Tips on turning your travel footprint into a fingerprint

By Susan Sherren for Couture Trips
Published 6/1/21 1:00 PM CDT

Hydaway 25 fl.oz bottle with spout lid.

​Travel is definitely a passion for many of us. Circling the globe and visiting unique sites can be pretty addicting. Unfortunately, our travel habits can either positively or negatively impact the environment. You can’t discount the impact you have on the world around you. Even in the pre-travel planning stage, loading up on single-use toiletries is where we can go wrong. So let’s look at a typical itinerary and see how we can turn it into a more environmentally gentle trip.

So we discussed passing on the single-use toiletries, and let’s shop for more eco-friendly versions. Bagdent, a company based in Prague,  developed an excellent toothbrush kit with six refillable toothpaste bullets. Just fill these tubes with your own toothpaste, and your set to go. The kit comes with three toothbrushes just for travel. Just imagine how many partially used travel-sized toothpaste tubes lie in rubbish heaps. Also, try using refillable containers for your shampoo and conditioner—lots of plastic saved with this tip.

Next, consider the plane trip and all the wasted plastic from blanket wrappings to plastic cups. The enormity of plastic use in-flight is shocking. So travelling with your own beverage container and blanket makes perfect sense. Hydaway makes the world’s most collapsible water bottle, and you can even order Hydaway’s charcoal filter to help with less than secure sources of water. Now let’s focus on the hotel portion of our journey. Try using your towel more than once; maybe your Mom was right! Just hang it up and let it dry. You can even bypass the hotel’s plastic cups favouring your Hydaway travel cup instead- saving even more plastic.

​ Don’t forget to pack a tote bag for a shopping excursion; you’ll find some countries you visit won’t even offer plastic shopping bags. So come prepped. If you are planning on renting a car, go green and try out an electric vehicle. Walking and using public transportation systems also lessens your impact on the environment. So you see, with some small and subtle changes in your travel habits, you can make a significant impact. Don't forget the small things in life often have the greatest impact.

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