Travelling Sustainably - Akshaya

I am on a gap year this year! And I have spent the last 3 months in Japan, during which I spent 5 weeks interning for the travel company Travel Hokkaido. During this time, I helped the company take steps in becoming more sustainable, with the goal of being certified by Travelife. Their two main commitments for 2019/20 are to offset their carbon emissions and eliminate their use of single-waste plastic, both of which I brainstormed ideas to help them achieve them. I helped with the design and logistics of new sustainable merchandise, the creation of new policies regarding sustainability, reducing the carbon footprint within the office, the formation of a sustainable tour, researching, and writing reports for all actions taken (as well as forming an action plan) to achieve the certification.

Through this internship, I learnt more about sustainability, a topic I was already passionate about due to studying geography. I also learnt how to thoroughly research and do large amounts of paperwork in an office environment, which I had never experienced before. Furthermore, I improved my skills in effectively communicating my ideas to a team and being able to openly discuss the pros and cons of different possible actions. Through reporting and writing blog posts, I further developed my written communication skills. 

One of the blog posts I wrote was some tips on how to travel more sustainably, which you can read here


I hope these tips inspire you to consider some other factors when planning your travels :) 

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