One of the most asked questions about sustainable travel is: “How can I make sure when I am packing that I am bringing sustainable items?”
Your philosophy when it comes to packing should be: reducing consumption, reusing the items, and recycling. If you want to buy something new of course make sure it’s made with high durable and sustainable materials. And last but not least my suggestion in general is: travel light! You can even think in buying some stuff directly in your destination so you can support local businesses 🙂
But to answer the question at the beginning: Here are some tips on how you can pack sustainably:
- Reusable Bottle: Avoiding buying plastic bottles is very easy and yet also can make an impact to avoid single-use plastic. There are tons of brands out there just look for the most sustainable option: Stainless steel is probably one of the most eco friendly water bottle materials because it’s safe, durable and recyclable. Aluminum has been used for many years and is also highly durable and recyclable. When it comes to glass bottles, they are great compared to plastic bottles or any other options because it isn’t affected by any flavor from the container. Also if you are not sure about if the brand is really sustainable or not just check if they are B-Corp certified.
- Reusable Coffee Cup: Not just when you are travelling,but basically everywhere else, you can bring your own reusable coffee mug: I have the one from Kaffeeform made with recycled coffee grounds! I simply love it. You can use it whenever you go to places where usually they would offer you coffee on a disposable cup (e.g. in the airplane).
- Plastic Free Toiletries: There are more and more options nowadays in the market so choose the sustainable version (and plastic-free) of razors, toothbrush, hairbrush, etc…
- Use Stasher bags for your liquids: Stasher bags are reusable bags made out of platinum-grade silicone, which is the highest quality of silicone: technically they are food containers, but you can use them to store your liquids for the airport security it’s more sustainable than using one time plastic bags.
Textile industry is one of the most polluting industry, so it is essential that we make more responsible choices when it comes to purchasing new travel clothing. My mantra is: “I don’t buy new clothes only because I have a trip lined up” but if you go for a specific travel experience and you really, REALLY need something specific then you may want to go obviously for a sustainable option that you will use also after your trip.
Before buying new clothes make sure that:
- The fashion company you are buying from lists a comprehensive sustainability policy on its website that shows you clearly where and how the product is made.
- The fashion company uses eco-friendly packaging for e-commerce.
- The company Is B-Corp certified.
- The fashion company has a good rating on ethical fashion directories like www.goodonyou.eco.
- Look for fabrics that are good for the environment such as: Tencell (a type of Lyocell) or Hemp.
- Avoid Synthetics fabrics like polyester, nylon and rayon and acrylic they are usually produced from oil: aka dependent on fossil fuel extraction.
- Last but not least avoid all the animal-derived materials: talking about leather and fur as they use huge methane outputs.
- Don’t forget to pack light: remember bringing an heavy bag has an impact on the foot print so make sure you are not bringing too most of the time you don’t end up using all the clothes you have so be mindful about it.
