We can all contribute to a better, cleaner, fairer, more sustainable world with just a few small changes to our daily lives. We have a few tips for a more sustainable trip to Luxembourg!
This blog article forms part of our sustainability section and also available in both German and French.
Refill your bottles for free
If you’re the kind of person who drinks a lot of water, we have excellent news for you: Tap water is safe to drink across the country and opportunities to refill your reusable containers are plentiful. There’s even a free app for it – called Refill – which allows you to easily find the nearest access point to free drinking water. A sticker on the entrance door furthermore identifies establishments participating in the initiative. So forget about buying expensive water in single-use plastic bottles and bring your own container instead!
Travel as much as you want!
Surprise, surprise, Luxembourg's public transportation is actually free! This goes for all busses, trams and trains running across the country. The only thing that's not free are the first class compartments on trains - but as distances within the country are short, we're sure you can live without this one.
Transportation portal mobiliteit.lu (also available as a free app) furthermore provides accurate, live information on public transport. How about that for a car(e)free holiday?
Cycling instead of driving
If you don’t want to rely on bus times or simply enjoy the extra workout, Luxembourg is a great place to discover by bicycle. Countless cycling paths criss-cross the country and there are numerous places offering bike rentals, including the Rent-a-bike stations in Beaufort, Larochette, Echternach and Remerschen. The city of Luxembourg furthermore offers city bikes at 75 stations across the capital and its suburbs as part of its vel’OH! scheme.
Eat, drink and buy local
Luxembourgers love their restaurants and bars, and the variety is impressive by any standards. Try to seek out restaurants that offer locally grown food and offer meals with reduced carbon footprints. Farmers markets are common and provide an excellent opportunity to buy fresh, local food without much (or any) packaging. If you do fancy some take-away, try finding an establishment that uses the Ecobox for packaging. And last but not least, drink as the locals do and try one of the many local beers and wines instead of going for international brands you’re familiar with!
Explore Luxembourg’s nature reserves
Currently there are three nature reserves in Luxembourg: The Nature Park Mëllerdall, the Our Nature Reserve and the Upper Sûre Nature Park. Visiting these is not just an opportunity to explore the nature of the Grand Duchy, but furthermore helps preserve the natural beauty of the regions. As a visitor, you support the many people – professionals and volunteers alike – who maintain the park and its many trails, promote the regions and encourage eco-tourism. While exploring these unique places, visitors should only use marked trails and respect the environmental conditions.
Reduce and recycle
It is estimated that over 30% of energy used in Western Europe completely goes to waste. Try to think of this as you leave a room and help reduce your carbon footprint by closing windows, turning off the heating and making sure the light is switched off.
Recycling bins are widely available and a local initiative for waste reduction and recycling even maintains a list of establishments that volunteered to be audited professionally in order to optimise the prevention and handling of waste.
Consider how you book
In order to best support the establishment you’re planning to stay with as well as the local community and employees, consider booking directly with the hostel/hotel instead of using third party online travel agencies (OTAs). While it’s certainly convenient to use OTAs during your travel planning, direct booking ensures that the full amount of your overnight costs go directly to the hostel/hotel in question, helping them cover their expenses and ultimately reinvesting that money into the quality of your stay. So if you want to do us a favour, just use our website - we promise you won't regret it!
We’re always looking to feedback and ideas, so if you have anything to add to this list, don’t hesitate to get in touch! And if you notice something in one of our hostels that is affecting the environment, please report it!
Please opt for sustainable tourism!
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