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As we become more and more aware of the impact of our actions on the environment we all need to find ways to reduce waste.

As airlines move towards Sustainable Aviation Fuel and the railways increase the % of the network electrified it is easy to believe that we as travellers cannot play a part, however, in my experience we produce far more waste while travelling than at any other part of our life.

This post is going to share with you the steps that I have taken to reduce the amount of waste I generate whilst travelling. Hopefully you can find methods in this post that you can adopt and help you travel cleaner.

1. Reusable Water Bottle

This is the easiest way to reduce waste and save money (a win win situation for everyone).

In Scotland you can find points to refill your water bottle in both Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley stations. These are central locations and both cities meaning you can quickly visit and fill up.

In most UK airports you will find water refill points after security, so take your empty bottle and fill it after security.

When you are abroad a quickly search on Google will tell you if you can drink the tap water, or if you ask the hotel reception nicely they usually refill it for you.

2. Reusable Coffee Mug

This is the same premise as the water bottle but for hot drinks.

Most local coffee shops will happily fill your cup – any may offer you a small discount for bringing your own cup. This works particularly well with train travel as you can easily carry it with you.

As for air travel it is a grey area, you can easily take these in checked baggage, however, you probably cannot take it in cabin baggage, (I would check with your airport and airline in advance).

3. Pack a reusable shopping bag.

It seems simple but a lot of people often forget to pack a shopping bag and end up taking a bag at every shop they visit.

Packing a few you already own means you can put gifts, shopping and clothes and reduce the amount of bags you will put in the bin when you are packing to come home or as soon as you unpack.

4. Bring your own snacks.

I want you to imagine a group of 4 people travelling from Glasgow to London by train. If each of them purchase a meal deal and a coffee in Glasgow then all of this waste would be produced.

• 4x plastic bottles
• 4x plastic crisp packets.
• 4x sandwich packets
• 4x single use coffee cups

Now, if these 4 travellers prepared a lunch at home and brought it with them in a reusable tub, used a reusable coffee cup and carried it all in a reusable shopping bag, that entire list would be eliminated.

If you are flying then remember you can take most foods through airport security, just remember if you are travelling internationally any food must be allowed in your destination country.

5. Smart souveniers

I am not saying that you cannot take people back presents, just make it something they would actually value and use. If you know they are going to lock it in a cupboard or throw it in the bin, don’t buy it.

Try to bring them home something that you think relates to them or they will use regularly. However, remember that ultimately you need to enjoy your entire holiday so if you don’t want to shop for gifts then don’t (I accept no responsibility for angry or disappointed relatives 🙂)

6. Zero Waste Utensils

There is nothing I hate more than getting take away food and only being offered a plastic fork or spoon. To ensure I don’t encounter this problem whilst travelling in the UK by train I use reusable utensils.

These kits are easy to carry and have everything you need inside them. Using these means that I can wash them when I get to a hotel and use them again on my trip.

My Final Comments

Overall, even using just one of these suggestions will help you reduce the amount of waste you produce. Therefore, if every traveler uses one of these then travel waste will fall significantly.

Hopefully we continue to see airlines reduce single use plastics onboard. Qantas operated their first plastic free flight in 2019 and Jet2.com have reduced single use plastics by 80% since 2019.

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