09 Oct #ZeroWaste Travel Tips from Tiffany & Nicolas – Before you leave 2
This is the second article of a series of 3 imaginative, simple and impactful zero waste travel tips by our Ambassadors.
We are Nicolas and Tiffany, a French couple that decided in 2016 to quit our jobs and leave our sedentary lives behind. But we did not want to do the same with our eco-friendly lifestyle, as we had started a minimalistic and Zero Waste journey long before deciding on a worldwide one. Our Zero Waste journey started when Tiffany went to India and saw all the trash everywhere she realized that it isn’t because in our western countries it’s taken care of (out of sight out of mind eh?) that it doesn’t exist and isn’t a problem. When she came back she read Zero Waste Home by Bea Johnson, the woman who sort of started the whole Zero Waste lifestyle movement. Here is her website – also if you want to read her book, we thoroughly recommend it – but remember to buy it second hand !
So we became Waste-free Wanderers – and after 1.5 years of travelling, a few clean up sessions and some networking, we stumbled upon My Green Trip ! They kindly invited us to write a few articles about our adventure and how we prepared it so you too could see how to limit your waste output while on the road. Whether you are a Glamorous instaGirl, a Blog-free Backpacker or a Typical Tourist we promise that there are SIMPLE and EFFICIENT ways to reduce the amount of waste that will eventually end up in landfill, on a beach or… in a My Green Trip cleanup bag !
A very true poster in a hostel in South Africa
This is our second article… if you missed it click here to check out our first blog entry!
Before you leave 2 : prepare your #LowWaste or #ZeroWaste kit.
When you’re on the road, a few things in your bag can actively reduce your waste output – here are a few ideas :
- Find an alternative to bottled water.
Filter pumps, filtering straws, filtering bottles, UV steripens, chloride tablets, boiling your water : there are a great many options to avoid buying plastic bottled water !
We traveled 10 months through Africa and 6 through Eurasia using our Lifestraws and drinking boiled water. The only time we had to buy water was when I got very bad sunstroke and was too weak to suck water through my straw to cool my body down quickly enough !
Check out all the options available, you are sure to find one that suits your travel needs best. - Put together a Zero Waste Kit for buying food.
We have a metal pot, two sporks, some cloth bags, some freezer bags, and some takeaway type plastic containers (found in a hostel) for solids and our two Kleen Kanteen inox bottles for liquids.
We will talk about how to use this kit on the road in one of our next articles. - Put together a Zero Waste hygiene kit.
We personally use a natural soap (+ small cloth) for washing our clothes and bodies, rhassoul clay or a shampoo bar for hair, make our own toothpowder, Tiffany has a menstrual cup and we use olive oil as a lotion. There are many waste free and nature friendly options for personal hygiene out there, you just have to find one that works for you. You could have a look on here, here or here for some ideas, but the best is to find options sold / made near you.
You can also check out low waste options for your medical kit – a few of the things we use are : garlic as a natural antibiotic and mosquito repellent (supplemented by an essential oil + vodka spray), activated charcoal for digestive problems and onion layers with a piece of paper tape as blister plasters !
Next time we will talk about minimalism, and how to adapt the contents of your bag whilst on the road.
Nico using his Lifestraw in Uganda
Tiffany’s personal hygiene kit
Our zero waste travel kit
Getting kvass poured from the tap into my Klean Kanteen bottle