10 Ways to Reduce Waste While Traveling: Eco-Friendly Travel Tips

Travel can be a waste guzzler if you don’t plan accordingly ahead of time. Discover responsible travel practices and ways to reduce waste while exploring the world. By implementing these practices, you can significantly reduce your environmental footprint and contribute to a more sustainable travel experience. Here are 10 ways to become more eco-friendly in your travels.

1. Minimize Paper Waste

Go digital by storing electronic copies of travel documents, maps, and itineraries on your phone or tablet instead of printing them out.

In addition, download the app for the airline you are flying on your phone and check in through the app beforehand to avoid needing a printed ticket at the airport. This is useful while flying domestically (with no check-in luggage) though can rarely be avoided unfortunately when flying internationally.

2. Bring your own food

Whether you are headed to the airport or planning for a road trip, bringing your own food will help reduce your waste because you have control over what you bring in what packaging.

Just a plus that this will also save you money and give you the chance to pack healthy alternatives! This will help prevent you from wanting to stop along the way in your travels to pick up food and if you are flying, you can deny any complimentary (or non-complimentary) refreshments.

3. Bring your own reusable bottle

This goes hand in hand with bringing your own food. If you are traveling via car, fill up your bottle along the way at convenience stores or restaurants. If you are traveling by plane, fill up your bottle once you’ve gotten through security at the airport to avoid buying overpriced plastic bottles before take-off.

If you are traveling to a place where you can’t drink tap water, invest in a water purifier such as the LifeStraw or purchase bottled water as needed (after all, your health is what is most important).

4. Bring a reusable coffee mug and cutlery

Again, with the food and drink – these are great items to have if you have space in your bags. In the event you go out to eat or are dying for that cup of coffee, you have yourself armored with reusable alternatives.

5. Grocery shop (with reusable bags)

A huge part of traveling is eating out at restaurants! There is no denying local treats and dining because food alone is a culturally grand part of an experience in a new place.

I always try to fit in a small grocery trip though once I have made it to my destination so some meals while I am there are made by me and ideally sourced from a local market. This way I can control some aspects of the ingredients and plastic waste that’s involved in eating out.

Oh! And don’t forget to grab your reusable bags for this.

6. Pack Reusable & Sustainable Toiletries

Toiletries are one of the easiest areas of your travel needs to adopt sustainable practices to. Here are some ideas:

Opt for reusable toiletry containers instead of single-use travel-sized products. Refill them with your preferred shampoo, conditioner, and other personal care items.
Try a shampoo bar! They typically last longer, there are many healthy ingredient options out there, and they can be stored in reusable tins.
For toothpaste, try out the Bite Toothpaste Bits that come in a reusable glass jar (not sponsored, just love these). Just pack what you need in a reusable baggie or container to keep from needing to pack the entire Bite bottle.
OR make your own homemade toothpaste and put it in a small container like a tin for safekeeping. A homemade toothpaste recipe that I have tried by Trash is For Tossers can be found here.
The menstrual cup is a zero-waste alternative to tampons and pads in a woman’s every-month life. But I have found them especially useful when on the road. It takes up much less space in your bags and can last for double+ the amount of time of throw-away options.

7. Respect the Environment

Leave no trace by disposing of waste properly and respecting natural habitats. Take your trash with you until you find appropriate disposal facilities.

8. Rent or Borrow Equipment

Instead of buying new gear for outdoor activities, consider renting or borrowing equipment to minimize waste and save money. A large area of waste in the travel sector includes people purchasing items needed for a one-time excursion that end up never being used again or in the landfill. This can be easily avoided.

Equipment that you can typically find available to rent, borrow, or purchase second-hand:

Snorkel, goggles, and fins
Skiing equipment
Hiking equipment such as tents, hiking poles, backpacks, etc

9. Choose Sustainable Accommodations

Look for eco-friendly hotels or accommodations that prioritize sustainable practices, such as recycling programs or energy-saving initiatives.

10. Carbon Offsets

Something you can do to offset your carbon footprint increase when you fly, drive, etc when traveling is investing in carbon offsets. Read my blog post about 6 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint While Traveling.

A FEW MORE TIPS

If you are a dedicated coffee drinker like myself, I was recently introduced to the AeroPress which makes it much more simple to make your own coffee with your own grounds when on the road.
Take advantage of public transportation and walk from destination to destination.
Mason jars are your best friend! They can hold take-out food, a smoothie, or an iced coffee. Instead of bringing a reusable coffee mug, you could bring along a mason jar which is a tad bigger and can be more versatile in what you can use it for in your travels.