Ethical Travel
Volunteering as part of your time off, through work or your school is on the rise! It’s wonderful that so many people want to give their time to communities and people while they travel.
But with the great news stories that come out of this, there are also some negative impacts that can come from volunteering whilst abroad. So how can you ensure you travel, and volunteer responsibly?
Support local economies and communities
One part of volunteering is that you have the chance to be immersed in the local communities and cultures.
Take time to learn the local lingo:
(DuoLingo is a great app to get a head start!), we’ll teach you some of the local language on the first day you arrive.
Buy local and stay local:
As well providing income to local communities, buying local produce also means you reduce your food mileage and packaging.
Work WITH communities
Volunteering is often seen as a one-way street. You go to help the people who need support. However, more often than not, you will receive the same (if not more!) in return as you give, which is why we see volunteering as a two-way path. Rather than telling communities what we think they need, we sit and work WITH them, to understand their needs, and the skillsets that could help them. We continue this conversation regularly, and adapt our projects and programmes to the needs of the communities. This means you know that your work is making a real impact.
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Carbon sink
One of the biggest negative impacts of travel is the travel itself. But one of the best ways to counteract this? Sink your carbon! There are many tree planting projects that you can donate to or partner with as you travel. We partner with GreenStand, an amazing charity that provides local women with income by encouraging them to plant trees. Trees are vital to us all. Locally, they help bring water to the local area, and also store water in the soil, meaning that other crops can grow. In addition, trees provide shade and help us to clean the air around us. We strive to ensure that every volunteer who embarks on our adventures abroad plants at least 50 trees. This allows you to off-set your carbon foot print of the whole trip, from your journey to the airport, to your journey back home!
Take only photos and leave only foot prints
This classic mantra should stick with you whilst you travel. Try to reduce your environmental impact and unnecessary waste as much as possible. If you do have waste whilst out and about and there’s no waste facilities available, take your waste with you and recycle where possible.
