Trying to avoid using plastic, especially single-use plastic, is hard enough at home, but it gets even more complicated when it is time for you to travel. While traveling, grabbing a plastic water bottle to quench your thirst or buying a plastic-wrapped sandwich to fill your stomach doesn’t seem like a huge issue.
Still, this plastic adds up to a lot, notably when traveling in a country or area that might not have adequate recycling services. Eliminating single-use plastic while traveling might seem like a challenge, but it might be easier than you think.
Some ways you can reduce or eliminate single-use plastic while traveling is talked about below. Use these tips to make your traveling kinder to the environment and as eco-friendly as possible.
Don’t Buy Bottled Water
Instead of buying a plastic bottle, buy a refillable bottle for your drinking needs. This might seem like an issue when traveling to countries that might not have good drinking water standards.
Using a water filtration system or letting the water boil and cool down will help eliminate all the impurities present in the water. Many refillable water bottles are available in the market today that come with water purification filters already installed that are very affordable and only need a change of filter every few months.
Eat Plastic-Free Too
Eating plastic-free is just as important as drinking from non-plastic water bottles. When traveling, almost everything you will eat will either come wrapped in plastic or have plastic utensils that come with it.
Forego the use of these plastics by investing in some metallic or wooden utensils that you can carry with you. All of the plastics that come with food are avoidable. When buying from a food stall or restaurant, ask them if they could fill your plastic-free container instead of providing you with your food in a plastic or Styrofoam box.
Get Plastic-Free Toiletries
Almost all the toiletries we use have plastic-free alternatives. Switch your plastic toothbrush to a bamboo toothbrush. You can even trade-in your plastic toothpaste tube for some toothpaste tablets. Even deodorants and shampoos come in ‘soap bar’ forms. Most of these plastic-free alternatives are shipped and come to you in biodegradable containers, are cruelty-free, and some are even vegan.
Stay In Eco Hotels
You can only do so much to reduce plastic use while traveling. Once you have made all the right changes to your traveling lifestyle, you should then try to travel and stay with eco-friendly airlines and hotels.
Many tourism companies have taken steps to reduce the amount of single-use plastics they consume, and many hotels, too, are focusing their efforts on reducing their impact on the environment. Before your next trip, make sure you research what available hotels are trying to reduce their carbon footprint. Also check to see what actions they have taken to eliminate single-use plastics in their procedures.
Bottom Line
Reducing and eliminating single-use plastic while traveling is challenging but not impossible. If you do care about your impact on the environment, taking these steps and researching more about how you can travel in a greener way is essential. Taking these steps will help, but the traveling industry still needs huge advancements to make traveling as a whole more sustainable.
