As upcoming Christmas holidays are likely to take you to another country now that covid restrictions are lifted in most countries, there are things you can take with you to become a sustainable traveller.

There are hundreds of things you can do to reduce your negative footprint. Obviously, the first one would be not to travel at all, but let’s not be that extreme. These 7 easy tips will improve your positive impact on our precious environment.

Bamboo toothbrush

Every year, millions upon millions of plastic toothbrushes are discarded throughout the world. They are all disposed of in landfills and take a very long time to degrade. When you realize that there is a very simple and inexpensive solution to this issue, the ridiculousness of this wastefulness is further made worse.

Nowadays, bamboo toothbrushes are very accessible and reasonably priced. We've selected a few instances below.

Traditional toothpaste tubes are practically non-recyclable. Even if a toothpaste tube ends up in a recycling plant (and most don’t), the process of separating out the plastics is a costly and timely task.

Ditching traditional toothpaste for eco-friendly alternatives is now very straightforward. Toothpaste as you know it is available in glass jars and alternatives like powder and tablets are also available. We ourselves now use tablets that comes in biodegradable bags. They work brilliantly!

Toothpaste, powder and tablets

Most traditional toothpaste tubes cannot be recycled. Even if a toothpaste tube gets up in a recycling facility—which the majority don't—the process of extracting the plastic is expensive and time-consuming.

Nowadays, switching from conventional toothpaste to eco-friendly alternatives is fairly simple. As you may already be aware, toothpaste comes in glass jars, but there are additional alternatives like powder and pills. We now use tablets that are packaged in biodegradable packaging ourselves. They do an excellent job!

Shower & bath soap

When thinking about eco-friendly travel products, taking bars of body soap with you is a no brainer.

Not only do you instantly dispense with the single-use plastic bottles, but you also have a product that bypasses liquid allowances in hand luggage when flying. You also lose any risk of messy liquid soap explosions inside your luggage. We all know what that’s like.

We transitioned to using bars of body soap some time ago. It does take a bit of time to adjust to using them, but once you do, you never go back. You can find body soap anywhere, but try to make sure you stick to products that are vegan, cruelty-free, plastic-free, palm oil free and organic if you can.

Similar to body soap (above), switching to shampoo and conditioner in bars rather than single-use plastic bottles is a no-brainer for any eco-conscious traveler. They are not only better for the environment but also take up less space in your bag.

Natural insecticide

Insect repellent is another environmentally friendly travel product on this list where avoiding single use plastic is the name of the game. Spray-on repellents are frequently packaged in plastic bottles or metal canisters with plastic buttons and closures.

Use insect repellent bars or creams/gels that come in entirely recyclable, plastic-free tins to avoid all of this.

Canvas shopping/tote bags

We no longer travel anywhere without a set of rolled-up canvas tote bags. They come in quite handy for shopping and frequently serve as dirty laundry bags as well. They are reusable, which helps us avoid using single-use plastic bags, so it's an easy win for the environment.

You can get tote bags very easily, but for added goodness, we suggest investing in truly high-quality bags from your favourite organizations.

Reusable cutlery/chopsticks

No matter where they are going, every traveller needs cutlery and chopsticks. Refuse the complimentary single-use plastic cutlery that food merchants are giving you and bring your own instead. Here are a few ideas we've discovered.

Reusable water bottle

When it came to travelling with a water bottle, we were behind the curve. We no longer leave the house without one. A water bottle not only helps you stay hydrated, avoid sugary drinks, and save money over time, but it also prevents you from having to purchase beverages in plastic bottles. All around victories