Sustainable Travel Tips & Eco-Friendly Travel Products

Green Travel Packing Guide

Sustainability and travel are words that have not always gone hand in hand. However, with recent growth in social and environmental consciousness worldwide, the trend is beginning to shift for the better, and green ecotourism is finally making its way on the stage. As an avid traveler and conservationist myself, I take special care in choosing what to pack in my suitcase. Here is a top 10 list of my all-time favorite sustainable travel products!

We have all benefited from traditional commerce, it’s convenient and accessible, but let’s face it: it’s hurting the planet. To meet our growing demands, companies are making and shipping products by extracting staggering amounts of finite resources all over the planet.

There is no perfect answer to the problem, but many companies worldwide are taking steps to improve the system. That’s why I decided to partner with EarthHero. They’re a one-stop online shop that gathers all the products you could ever dream of to pursue a more sustainable lifestyle. Each brand they partner with has been hand-picked because they are taking the right steps to create a more sustainable future.

You can shop anything on their website and receive 10% OFF by clicking the link below and using my code at checkout: GREENWANDERLUST

Top 10 Sustainable Travel Products

Bamboo toothbrush 

Widely regarded as the eco-friendliest toothbrush option, the bamboo toothbrush possesses an extensive range of qualities that sets it apart from other toothbrush types—especially the plastic ones. If you think about it, both plastic and bamboo toothbrushes are « natural » because both of them come from natural materials: petroleum in one case, and bamboo in the other, but the major difference is that bamboo not only grows very fast but is also biodegradable. On the other hand, making plastic toothbrushes requires an enormous amount of energy, and their life expectancy past disposal is set at about 400 years. That’s a long time for a single toothbrush to disappear. 

Washable make-up remover pad

This is my new revelation! I had never really taught about the utter wastefulness of my make-up removal routine until my mother brought me these life-changers. Easy to wash, reusable and earth friendly, these make-up removing pads are the best. I will usually re-use the same one or two times before giving it a throughout sink wash and setting it to dry. My skin has never looked better! I was worried about breaking out but I have been using them for the past four months and they have worked great.

Re-usable travel mug 

If you are anything like me, this might become one of your best purchases in months. I’m always cold in the winter, and as a remedy to that, I am always walking around with a hot drink in my hands.

Mornings are usually for coffee, then I slowly transition into tea until to end the day with my all-time favorite anti-inflammatory turmeric tea. When I’m traveling, I always ask shops and flight attendants to pour my drink in this mug, which works equally well for cold and hot drinks. The lady selling bubble tea in Bangkok thought my whole deal was a bit odd but she complied and I walked around the city with my favorite drink, plastic-free. 

Tupperware 

This contributes to my personal battle against styrofoam. If you thought plastic was bad, just wait to learn more about this evil invention of man. Like all plastics, Styrofoam is a petrochemical; which means it comes from petroleum, and we know that petroleum causes developmental, hematological, renal, and immunological disorders. In addition, like benzene and styrene, it leaches into its contents, whether cold or hot and top that one-off, its industry is the fifth largest creator of toxic waste in the United States.

Knowing all of this, I hope carrying a Tupperware can become one of your sustainability priorities. Even when offered a paper container, you have to think about the trees that went into its production. One less tree on the planet means one less opportunity to get carbon out of our atmosphere, and that should mean a lot to any environmentalist.

Cutlery 

Carrying your own fork and spoon is a simple gesture, and I have been able to say no to countless single-use cutlery items that way. Doesn’t it feel great to get take-away food and be able to do so entirely plastic-free? A reusable cutlery set is small, easy to pack and incredibly useful and it’s hands down up there in my favorite items to always have on hand! I particularly like this set because it comes in a nice pouch and has a carabiner attached to hook it on your backpack. 

Re-fillable water bottle 

This is the obvious, and undoubtedly the most popular item on my list. Having a re-usable water bottle in today’s day in age is an absolute necessity. Think about it this way, according to Plastic Ocean «we are producing over 300 million tons of plastic every year, 50% of which is for single-use purposes—utilized for just a few moments, but on the planet for at least several hundred years», if that does not make you want to rush to the store and buy your own, then, I’m not sure what will. 

Journal and Diary

I never travel anywhere without a journal. To me, traveling is synonymous with adventures, and most often, the adventures I live out on the road, I want to remember forever. I also generally find a lot of satisfaction in putting my thoughts down when my mind feels crowded, and that proves to be even more fulfilling when doing so on a beautiful page. I do not own much, but the little I do, I am very particular about and my Rustico journal is the best diary I’ve ever had.

Ocean-Friendly Sunscreen

All Good's Zinc Sunscreen Butter is ready to protect you when you need it! The perfect size to keep in your bag or pocket, you'll never be caught unprepared. This non-greasy formula is made with only 6 ingredients, so you can be sure that your skin is only absorbing what it should be! This water resistant sun butter is made for extreme outdoor situations, so play away!. 

Kindle

This is one is not easy, so let me unpack it for you. Your initial answer to: are e-readers more eco-friendly than buying paper books is probably yes, but if you take into account the batteries that go into each e-reader, the consensus becomes more complicated.

Today, there are definite scientific answers to this debate and it seems that, assuming you read a healthy amount and don’t trade in your reader every year, using the electronic version is more sustainable. That is also also the case because most consumer products actually make their biggest impact during manufacture and transport. Accordingly, buying fewer things seems to almost always be the best course of action. 

Menstrual cup

Let’s talk about periods, baby! Not something most people are comfortable discussing, yet such an important part of women’s lives so here we are. Sadly, tampons and pads have been filling up our landfills for as long as they have existed. If you make quick math on how many tampons or pads you use during your cycle, and then multiply that by twelve, and again multiply it by the numbers of years you’ve had your periods for, you’ll get an approximation of how many sanitary products you have used that are still out there.

Not the funniest exercise, but quite indicative. I’m 23 and there are approximatively 1,150 used tampons out there that are mine. Not something I feel particularly good about. On the bright side, there are alternatives, and the menstrual cup has been my favorite so far. Menstrual cups take a definite gold medal when it comes to sustainability and eco friendly products. Opinions differ on how long you should hold on to your cup, but regardless, they are doing a great job at reducing the number of tampons and pads in landfills. 

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