Travel Guides → Ethical Travel → Some ethical considerations for your gap year

Some ethical considerations for your gap year

Make your gap year fun and responsible with these handy tips for sustainable travel

Being the considerate, responsible and upstanding member of the community that you are, you’re going to want to go about your gap year as ethically as possible. This article is going to help you do that by considering the ways in which you can have a responsible gap year adventure. From the places you go to the way you behave when you’re there, there are ethical considerations every step of the way. Being an ethical traveller is not just about taking the right sort of holiday or wearing the right sort of T-shirt, it’s a whole outlook. Getting into the ethical mindset will make you a much more considerate traveller.

The most obvious ethical considerations concern where you will go and what you will do but don’t forget that the way you interact with the world can be just as important. Think of this as a handy ethical checklist that you can keep in your head along with your flight times and currency calculations! The first part of the article concerns the big questions you need to think about before you leave and then we’ll look at how to behave ethically when you arrive.

Flying

Choosing the most ethical airline sometimes feels a bit like choosing the best sort of inner-ear infection. Firms like Easyjet claim to be improving fuel economy at a huge rate, but there’s no getting away from the fact that flying does contribute to climate change. Figures vary but its contribution to annual CO2 emissions is generally put at around 5%. Some argue that the fact that the fuel is burnt higher in the atmosphere means that it does even more damage to the environment.

It’s difficult to know whether to give up flying or not; the tourist industry brings valuable income to developing countries and employs around 1 in 8 of the world’s people. The problem is of course that tourism can’t be exported; the only way it can exist is if we travel, so the decision is a tough one. If you do decide to fly, consider offsetting the carbon emissions of your flight at climatecare or by reducing your personal carbon footprint.

Where to go

Picking a country based on ethical grounds is one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal. Many countries rely heavily on income from tourists and if revenue drops off, they sit up and take notice. There are obvious countries to avoid such as Myanmar and North Korea (human rights abuses) but you are hardly likely to want to travel there anyway given the dangers. It gets tougher when you consider countries like China. It is heavily criticised for its lack of political freedoms, but many argue that opening up to the world will accelerate change. We never said these were easy decisions. Check the relevant political/historical sections of your travel guide for a good grounding. If you want in-depth information, here’s an introduction on how to use the climatecare or by reducing your personal UN’s Human Rights Index.

Volunteering

Choosing to volunteer on a sustainable project is one of the most obvious ways of acting ethically on your gap year. As long as you make sure that the volunteer travel provider is responsible and that the projects are of real benefit then you can really make a positive difference to people’s lives. You don’t even have to spend a whole year volunteering; you can join a project and then explore the country afterwards. Gapadvice.org offers an excellent checklist with which to assess companies and projects on ethical grounds. Oh and in case you hadn’t heard, being generous with your time and money is actually good for you ....and that’s a fact!

How to act ethically when you’re away

Ethical considerations don’t just end with the type of gap year you design; they should be with you every step of the way. Below, we’ve produced a list of tips for keeping your gap year ethical.

Avoid products or companies that damage the conservation effort. For example, buying coral and ivory products increases their profitability.
Learn the cultural norms of the country. Disrespecting them will cause great offence and breed mistrust. For example, never touch a child’s head in a Buddhist country or open an umbrella in a Nepalese house!
Learn some phrases; it will help you communicate and create a real feeling of connection with the place and its people.
Find out the environmental issues a country faces and act accordingly. For example, Ghana faces a daily struggle for water, so don’t expect long, luxurious baths!
Know where your money is going; spend it locally and avoid international companies as money spent with them will leave the country.

http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/default.ct

http://www.developments.org.uk//

http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/

http://www.i-to-i.com/how-to-choose-your-volunteer-travel-provider.html