Barcelona - green tips - how to be a green tourist

Green tips Barcelona


How to be a a green tourist while visiting Barcelona.

To be honest being a tourist leaves a massive carbon footprint after flights, taxis, hotels with air-conditioning and so on. It's impossible to offset this just by doing small things but please make the effort anyway.

To offset some of your carbon footprint the best way is also to make daily changes at home to your energy consumption habits.

You might do some research on climate change on organisations like United Nations and Verra.org

Ask for drinks without straws of any kind

A drinking straw is called "una pajita". Straws are too small to be recyled and many end up in the sea where they created problems for marine wildlife.

Order your drinks without straws by saying: " I want it without a straw" - "Lo quiero sin pajita"

Although you should support bans on straws, please remember that straws are a very useful tool for disabled people. Restaurants could offer disabled people metal straws.

Walk or Cycle

The more you walk ,the greener you are and it's goof for your health too. Barcelona is a small city with a mild climate so walking or cycling is an easy, cheap and green option


Bike rentals
Walking tours
Bike tours

Plastic
Avoid fast food restaurants who don't sort their trash for recycling. Try and limit your use of plastic bottles. It is safe to drink tap water in Barcelona so if possible please buy a reusable bottle to refill from public fountains.

When you dispose of plastic water bottles then try and find a yellow trash container for recycling plastic. Don't just throw them in any bin.

Avoid plastic bags
Buy a sustainable bag to use for grocery shopping

Shop less
Less shopping means less production, less transport, less packaging. The world needs to move towards a more sustainable way of life which means means eliminating fast fashion and buying better qualiry and more durable goods.

Avoid paper bags in stores
It's understandable that fashion stores want you to advertise their brand when you leave their shop but a sustainable bag is a better solution. Ask stores to limit the number of bags they give you. Check also too if their production methods are sustainable.

Litter
Don't litter and be careful not to litter in parks and especially on the beach because many plastic bags blow into the sea.

Wetwipes
Don't flush wet-wipes down the toilet. Millions of wetwipes clog up the city sewers and create all sorts of problems down there. Throw them in the litter and limit your use of them as much as possible. Same applies for contact lenses. Don't flush them. Throw them in the waste basket.

Cigarette butts
Around 25% of the Spanish population smoke. Cigarette butts are the most common form of littered in the world today. Because they are small, many smokers assume they do no harm because they will be swept up by street cleaners, but many butts are washed into the sewers and end in the sea. Cigarette butts are very toxic for the environment because of the chemicals in the paper and filter. They take 10 years to decompose, so please don't throw cigarette butts in the street.

From 2022 smoking is not allowed on any Barcelona beaches. Did you know that Barcelona is actually home to a new method for quitting smoking that is growing in popularity. Read about a new way to quit smoking 

Hotels, towels and water use
Use water very sparingly and don't ask for towels to be washed until necessary

Air-conditioning
Turn it off when you are not in your hotel room.

Noise pollution
Be respectful of neighbours and residents especially if you are staying in AirBnB or holiday apartments.

Reduce use of food wrapping, food waste and food transport by eating less. Use the Stepbac® method to learn a simple way to stay at a natural and healthy body weight without difficulty.

How to be a good tourist
Where to stay in Barcelona

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 11 July 2023 13:33
 

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