Eco-Conscious Traveling
By Charmaine Slaven
Originally published in the CDSS News, Fall/Winter 2025
There are so many incredible dance, music, and song events happening all around! Perhaps you make an annual journey to a favorite music festival, camp, or dance weekend. As we all travel to various places for community connection and enjoyment, what impact are we having on the environment? Carbon emissions from travel are undeniably contributing to global warming, so what can we do to lessen our impact on the environment while still participating in our favorite activities and communities? Here are some ideas we can all take into consideration as we travel:
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Go local!
Is there a dance or music event nearby that you haven’t tried yet? Give it a go! Exploring new local events can help you discover new joy and connect with your local community. This year, my family decided to prioritize staying closer to home and checking out some festivals and dance weekends in our region that we hadn’t been to before. If you do decide to travel a significant distance to attend an event, consider extending your stay to check out other nearby events, the local area, history, attractions, etc., to make the most of your trip.
If you’re hiring traveling staff to perform at your event, consider offering them enough travel reimbursement to cover direct flights, asking them to lead a workshop to help develop local talent, working with them and organizers in nearby communities to plan a tour to help make the most of their travel to the area, or asking participants to donate a couple of dollars to help buy offsets for their travel.
If there aren’t events close to you, consider organizing something new! Ask around your local community to see if other folks might be interested in helping organize or attending. Apply for a CDSS Grant for seed money to get something going!
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“Ray and I bought lightweight silk sleeping sheets to take with us on our Camino walk. They allowed us to sleep anywhere, without needing to carry (or rent) bedding. All the hostels provided blankets.”
Go green!
Are you organizing or volunteering at an event? Help identify ways to reduce the carbon footprint of your gathering. From using reusable name tags and turning off the AC and opening windows when it’s cool to encouraging people to bring their own water bottles and coffee mugs and purchasing compostable or recyclable items for the bathroom/kitchen, there are myriad ways we can reduce the carbon footprint of our events.
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Carpool!
Is there another person in your community you can travel with to an event? If you’re hosting an event, can you help connect attendees coming from similar locations? If you’re expecting many people to arrive by air, can your event supply a shuttle from the nearest airport or other pooled transportation service that can both save money and help the environment? Also, consider alternative transportation options such as taking the train or bus. Shared spreadsheets, social media groups, and other communication tools can help folks connect prior to an event to arrange carpooling.
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“My husband and I have ridden our electric bicycles to many contra dances! I love biking home at night after the dance because the roads are so quiet. The key is excellent headlights, rear lights, and reflective clothing so you can see the road and the drivers can see you. One of the great benefits (besides the carbon emissions avoided) is that he can leave at the break and get to bed early, and I can stay until the end!”
Bicycle!
A long bicycle trip isn’t for everyone, but incorporating some bicycling in your travel plans can be a fun and sustainable way to get around on your trip. You can arrange to bring your own bike on a bus, train, or plane, or consider renting or borrowing a bike when you reach your destination.
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Homestays!
Did you know that the hotel sector is a significant source of carbon emissions, contributing about 1% to global emissions annually? Instead of supporting a big box hotel chain, consider arranging a homestay when you travel to an event. If you’re hosting an event, consider having someone assist with housing coordination, connecting local hosts with visiting guests.
Both hosts and guests often gain a new level of community connection and friendship from homestays. And remember, with your CDSS membership, you gain access to our member directory, which can help you connect with other members across the US and Canada!
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Carbon offsets!
Though offsets are often criticized for giving folks a “license to pollute,” when they are used in moderation and in tandem with lightening your carbon footprint in other ways, they can effectively reduce carbon emissions globally. Be sure to purchase your carbon offsets from a reputable source (here’s a good list of carbon offset options). You can also get an estimate of your carbon footprint from traveling here.
Thanks to the Massachusetts Cultural Council for their generous support.