here are our tips on ensuring you are a responsible traveller:

Fly Green

There are some great initiatives to ensure your flights to Australia are carbon offset. This means you can travel with a clear conscience knowing you have contributed to the planet’s sustainability.

Use Public Transport

In addition to the obvious positive environmental impacts of choosing public transportation over a car, there are a number of other reasons to hop on a bus or train.

• Public transportation is almost always cheaper than renting a car and paying for gas. And it’s faster than walking so you can cover more ground in a day.
• In most major cities, public transportation will take you anywhere you want to go. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about parking a car or following street signs written only in Chinese. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
• Depending on where you’re headed, most of your fellow passengers will likely be natives. Strike up a conversation. You can practice your foreign language skills and learn about local culture and sites at the same time. And you never know; the person sitting next to you on the bus might be an English teacher who can help you buy a ticket and jump on your train before it leaves. It happened to me in Moscow.
• When you’re on a bus or tram, you’ll see parts of the city that may not be featured in guidebooks. You might even uncover an awesome market or hidden restaurant.

Information sourced from: gogreentravelgreen.com

Responsible Sightseeing

Travel with a tour operator that's environmentally responsible. Before you book, be sure to ask about group size (smaller groups tend to make less of an environmental impact), whether the tours are led by locals, how the tour operator gives back to the community, and what kind of lodging is included.

Our travel consultants at both hostels can help with all this information. We endorese Bunyip Tours in Melbourne and Royal National Park Eco-Tours in Sydney (check out The Royal National Park - Australia's oldest National Park and Sydney's hidden secret).

When hiking, always stay on marked trails and maintain a safe distance from any animals you encounter. Deposit your trash in marked bins or take it with you when you leave.

When snorkelling, do not touch the coral or stir up sediment, as these actions can damage the reef's fragile ecosystem.

Try to buy local products whenever possible instead of those that have been flown or shipped in from overseas. You'll support the local economy and get a taste of native cuisine.

Treat the locals with respect and be open to cultural differences.

Information sourced from: independenttraveller.com

Volunteer Work

Conservation Experience offers you a fun and friendly opportunity to contribute in a practical way to the conservation of the unique Australian environment.The types of projects you can assist include: tree planting, erosion and salinity control, seed collection, construction and maintenance of walking tracks, endangered flora and fauna surveys and monitoring, weed control, habitat restoration and heritage protection.

You join a team of 6 to 10 other volunteers and all meals, accommodation and travel to and from the project is provided.
Visit their website for more details on their upcoming projects which take place all over Australia.

Another popular volunteer project is WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms). This program offers cultural exchange in which you live and work with host farms, and learn about the skills of organic growing.

WWOOF Australia and their hosts make travelling in Australia easy, safe and more fun for both Australian and Overseas Visitors.Both the Northern Greenhouse and Greenhouse Backpacker are official WWOOF Australia Agents. We can provide all the information you need to get started, as well as arrange your membership which is $60 per person or $70 per couple.

Extinction Sucks

Need some more inspiration on why you should give a little back to the earth? Extinction Sucks is a unique co-production between WWF and Babelgum to bring high-quality conservation programming to web audiences.

The six half-hour episodes feature Australians Ashleigh Young and Aleisha Caruso as they raise funds for much-needed equipment to be used in wildlife conservation projects from Nepal to New Zealand and from Vietnam to India. Extinction Sucks breaks the mould of traditional wildlife programmes – both with its fast-paced, humorous style and by being online. It's a wildlife series for the digital age.

The series is broadcast on www.panda.org and www.babelgum.com or you can find out more about the series here.