Sustainable Travel Tips: A Planning and Packing Checklist

Start with the destination

During the brainstorming portion of planning your next vacation, consider locales that aren’t already being overburdened by tourism. These places will often be less crowded, more affordable, and happier to see you anyway, with fewer lines and more available reservations.

While you’re tossing around ideas, consider sustainable tourism options for packages, tour guides, activities, voluntourism, give-back initiatives, and certified sustainable hotels or eco-lodges.

Of course, for the most sustainable trip, consider exploring somewhere in your own state or region, whether it’s visiting a national park you’ve never been to, or a boutique bed & breakfast you didn’t even know existed. Night markets, museum exhibitions, and food festivals are a great way to get the experience of being a tourist close to home.

Drive together

Driving is often a more sustainable choice than flying, especially if you’ll be traveling with multiple people. Next time you’re headed to a destination wedding or other gathering, ask if there’s anyone who would like to carpool.

Night markets, museum exhibitions, and food festivals are a great way to get the experience of being a tourist close to home

Not only can this drastically decrease your travel-related emissions as a group, but a road trip can become a memorable part of the adventure, and you can save money by splitting gas and avoiding air fare. Put those savings toward your hotel stay, experience, or a big meal on the last night if you like.

To avoid the waste from gas station snacks, set your car up with some refill snacks from our sustainable grocery store.

Pick your roadtrip snacks

Stocking creative snacks for the car can make any road trip feel more fun. To avoid the waste from gas station snacks, set your car up with some refill snacks from our sustainable grocery store.

If you have kids, this is a fun way to get them involved in the trip planning, too. Let everyone choose a few refill snacks, making sure to cover your sweet, salty, chewy, crunchy & “fresh” bases.

Stocking creative snacks for the car can make any road trip feel more fun

We recommend non-GMO, wrapper-free candies like our red licorice, snackable nuts like our chili lime cashews, chewy, organic dried fruit like our dried peach slices, and crunchy, cut-up veggies from our produce section, like cut turnips with salt (or whatever is in season).

Bring a reusable bottle

Most airports now have refill water stations so you can bring your own bottle instead of buying the expensive and wasteful plastic ones. If you’re on the road, we recommend our active tumbler for lightweight, easy drinking when you drive.

Whether you’ll be cooking some of your own meals at a homeshare, or buying a souvenir book from a stand, you’ll want a bag to carry unexpected purchases with.

Pack comfortable shoes

Once you’re in your destination of choice, the most sustainable way to get around will be walking or biking, so bring shoes you’ll be comfortable walking in. This is also one of the best ways to see a city, and hoofing it will help you knock out some exercise to readjust your circadian rhythm or help keep you on track with your health goals while you travel.

Maximize your toiletries

Those small, single-use plastic shampoo and conditioner bottles create unnecessary waste in your travel bag or hotel. When travelling, we like to recommend bar shampoo and bar conditioner like the ones we carry from Amai and No Tox Life. These bar formulations work just as well as liquid shampoo (just without the water built in), and help avoid spills in your luggage.

Once you’re in your destination of choice, the most sustainable way to get around will be walking or biking

Pro tip: Those leftover slivers of bar soap that you don’t want to throw away but aren’t sure what to do with make great “travel-sized” soaps. Keep a few in a tin or soap bag and grab it when you head on vacation. The slivers will disappear after a few showers and you won’t be left with anything to haul back on your way home.

For your oral hygeine needs, our bamboo toothbrush and re_ bamboo travel case go perfectly with toothpaste tabs when you pack your kit so you don’t have to worry about toothpaste ending up all over your stuff.

Let everyone choose a few refill snacks, making sure to cover your sweet, salty, chewy, crunchy & “fresh” bases.

Load up on sustainable skincare

A day of travel and a new climate can leave you with dry, oily, or irritated skin. To protect your skin and refresh your face during travel, we recommend our Youth to the People products, like YTTP serum to help with puffiness, YTTP eye cream for tired eyes, and YTTP deep moisture cream for reactive skin.

Pack sun protection

Chances are you’re going to need SPF when you travel, especially in the summer. But the last thing you want to do when traveling to a beach or lake is to leave it more polluted than you found it, and that goes for the toxins in sunscreen. Reef-friendly, waste-free sunscreen can be hard to find in many places, so pack your own to be sure you take care of your skin sustainably.

Reef-friendly, waste-free sunscreen can be hard to find in many places, so pack your own

Bring a shopping bag

Whether you’ll be cooking some of your own meals at a homeshare, or buying a souvenir book from a stand, you’ll want a bag to carry unexpected purchases with. Our organic cotton string bag is perfect for strolling through farmers markets and our recycled fabric Thank You tote is a nice, lightweight option to pack.

It’s important to enjoy yourself on vacation and really be able to relax

Don’t forget the little things

No one wants to find themselves on vacation without a good lip balm, fingernail clippers or file, or hair ties. You’ll also want to pack some first aid pills for travel, like our refillable pain relief and fever reducer pills, cold and flu pills, and allergy relief from Cabinet Health.

Eat leftovers

One way to cut costs and avoid waste when travelling is to simply eat leftovers. If you’re staying at a hotel, consider booking one with a mini fridge so you can save cheese, cut fruit, and other snacks for later. If you’re staying at a homestay, plan to bring home leftovers in a reusable container to heat up when you’re hungry again.

If you’re staying at a hotel, consider booking one with a mini fridge so you can save cheese, cut fruit, and other snacks for later

Since many hotels have complimentary breakfasts, opt for the package-free items, like fresh fruit and eggs with drip coffee, versus small, individually wrapped products like cereal boxes and cappuccinos from a pod.

Be selective with souvenirs

It’s not just about what you pack, it’s also about what you bring back with you. Focus on returning with memories instead of material goods—photos are often the best souvenirs. If you do buy a keepsake, look for thoughtful items, like a piece of secondhand decor found at a flea market, or a handmade, fair trade gift that benefits the person who made it.

It’s important to enjoy yourself on vacation and really be able to relax, but wherever we go, we also want to feel that we’ve been a respectful guest to that part of the earth. From where you stay to what you bring back, a little planning ahead of time can help you cut waste, save money, and have a more special, memorable trip overall.