5 Ways To Make Your Tofino Trip Environmentally Friendly

As Tofino celebrates becoming the first municipality in Canada to ban the sales of single-use plastic water bottles under 1L, we wanted to highlight other ways that you can make your trip as low-impact and environmentally friendly as possible!

Clayoquot Sounds is an UNESCO site (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). For many reasons -  including its historical, traditional, and biological significance - preservation of our lands is deeply important to us. 

Tourism Tofino has said it best:

“The purpose of a UNESCO biosphere region is to reconcile the conservation of natural and cultural diversity with economic and social development, fostering a balanced connection between humans and the environment by encouraging dialogue, sharing knowledge, reducing poverty, increasing human well-being, respecting cultural assets, and enhancing capacity to cope with climate change.”

You can read more on that here.

As visitors and residents, it’s a great honour to be able to witness and experience this land. As such, it is also our responsibility to find ways to play our part.

It’s easy to get caught up in perfection when talking about things like environmental pursuits, so we wanted to outline some simple and accessible ways to reduce your impact - and the stress around your impact.

Easy Ways To Make Your Tofino Trip Environmentally Friendly & Low Impact

1 - Use Organic and/or Biodegradable Products

Our water has a unique source - the rainforest. We do not have a traditional pipe system, and as such our water use and production has a deep relationship with the ecosystem around it.

To try and keep our impact low and the environment happy, prioritizing using products that are biodegradable and organic are an easy way to feel good about what’s going back to the earth.

We use products in our hotel made by Carina Organics, with signature scents that abide by these values. If you aren’t sure about your body wash or shampoo, we’ve got the basics covered to make sure your stay is luxurious and sustainable.

2 - Buy Carbon Offsets

While this option may not be available to everyone, we felt like it was an important one to add. Whether you’re driving or flying into Tofino, travel has carbon emissions.

If you’re able to, buying carbon offsets to neutralize your trip is a great way to support not just the Tofino ecosystem, but the whole world. This is a great thing to practice for any travel if it’s accessible to you. This is a great place to get certified carbon offsets.

3 - Bike or Walk For Transportation

Although you generally have to take some kind of motorized transportation to get into Tofino, once you’re here it’s easy to get around. Our downtown is small and very walkable, plus you don’t have to worry about parking and get to explore all the nooks and corners you might miss while driving.

We have bike rentals (like T-bird E-bike Rentals [which is also an indigenous owned business]) so if you don’t have your own or it wasn’t available to bring, you can still bop around to our different beaches and hikes with ease.

4 - Bring Reusable/Travel Containers

There is nothing new here, but it’s easy to forget in the blur of packing how impactful it can be to bring your travel mug or some containers to dish out snacks for a hike into!

If you know you’ll be getting a morning coffee to-go, or even plan on taking your leftovers from The Bear home, having some reusable containers handy is a great way to reduce impact and also to support local businesses.

You’ll often get a discount when you bring your own mug, too!

5 - Support Indigenous Businesses

One of the best and perhaps underrated ways to make your trip more sustainable and environmentally friendly is to support those who have cared for and stewarded the land.

Tourism Tofino is a great resource, and we also have a list here of events and businesses to support in October that are owned by or in support of First Nations communities.

By supporting these businesses and events, you know that you’re giving resources to those who’s priority has always been - and continues to be - the land you’re on.