Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications

When you are a true traveler, planet Earth becomes your most passionate and lasting love affair.

And suddenly, it becomes clear that we must protect her.

Along the way, you meet people who are passionate about making green choices, and some who travel with green intentions at the forefront. At first, it can seem strange, foreign. But then you realize, to travel is to witness how fragile our planet really is.

In Alaska, I watched a glacier melt.

In Peru, I watched trash wash up upon the beaches.

In the Sahara desert, plastic bottles were embedded in the otherwise perfect, beautiful sand dunes.

In Vietnam, I could see the effects of our dependence on plastics. It was floating in the Red River in Hanoi. People were swimming in it at Sentosa, in Singapore, piles of floating trash.

In Cambodia, enterprising children from the poorest of villages put empty plastic bottles in a net to fashion a flotation device.

In Halong Bay, Vietnam, when we were fishing for squid by night, the trash glowed back at us. Our guides say a boat with a giant net goes out into the bay to collect the trash periodically. This, my people, is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. And we have no one to blame for this pollution but humankind. It is heartbreaking.

We are already seeing catastrophic effects of climate change, and domestically we are backpedaling on policies and oversight that could otherwise slow or arrest our impact on the Earth. Preservation of the planet is a cause all travelers can get behind, because we love this place and want to keep exploring it while encouraging others to do the same. As travelers, we have a vested interest in protecting Mother Earth.

It’s been so easy for far too long to think of climate change as something we, or someone else, can deal with later. Changes are long past due.

But not all hope is lost. Dear Earth lovers, we still have time to mitigate some of the effects of climate change. And best of all, there are a few easy changes you can make immediately that will have a positive and lasting impact on our beautiful, precious planet. Here are a few ways I try to take responsibility in my own life.

1. I choose overland, slow travel whenever possible. I lived for 15 years without a car, though these days I have one.
2. I work from home, eliminating a daily commute and reducing my dependence on fossil fuels.
3. I recycle, reuse, and thrift more than I buy new. Last year I challenged myself to buy nothing new except certain necessities. I actually loved the process and found choices in clothing, jewelry and household supplies were better quality, cheaper, and far more interesting than the bland fast-fashion/mass consumptions out there. Now I thrift even for gifts.
4. I aim for a zero-waste kitchen. I don’t always get there, but it means I put less in landfills.
5. I eat primarily vegan and local whole foods. This reduces my contribution to the harm committed by highly processed foods, industrial ag and animal agriculture.
6. I don’t put chemicals on my lawn.
7. I often make my own cleaning products, reducing use of toxic products in my home.

Like you, I still want to see many places in the world, places gravely at risk from our current way of life. What choices do you make to lesson your impact on our planet?

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Charish Badzinski is an explorer and award-winning features, food and travel writer. When she isn’t working to build her blog: Rollerbag Goddess Rolls the World, she applies her worldview to her small business, Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications, providing powerful storytelling to her clients.

Posts on the Rollerbag Goddess Rolls the World travel blog are never sponsored and have no affiliate links, so you know you will get an honest review, every time.

Read more about Charish Badzinski’s professional experience in marketing, public relations and writing.

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