Can You Actually Travel Carbon-free to Peru?

It’s a conundrum that’s becoming more and more common. How can we travel and enjoy the amazing things this planet has created, without destroying it with greenhouse gases? Can we really travel carbon-free?

Let’s be honest up front: It is impossible to create a carbon-free trip to Peru. Even if you don’t fly in, you will have to take a bus or boat, which with 99.99% certainty will be spewing pollutants. So you add to your carbon footprint upon arrival.

And once in Peru you won’t be able to travel from one city to the next without taking a gas-powered bus (or even worse, a plane). The geography and pure massiveness of Peru prevent us from walking or biking from city to city. That’s in addition to the fact that the highways get sketchy at night.

Having said that, you can do a LOT to minimize your carbon impact. Below I describe how to lower your footprint, and later show an option to offset your travels for a carbon neutral vacation.

Easy Tips to Travel Carbon-free in Peru

Transportation

The biggest contributor to visitors’ carbon footprints is transportation, but fortunately you can make a huge difference with some easy practices:

• Bike and walk whenever possible in towns. Many hotels offer bike rentals now, and there are also bike rental agencies in Lima. Try not to use a taxi.
• Buses over planes: Buses use wayyyy less gas per traveller than planes. And Peru has a pretty nice bus system that connects every major city and town. I don’t recommend a private car because they use more gas per person than a bus, and Peruvian roads are notoriously nuts.
• If you have to fly: Direct flights use less carbon than flights with layovers since a lot of gas is used during take-off. Economy class is the most eco-frineldy as well. And pack as lightly as possible to lighten your overall load on board.

Other

Once you get transportation down, other steps are simple and enjoyable.

• Eat local food. Local is always freshest and best anyway!
• Buy local (double check that the source actually IS local). In Peru you can usually buy directly from the creator of a product at the markets, so you know it wasn’t produced in a factory overseas and shipped over.
• Support local communities. This is also easy in Peru! Stay in the communities and in local, eco-friendly hotels. Take the hikes less used to pass through and contribute to communities off the beaten path. You’ll get more authentic experiences in spots that don’t see daily legions of tourists.
• Bring water bottles and a way to clean your drinking water. This can be tablets or a bottle with a filter. Avoid buying plastic water bottle, the scourge of Peru!!!

Thinking Bigger- Change How You Travel

SLOW IT DOWN. This isn’t just for Peru. When you slow down your travel, you lower your carbon footprint. That’s because you spend more time walking around a community, and less time jumping on buses and planes.

Even better, consider backpacking throughout South America. You’ll have to pack lighter and can enter/leave Peru in a bus or boat instead of a plane.

An added benefit is slow tourism is much more enjoyable and fulfilling!

Getting Your Footprint to Zero

Calculate, Then Offset?

Ok, so you’ve followed these rules and STILL don’t have a carbon-neutral trip. Maybe you’ve heard of the sneaky trick called offsetting.

Theoretically, you can calculate the amount of carbon from your trip and even “offset” it by donating to projects that decrease the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.

So you may be wondering, why not just book a trip and offset it, without worrying about the other practices? Because carbon offsetting is imperfect at best.

Most of the projects either are not verified by a 3rd party, would have occurred regardless of offsets, or don’t even happen. This is not just me saying it, but many climate professionals who have studied the subject.

Wendover explains this incredibly well in their video.

Plus, on a practice level, the more carbon we have to offset, the more difficult it will become as we search for even more land to set aside and projects to realize.

So offsetting, at its absolute best, is only a bridge to a carbon-neutral world and not at all the solution. At its worst it’s just a book-keeper’s trick to make it only appear we are on the path to carbon neutrality.

If you still want to try offsetting, Sustainable Travel’s carbon calculator is promoted by the World Wildlife Fund. Here is their travel calculator for carbon offsetting.

Conclusion

Again, it’s impossible to travel carbon-free to Peru. But with some easy changes to your travels, you’ll have an adventure you can feel good about.

And as you simplify your transportation and slow down your travels, or even go off the beaten path, you’ll both lower your footprint and have a more fulfilling experience. So there’s no reason not to do this!

Do you have thoughts on traveling carbon free in general? Let us know below!!!