As I have been fortunate
enough to
have just taken a fabulous vaca to Cabo San Lucas and will shortly be
venturing
to Catalina Island, I thought about the ways in which I could travel
that are
as eco-friendly as possible
(despite the “you’re
crazy” looks I get from everyone). Especially if
you aren’t sure if the place you’re staying is green (which you can always
research beforehand), it can make even the smallest difference to be
conscious
of your travel habits. Here
are some ideas I have from my own experiences; if you feel so inclined,
try
them out yourself this summer (and share your ideas, too!).
-use natural travel-sized
toiletries, for example Burt’s
Bees, Aveda, Aveeno,
ecotools, Korres, and Tom’s toothpaste.
You can go on Sephora.com and click on “Natural & Organic” to
find
out which products have mini versions.
ecotools also have great cosmetic brush sets and travel cases –
you can
find their products at Target, Walgreens, or online at Amazon.com and
Drugstore.com. Instead of purchasing these, you
could
also put your products in little reusable
containers (just make sure to recycle
them
at the end of their life, if possible).
-go shopping in your
closet (or your friend’s, or your
parent’s…). This will help you avoid spending
lots
o’ ca$h on new summer outfits that you probably already have/don’t need
(as
well as help kick our bad habits of over consuming, of
which I am
definitely a victim of). You might
discover things you forgot about that you can upcycle into new pieces. Invite
some friends over, make some
cocktails (or have some beers - your call), and put together some new
outfits. You know you like this
idea. If you simply must shop, branch out and visit some thrift
or vintage
stores.
-research restaurants at your final destination that serve
local, organic
ingredients. By eating at these
places you can help support the community of wherever you’re visiting. Yelp is one of my favorite sites for
this, but Google is my go-to search engine for everything and anything. One of my most frequent sayings is, in
fact, “Google it.”
-pack healthy snacks! My
fave snacks to bring are organic
dry roasted almonds, Cliff bars (especially
the organic kid Z bars –
obviously not just for kids), Larabar (gluten free,
delicious), plantain chips, organic
Trader Joe’s olive oil popcorn, dried
fruits, trail mix (try making your own!), and apples.
-pack a reusable water bottle (mine is a pretty Gaiam one) so you can
fill it up
at the drinking fountain AFTER security in the airport. Call
me cheap, but this is my trick to
avoid paying $4 for water.
-if you are a tea
drinker, pack
a few tea bags. This
way you can ask coffee shops for hot water instead of
paying $2+ for a cup of tea either at the airport or your final
destination. My
favorite teas, which are full of antioxidants, are green and black tea
(also a
great coffee alternative for your caffeine fix in the morning). It’s also smart to bring powders like Emergen-C to fight off getting sick (and to flavor
your
water).
-if you take sugar with
your
coffee/tea, take a few Stevia packets with you - I buy mine at Trader Joe’s).
This is a healthy, natural
alternative to sugar, and it’s SUPER sweet,
so you only need to add like half a packet to a drink. Maybe
even think about packing a
reusable coffee/tea mug. To learn
more about this nifty little sweetener, check out the website below.
-pack natural sunscreen and bug
spray to avoid all the narsty
chemicals
that find their way into these products.
I found Alba aloe vanilla SPF 30 mineral sunscreen (smells like
cookies)
and Jason “Quit Bugging Me” natural
insect repellent spray (smells not so good,
but get over it) at San Francisco’s Rainbow Grocery. Some
of these companies also have great lotions, after sun
lotions, hair products, deodorants, etc. Other natural products are Aubrey
Organics, Nature’s Gate, and Kiss My Face (try
wandering the aisles of Whole Foods or your local natural foods store to get
ideas of some other natural products out there). Also
don’t forget 100% aloe vera gel – I pile it on after I get burnt and it usually
helps reverse my mistake relatively quickly. Or
just be smart and don’t get sunburnt.
-pack a reusable bag or two for all of your shopping needs. No more paper or plastic waste. Enough
said.
-if you are really
gung-ho about
recycling (like myself), and
if you’re not sure if the place you’re going to
recycles, think about packing
a little bag to shove all of your recyclables
in.
This way you can make sure they all get into the blue bin when
you come
back home. Don’t be afraid to ask
the airline, train, or boat if they recycle;
if they don’t, they may be more
apt to make changes if you pester them (nicely) about it.
And always remember to recycle
wherever you go, the US isn’t the
only
place with overflowing landfills.
Bonn(eco) Voyage!
