As the planet heats up, so does our desire to travel. Travel and hospitality industries have broken new ground this year, with people of all ages embracing domestic and international experiences in record numbers. A 2023 report from McKinsey & Co. notes the sector’s strong rebound, with full recovery expected by year’s end after losing “70% of its value in 2020.”

But what does this mean for a warming planet? For the second consecutive year, we’ve seen the hottest summer on record. While El Niño—a natural event in which the central Pacific warms and disrupts weather patterns—is a contributing factor, the main culprit is our continued reliance on fossil fuels. The travel industry plays a significant role, lending to mass energy consumption on transportation, heating, cooling, and entertainment. This is leaving far-reaching environmental impacts beyond that of the destination visited.

For both younger and older demographics, travel has become high on the agenda, with many allocating significant portions of their income to these kinds of experiences. Younger people In particular are prioritizing travel opportunities over material goods. With travel becoming deeply ingrained in our lives, a challenge presents in finding ways to balance the activity with the urgency to protect our planet.

But a new travel philosophy is gaining momentum, particularly with the rise of remote work: “conscious exploration.” This approach encourages travelers to contribute to the well-being of their destinations, rather than merely extracting from them. Instead of checking off bucket lists or chasing social media moments, travelers are increasingly focused on immersing themselves in local culture, traditions, and ways of life. This deeper engagement fosters a stronger sense of responsibility, prompting a commitment to sustainable travel practices.

The principles of conscious exploration are simple yet highly impactful. Rather than supporting global chains, conscious travelers opt for businesses that prioritize sustainability—spending on local operators, using local currency, and choosing locally sourced food to boost regional economies. Being able to spot greenwashing is also key for these travelers, ensuring their choices align with genuine sustainable practices. Some take it further by embracing “slow travel,” remaining longer in one place, building connections within local communities, and offering their skills through volunteer work or through the support of environmental or humanitarian causes.

Conscious travelers are also actively thinking of ways to reduce their carbon footprint. They seek to offset emissions and often choose destinations closer to home to minimize flight time. When venturing abroad, travelers are starting to plan more thoughtfully, opting for alternative and sustainable transportation. For example, instead of boarding short flights between major cities, conscious travelers visiting South East Asia might follow the bike route through Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand, reducing air travel while gaining a deeper connection with these countries.

While forfeiting travel entirely might seem like the most sustainable choice, it’s not a realistic ask in today’s world. The key isn’t striving to be “climate perfect,” but rather recognizing that meaningful change comes from small, consistent actions. Travel isn’t going away anytime soon, and because of that, conscious exploration needs to become the rule, not the exception. By focusing on being “climate better”, we can reduce our impact and make sustainable choices. After all, progress starts with effort, and travel is one of the easiest places to begin.

A new Welsh nursery is at the forefront of a mission to restore the UK’s lost seagrass meadows and equip organisations and communities with the tools to bring back biodiversity and support the removal of carbon dioxide from our atmosphere by restoring these vital habitats. As much as 92% of the UK’s seagrass meadows have been lost since 1936.

Salix, an RSK Group company, is carrying out development work near Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, in partnership with Project Seagrass, whose work has attracted support from international environmental and climate change groups and which counts UK band Coldplay among its patrons. The goal is to be able to grow and supply seagrass plants and seed for restoration schemes throughout the UK. There is an increasing realisation that seagrass plays a major role in biodiversity support and alleviating the climate emergency.

The project is taking place in a once-abandoned aquaculture site. Salix and Project Seagrass have invested in establishing the seagrass nursery on an inland site, and the nursery is supported by an Ofwat Innovation project. The UK’s goal is to restore 30 km² of seagrass by 2030, creating thriving seagrass meadows and bringing national benefits, including increased biodiversity, carbon sequestration, improved human wellbeing and cleaner, healthier seas. The availability of seagrass plants and seed is critical, as is advancing the science behind seagrass restoration, if seagrass meadows are to be restored at scale.

Salix Technical Director David Holland said: “A vital part of this ambitious goal to rejuvenate seagrass meadows around our coastline has been the development of a seagrass nursery facility to supply seeds and mature plants to projects throughout the UK. Without a reliable supply of local provenance seed and mature seagrass plants, restoration efforts will be limited.

“Growing seagrass at this scale had never been done before in the UK. We were the first nursery to work in this area, and the project is constantly evolving and expanding. We have housed all the seeds for Project Seagrass projects, and this year (2023/24) we are housing more than 1.4 million seeds from locations around the UK, which will contribute to restoration efforts.

“We have plans to establish extensive seagrass plants in outdoor ponds near our propagation polytunnel and are really pleased with initial successes and thriving adult plants.”

Salix is also growing freshwater pond plants and is the UK’s only nursery growing salt marsh plants on a commercial scale.

David said: “Alongside our own project work, we would like to use the centre to support and help others in their work to restore seagrass. We can do this by supplying seagrass seeds, plants and guidance to other community and institution-led restoration projects across the UK. This will empower other organisations and communities and create a bit of a seagrass movement for the UK. That’s the key to achieving real success at scale, which will help us to achieve really significant climate change mitigation.”

The Project Seagrass vision is to create a hub for international collaboration, research, knowledge sharing and support for seagrass nurseries and restoration. Project Seagrass is a founding member of the Global Seagrass Nursery Network, an initiative that allows it to regularly communicate and contribute to groundbreaking seagrass nursery research, which acts as an open-source guide to developing seagrass nurseries internationally.

Project Seagrass Founding Director and Chief Scientific Officer Richard Unsworth said: “As we lose our seagrass, we lose the species that make this habitat their home, including some of the UK’s largest commercial fisheries species that rely on seagrass meadows as nursery grounds. This nursery gives us an opportunity to reverse the decline and restore this critical habitat, preserving the numerous benefits that seagrass meadows provide to people and the planet.

“The Project Seagrass nursery is now the ‘go to’ for nursery developments elsewhere, with regular requests from international parties for visits to try to improve or set up their own facilities using the same methods.”

About Salix River & Wetland Services

Salix (www.salixrw.com) is a respected and leading provider of sustainable solutions to river restoration and erosion control projects in the UK. It also provides spillway and shoreline protection, and inland dredging and wetland habitat creation schemes, and has built a unique business as a designer, constructor, manufacturer, distributor and grower rolled in to one single company.

The company primarily provides specialist products and design-and-build services for river restoration and wetland habitat creation projects, and applies soil-bioengineering solutions for soil and riverbank erosion-control schemes. It manufactures and supplies a broad range of soil erosion control and bioengineering products and is the largest grower of native wetland plants in the UK. It is also Europe’s largest producer of coir fibre rolls, and produces the world’s highest performing range of reinforced turf.

The firm joined the RSK Group in February 2020.

About RSK

RSK (www.rskgroup.com) is a global leader in the delivery of sustainable solutions. Its family of more than 200 environmental, engineering and technical services businesses and 14,000 employees works together to provide practical solutions to some of the greatest challenges societies have ever faced.

The company operates in most sectors of the economy, including many of those most critical to future global sustainability, such as water, energy, food and drink, infrastructure, urban development, mining and waste. With its integrated offering across research and development, consultancy and on-the-ground application, RSK can deliver a complete solution that is unrivalled in the market.

The company is certified to the ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 international standards for quality, environmental management and health and safety management.

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