Plan your next adventure in Oz in a sustainable way. Learn how to travel responsibly and reduce your carbon footprint while staying connected with our guide.
The world is currently struggling with climate change and environmental degradation. Therefore, the way we travel and explore new countries must evolve. And that can occur through eco-friendly travel.
So, if you are planning to visit Oz soon, you can consider eco-friendly travel as a way of being environmentally responsible. Eco-friendly travel ensures that you can balance adventure and sustainability.
Thus, future generations can experience the same natural wonders we do today. One way you can do that is through sustainable connectivity. Let’s learn more below.
The environmental impact of traditional SIM cards
While travelling, you are most likely going to need to stay as connected to the internet as much as possible. And for many decades, the solution was the traditional physical SIM cards. However, these SIM cards come with environmental impacts.
According to research, about 4.5 billion physical traditional SIM cards are produced and shipped every year. This accounts for about 560,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 18,000 tons of plastic waste each year.
Therefore, the traditional SIM cards contribute significantly to the growing sustainability problem that the world is experiencing.
It occurs through the following:
- Increase in landfills due to discarded traditional SIM cards
This contributes to high microplastic pollution. - The production of SIM cards requires plastic and metals, such as silicon and gold
Their extraction involves processes, such as mining, which can be environmentally damaging. It can disrupt habitats, deplete resources, and increase carbon dioxide pollution. - SIM card packaging also has environmental impacts
They use materials such as plastic, cardboard, and foil. All of these further increase plastic waste and pollution.
In addition to the above, recycling plastic SIM card waste can be very challenging. So, as a traveller in Oz, you should consider other ways to stay connected without any environmental impact.
eSIMs as a sustainable alternative
One of the best solutions to the environmental impact of traditional SIM cards is eSIM technology. Check it out here to see an example of the best sustainable eSIM in the market. This eSIM enables environmental sustainability by doing the following.
Ensuring that you no longer need physical SIM cards
As mentioned above, physical SIM cards contribute to about 18,000 tons of plastic waste each year. On the other hand, eSIM can help save about 5.4 million kilograms of plastic waste annually. This helps to solve the issue of non-biodegradable pollution in the telecommunications industry.
Minimising electronic waste
Physical SIM cards are not only made using plastic but also metal and silicon. This makes them difficult to recycle and thus they contribute to electronic waste. eSIMs, on the other hand, use less than one per cent of the materials needed for traditional SIM cards.
That means they reduce the amount of metal extraction needed. And thus, protect the environment.
Allowing users to switch between multiple carriers
eSIMs allow users to switch between carriers and plans remotely. This means there is no need for replacing the hardware, as one would by swapping and disposing of several SIM cards. In turn, this ensures minimal plastic waste.
Lowering carbon emissions
Research shows that eSIMs can reduce carbon emissions by up to 87 per cent compared to physical SIM cards. That’s equal to reducing about 4.4 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2025. This is because eSIM eliminates the need for manufacturing, packaging, and distributing physical SIM cards.
Supporting local eco-tourism with tech
The world is currently experiencing a climate crisis, and it is mainly due to environmental degradation. The good thing is that as a traveller in Oz, there are ways you can reduce the crisis by supporting eco-tourism with tech.
You can do that by:
- Using eco-conscious booking platforms such as Green Key to find certified eco-lodges, waste-free hotels, and solar-powered accommodations.
- Comparing the carbon footprint of different accommodations by using apps like BookDifferent. This can help you choose low-impact places.
- Using apps to find eateries where you can dine with locals using sustainably sourced ingredients. This can help reduce restaurant food waste.
- Going paperless by using electronic tickets and digital audio guides. It helps to reduce paper consumption and support eco-friendly practices through the tourism value chain.
- Using eco-tracking tools, such as MyClimate, that can track your trip’s carbon footprint and ensure you can offset it using verified projects.
- Donating to platforms, such as ecomatcher, whose main objective is to plant trees. This action can help to offset your carbon footprint during your trip to Oz.
- Paying using digital platforms instead of cash.
Reducing carbon footprint while staying connected
Staying connected as you explore Oz doesn’t have to come at an environmental expense. In addition to using eSIM, there are other small ways that you can reduce your carbon footprint while ensuring you are connected to the internet.
These ways include the following:
- Choosing energy-efficient smartphones, tablets, and accessories with eco-friendly certifications and long battery life to limit charging.
- Reducing energy drain in all your devices by activating battery-saving modes, reducing screen brightness and turning off GPS or Bluetooth when not in use.
- Carrying portable solar chargers to reduce electricity consumption.
- Unplugging chargers when not in use to prevent “vampire” energy drain.
- Reducing data centre emissions by managing your data consumption.
Future innovations in sustainable travel tech
The future of sustainable travel tech will mostly focus on technologies that enhance the travel experience and reduce environmental impact. One thing that you can expect is the expanded capabilities of eSIM.
This can help to ensure seamless access to local networks anywhere in the world, therefore eliminating the need for roaming and physical SIMs. Also, there will be more innovation in carbon reporting platforms like TripStax.
TripStax enables travellers to compare the environmental impact of different booking segments. For instance, you can use it to compare how sustainable trains or flights in a certain region are. In short, automated carbon reporting will become a standard feature in the future. It will support responsible tourism and help organisations to align their sustainable goals.
