With ice cream in a cone, you can eat the wrapper. ©nataliaderiabina | Stock.Adobe.com

Litter and single-use plastics are always a big problem when traveling and one of the main reasons for being unpopular as a tourist. Recently, tourists in the Alps were in the news for littering the mountains. Here are our tips for avoiding plastic on vacation.

#1 Sustainable accommodation

While conventional hotels offer all disposable products as amenities (small toiletries in the bathroom, disposable slippers wrapped in plastic) and individually wrapped portions of jam and tea bags at the buffet, sustainable accommodations such as Green Pearls® hotels and vacation homes are characterized by a zero-waste policy. You will find plastic-free alternatives at the breakfast buffet as well as in the bathroom. These alternatives are described in our Zero Waste Travel blog post.

#2 Avoid plastic bottles

Every sustainable traveler should pack their own water bottle. If the tap water in your destination is undrinkable (see our article “Can I drink tap water abroad?”), you can check locally to see if glass or deposit bottles are available. If this is not possible, buy the largest bottles of local water you can find and fill them with water for your excursions.

#3 To-Go-Products

Street food is often a great vacation experience – just a shame if it’s packed in Styrofoam! There are several ways to avoid this: 

• Choose food stands where this is not the case ( for example, in some countries food is wrapped in banana leaves).
• Take a packed lunch from the eco-hotel (e.g. the vegan lunch packs from LA VIMEA. At the HUBERTUS Mountain Refugio Allgäu, “Jausensakrl” are available at the breakfast and lunch buffets).
• Sit down and enjoy: Instead of a coffee to go, you can sit down in the café and drink your coffee from a real cup.
• Bring your own lunch box and have the street food packed for you. This is how consistent zero waste travelers do it 🙂

#4 Shopping with a jute bag

In some countries, everything is packed in plastic bags. This is also the case here in Jerusalem. I always hold out the bag I brought with me, and it works wonderfully. Be careful: Carrying food openly (without a bag) is frowned upon in many (Islamic) countries. It could be seen as showing poor people what you have (i.e. a carton of eggs or a bag of candy) and making them sad if they can’t afford it right now.

#5 Bamboo toothbrush

The plastic-free alternative for your travel kit.

#6 Litter-free ice cream

Eat your ice cream out of a cone instead of a cup.

#7 Solid soap and shampoo

If you are not staying in a sustainable hotel, but are camping, for example, you can avoid plastic by using solid shampoo and soap. A metal can is great for storing things while traveling.

#8 Take part in beach clean-ups

Plastic waste washes up on many beaches, and the situation is particularly bad in places like Bali. Due to a combination of currents and westerly winds, on some days of the year more than a hundred tons of waste can suddenly appear on the beaches. According to various media reports, volunteers are eager to help and assist city workers and resort employees.