15 Aug 7 Easy Eco Hacks for Conscientious Travelers
When I boarded my Icelandair flight from Denver to Reykjavik, I was greeted by a smiling, crisply attired blonde flight attendant who handed me — and every other passenger — a small bottle of Icelandic glacial water. The label indicated it was bottled at the source, Olfus Spring. It also touted the mineral water as a “CarbonNeutral” product, with the phrase trademarked. Yet, despite whatever natural and environmentally responsible features were advertised, the attractive bottle concerned me.
I’ve always been bothered by how many plastic beverage cups airlines go through, but I’d never been given an entire plastic bottle of water before. Curious, I asked the flight attendant if Icelandair recycles these.
Looking pained, she said no, they do not. Apparently, it is a logistical issue of how to sort and store them apart from the rest of the trash that accumulates during a flight. At least that’s what she has been told. She encouraged me to let the airline know of my concern.
I started to do some math: This Boeing 757-200 holds up to 228 passengers. Icelandair operates daily flights to 39 cities, some more than one per day. That’s thousands of disposable plastic bottles dispensed daily.
Something as simple as taking my own reusable bottle along during my trip to Iceland may seem minor when it comes to the fate of the planet. But when you multiple such an action by thousands, even millions of times, the impact is tremendous. What would happen if that many guests turned down the plastic cups — and bottles — offered by airlines and used their own reusable stainless steel or BPA-free plastic bottles instead?
There are other seemingly small actions that you can easily take during your travels that collectively can be a big advantage for the Earth we love to explore and play within. On your next trip, take a few minutes to do these, for starters:
1) Take a reusable water bottle. Stainless steel or BPA-free plastic are the best options. And if filtering is an issue, take a compact Steripen along, for quick treatment to provide safe drinking water.
2) Use bamboo eating utensils to save even more plastic, like this handy set from Bambu, which comes with its own hemp fabric container.
3) Conserve water. Easy, and so important. Turn the tap off when you’re brushing your teeth or shaving. Don’t have your hotel launder your sheets or towels daily.
4) Turn off the power in your hotel room. When you leave, shut the lights, heat or air conditioning off.
5) Bring your own refillable toiletries. Rather than rely on the tiny bottles provided by hotels, pick up a few airline-sanctioned reusable 3-oz. bottles and fill them with your own products.
6) Use rechargeable, solar-charged or wind-up batteries, particularly for headlamps, flashlights and shavers. This small act avoids leaching toxic chemicals into the ground and water table when disposable batteries end up in landfills around the world.
7) Bring a reusable nylon bag or lightweight day pack that folds into its own compact pouch, for shopping purchases or outings.
My impression is that adventure travelers tend to be more eco-conscious than standard-issue tourists…Let’s set a good example for the world and make these easy actions part of our travel routine.
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