How Can You Reduce Plastic usage while your traveling

By Susan Sherren For Couture Trips
​Published July 12, 2021 11:33 AM CST

My Trip
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​​I had an awakening on a flight from Dallas to Hong Kong several years ago. The connecting flight was thru Los Angeles International. During the Dallas to Los Angeles segment, the flight attendants served the passengers a complimentary beverage and snack. I didn't think much of this standard service until I saw the large trash bag full of all those plastic cups and water bottles. It got my mind thinking about how many plastic cups are tossed on flights around the globe daily. Airline cabin waste is contributing to the environmental crisis. Often we focus on the jet fuel and emissions as the culprit, but what goes on inside the aircraft is just as startling.

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​Drowning in Cabin Plastic

A byproduct of our love of travel is the vast amount of plastic waste that we generate. Everything we encounter in-flight, from the meal service, blankets and headphones wrapped is plastic laden. Most recently, Delta’s mask and hand sanitiser packets were plastic wrapped, an unnecessary move. “That’s the upsetting part about flying,” Megan Epler Wood, director of the International Sustainable Tourism Initiative at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told the Huffington Post, “They’re just throwing everything into one bag. And there’s no effort to separate, which means you know they’re not recycling because they can’t. Once the plastic or anything else becomes contaminated, it can’t be recycled.” The airlines have been slow to transition to a less plastic infested philosophy.
So how can a traveller take more responsibility for the volume of trash they generate circling the planet. 

• First, embrace the concept of ‘Modern Travel’, which focuses on health, sustainability, beauty and confidence.
• Secondly, focus on pre-travel preparation and how you can reduce travel waste even before you board the plane. For example, can you eat ahead of your scheduled flight and forego the plastic wrapped meal? Or try packing your own healthy snack in a reusable container. 
• Thirdly, promote eco-friendly travel by sharing your tips and tricks with your friends and family. ​

Couture Trips Travel Essentials

Couture Trips is focused on travel education, especially when it comes to the environmental impact of travel. We developed a series of in-flight travel kits that we feel will aid the traveller in various ways. Most importantly- Couture Trips Travel Essentials Kits contain the world's most collapsible water (25 fl. oz.) bottle developed by Hydaway Corporation. If travellers can stop their dependency on plastic cups and plan on packing their own water containers, it can make a huge impact. We love to say that we can turn a travel footprint into a fingerprint. Our video (see below) demonstrates how you can simplify your travel prep and positively impact the environment at the same time. Visit Couture Trips Essentials to order your in-flight kit today. We recently launched Eze and Annecy, our two smallest in-flight essentials kits. Travellers can use them on planes, trains, buses and cars! No matter where you roam, you will be prepared. In the coming months you will also be able to purchase a travel blanket and other travel essential kits. We also can help you with travel planning. Visit Couture Trips and get started on planning your next great escape.

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