Tips to make sustainable and ethical travelling a priority

Africa Melane speaks to Philip Rendel, Owner at Where it All Began about sustainable travel and why it should be a priority. 

What is ethical and sustainable travel all about? 

It involves being conscious and planning a travel journey with the least negative impact on people and the planet because all purchasing decisions have some kind of impact on the planet and the people living on it, says Rendel. 

"A lot of the time, the impact of travel is pretty negative. For example, the number of women of colour, who are probably the largest marganalised group on the planet, are employed in tourism, it's very high. In fact, the largest employer of women world-wide is probably the travel and tourism industry which represents 10% of global GDP - which is a very high figure."

- Philip Rendel, Owner - Where it All Began 

"So when we make decisions about where we stay for any trip - business or pleasure - the impact our travel has on local people and the environment can be very significant."

- Philip Rendel, Owner - Where it All Began 

Rendel recommends asking the following questions to see if your travel destinations are sustainable and ethical:

• Who owns the business? Is it white-male owned with no shareholder or does the community own some land? Do staff members have shares in the business? The latter is the most sustainable option.
• What does the lowest ranking staff get paid? Is minimum wage a living wage for staff? The answer should be yes.
• Ask about the measures put in place for sustainable energy conservation - if there are none, it's a no.
• Ask about water and waste management systems - are they sustainable? If not, sustainability is not top of mind.
• Ask where a hotel or business buys their food, produce or flowers from - if they are all from locally invested and better yet, black-owned businesses - sustainability is top of mind but if these items are imported instead, bringing in air miles, pollution and almost no job creation - sustainability is not a priority.

Rendel also recommends using the app Travel Life - it has a global accreditation network who asks these questions for you to plan trips.

Or use an agency like Where it All Began which uses apps like Travel Life and asks the questions above and more to ensure sustainable travel journeys and bespoke travel adventures. 

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.