Eco-friendly travel – minimize impact and maximize the experience

Whether your next trip is a long weekend getaway to Budapest, or a week-long hiking adventure at Zion National Park, planning ahead can make a world of difference. This holds true when it comes to the potential impact that you have on the environment that you’ll be experiencing as well.

As the world begins to open up again, and our desire to travel grows, it’s important to reflect on the travel habits from the past. The truth is, small actions can affect the bigger picture, and stressing that fact is perhaps more important than ever.

So, how do you make smart, eco-friendly choices when packing and planning for your trip?

Dining & Food

While passing on straws is always a good idea, bringing your own reusable water bottle will have a much more drastic impact on the environment. From filling it up at airports and restaurants, to the thought of how many plastic bottles will be left unused as a result of your actions, makes using a reusable water bottle a no brainer.

Along the same lines, consider bringing a portable cutlery set. This will come in particularly handy if you’re going on a road trip, having meals on the road or out of your car. There are a ton of affordable, good-looking sets a Google search away, with some costing as little as $5. Put your water bottle and your portable cutlery set in one of our leisure totes (as opposed to a plastic bag!), and you’ll be ready to minimize your impact while maximizing the experience.

Toiletries

Most of us have been there – at the local pharmacy of our travel destination, buying big bottles of shampoos and body washes, and turning a plastic bag into a toiletry kit. By the time you’re getting ready to head back home, you’re left with half-used products that will not fit in your luggage, so you leave it all behind. Instead, consider using travel-sized, reusable bottles. It takes up less room, and you get to bring your favorite products from home with you on the road. For extra style and convenience points, throw all of your new travel-sized products in one of our transformer toiletry bags.

We’ll round this out with a helpful PSA – make sure that your sunscreen is environmentally friendly (and covers UVA and UVB rays!) and that your insect repellent, should you need it, is plant-based as opposed to being filled with unhealthy and damaging chemicals.

Looking for travel inspo? Look no further.