Hannah Strange, the Florida Down Under marketing intern, shares her thoughts on sustainable travel:

As you may have already guessed, I am a huge fan of traveling. I will go anywhere for any length of time and get absurdly excited about it. But I also consider myself to be a rather sustainable person.

Especially after my AUIP programs in North Queensland and Fiji, I try to think about the impacts of my actions. I turn off my air conditioning when I can (in Florida that’s a big deal), recycle, take the bus and try not to buy food that has traveled a million miles to reach me. So when it comes to traveling, I have a bit of a conundrum; every time I get on that trans-Atlantic 747, I feel a spasm of guilt about my actions.

Fortunately, thanks to the wonders of science, maybe one day I won’t have to feel so guilty. Qantas just announced that next year they will run their first commercial flight powered solely by biofuel, or more specifically, cooking oil! Read this article for all the details.

Now, I don’t know much about science and the intricate ways that climate change works, but I do know that it sounds pretty freaking cool to run planes off biofuel. If airlines, governments and scientists keep working together on projects like this then there is no excuse for us not to make environmental progress!

So while you may not be stepping on a biofuel powered flight this holiday, do remember that most flight carriers do now offer you the opportunity to offset the carbon released from your flight, or you can go to the Carbon Fund website.

Also be sure to remember when you’re traveling to stay, eat and buy local and wrap those presents in recycled wrapping paper! Read my fellow intern Amanda’s other holiday green tips here. Happy holiday traveling!