6 TIPS FOR WASTE-FREE TRAVELLING

Travel is not only good for our health, like cutting down stress, but also for our minds. It teaches us about other communities and cultures. But when you try to be as earth-conscious as possible, it can become difficult to travel waste-free. Read on for a practical guide for waste-free travelling.

Whether you are travelling to work, visiting family or friends, out of town for the weekend or by plane overseas, there are always things you can do to minimise your footprint.

Every little bit we do as individuals can make a significant impact as a whole.

Embracing Digital:

If you like reading books, newspapers or magazines, take an e-reader with you instead of hard copies. It is less stuff to pack and carry and a lot less paper waste. You can then also use digital travel tickets, go digital as much as possible. Don’t print anything unless you have to.

BYO and Reuse:

Ask for your drink without the plastic straw or even better bring reusable stainless steel straws.

Travel with your reusable essentials. When grabbing that much-needed coffee, most of us crave on long travelling days, remember to bring your reusable coffee cup like this one from ONYA.

Bring a reusable water bottle to stay hydrated and eliminate the need to buy bottled water. Fill it up as you go.

Pack a few reusable shopping bags for when you buy anything including eco-friendly souvenirs.

Buying Food and Eating Out:

When eating out, try to visit restaurants that adopted sustainable practices. Research before you go and look for restaurants that use recycled or recyclable containers and uses paper or glass straws or even no straws. When buying takeaway trashlesstakeaway.com.au is an excellent site to visit.

Take your time, if you can, sit down and have your coffee or meals in a restaurant at a table instead of takeaway. This way, you slow down, take in and enjoy your new environment when you travel.

Think before you buy:

If you have to purchase anything, recycle as much as possible like paper bags, and bottles.

Only buy as much as you need; don’t waste food. Food wastage is one of the biggest problems we have today.

Over 5 million tonnes of food ends up as landfill, enough to fill 9,000 Olympic sized swimming pools” in Australia alone.

OzHarvest.org

Support local:

Whenever you can support local farmers and vendors. The destination you are visiting should have a farmers market of some sort where you can buy some of what you need and meet new people to learn about their town in an environmentally friendly way. The best way to learn about a town is by talking to the locals!

Packing light:

A minimalistic approach or mindset might be helpful when packing, and you don’t need as much as you think. It will help a lot when moving around, saving your energy as much of your car’s petrol and the plane you might be flying with.

If you are travelling by plane and if possible, book with an airline like Qantas that encourages waste-free travelling.

We have only one earth; there is no planet B.

Let’s educate each other; please share your eco-friendly travelling tips or questions in the comments below. I would love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading,

Val