Our Quick Guide For Staying Eco Friendly Whilst Travelling, Hiking and Backpacking

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Plaine Products, whose mission it is to eliminate single use plastic from the bathroom. Plaine Products have this great system whereby a toiletries subscription, yousend back your empty bottles for replenishments to be sent out (and all in the same package). They’re also vegan, cruelty free and biodegradable which means they can be used on the trail and still leave no trace.

leave no trace whilst camping

If you’re getting into hiking or backpacking, then you’ll probably have heard about Leave No Trace. The idea is quite simple, the only thing you leave is footprints, which means thinking about what you use in the outdoors and also taking everything away with you. This also refers heavily to where you set up camp and also your use of trails. You can read more about the principles here. As humans, we are having a significant impact on our environments, and whilst we truly believe in enjoying them, we also believe that knowing as much as you can in order to respect delicate life systems is a must. We also have more information about this in our preparing for your first wild or backcountry camp article. Things like biodegradable soaps and washes and packing out all of your rubbish have a huge impact on making your footprint a much kinder one. Please note, even if you are planning to have a shower whilst on the trail, you will need to either bring in your water or collect from a water source and wash elsewhere, usually about 100ft away from the water source is enough to avoid any run off going into the water source.

Use responsible products in hotels

It’s incredibly tempting when you stay in a hotel and they’re offering travel miniatures to want to use them all, but they create a lot of excess plastic which may not even be recycled. Taking your own toiletries with you and knowing where they come from can be the kinder option, especially if they are products that can be refilled and reused over and over again! What we love about our travel toiletries now is that we have been able to cut down so much and simplify what we bring, making it easier to pack.

Bring reusable cups and containers

Be sure to travel with your reusable coffee cup, straw, water bottle and food containers. If you know you’re going to be eating from particular food vendors a lot, bring reusable cutlery too. The idea is to cut down on as many throw away items as possible and it’s still completely doable whilst travelling and doesn’t add much weight to your luggage at all.Be sure to take these in your hand luggage to make your airport trips and flight waste free.

Can you still recycle?

You might be staying in a hotel or other accommodation and the recycling options in your place don’t seem the same as at home. It’s worth checking in with the hotel or your host to see if there is any way you can recycle. Even if you’re just provided one bin in your room or place, you can still separate items out as you would at home if main recycling bins are provided outside. If you’re in a hotel, chat with the front desk and see if it’s possible for them to recycle things for you. If they don’t have recycling facilities available, it’s always a good idea to suggest to the hotel that you would love to see the ability to recycle in your room- the more guests that make it clear, the more likely we are to see change.If you’re on a road trip and you need to keep on top of your trash, separate your items in the boot of your car, and try to dump your trash at places where you can see clear recycling bins.

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