In a previous article, we had gathered a selection of travel products to help us be more sustainable on the go.
During our recent trip to Vietnam (rediscover it here) we chose to take some of them with us.
Here’s our top 4. They will now be part of our essentials when we travel, and not only to destinations at the end of the world
A reusable bottle that gives back
Did you know that on a two weeks trip, the average traveller will consume about 30 bottles of water?
Multiply that by the number of tourists visiting your next destination, and you’ll start to understand where we’re going with this.
For those who travel to places where the water is perfectly safe to drink: all you have to do is take your reusable water bottle with you.
In some cities, there are maps to locate the fountains in the city. For Paris, it’s this way. For the United Kingdom, the Refill app can help you.
However, in many places, tap water is not safe to drink and not all hotels filter water on site.
So we needed a solution to be able to drink anytime and anywhere without wondering if we were going to die catch an ugly bacteria.
We chose to test the Lifestraw Go filter reusable bottle ?
It uses a double filtration system — the promise: no bacteria and no taste, even when drinking from a river.
We chose Lifestraw because, in addition to having several models, including a stainless steel filter straw that fits most reusable bottles, they also have an approach that we liked.
Each time you buy a LifeStraw Go bottle, you finance drinking water for a child for a whole school year.
We won’t tell you we filled our bottles in brown rivers, like extreme eco-travellers; but we can assure you that we only consumed unfiltered tap water and we are still here.
Test result? Approved and adopted even for our next walks in the surrounding countryside.
Mineral Sunscreen
Not wanting to choose between seeing multicoloured corals without sending them a ton of chemicals for fear of sunburn, we tested an ocean-friendly sunscreen.
ka mineral sunscreen with no Oxybenzone
For those who are late, you can rediscover our article on the effects of sun creams on corals here
We chose a French organic brand, Laboratoires de Biarritz.?
Local, organic, ocean-friendly. What else?
We had mixed feelings and a bit of apprehension.
Would it protect our sensitive skins enough, would it last after a few hours admiring the fish from the Con Dao Marine Reserve? For the snorkelling sessions, we did add an anti-UV shirt — however, no sunburn to report on exposed areas.
Result: we wore it every day, whether swimming or not. Happy skin, Happy Fish, Happy Travelers. Win-Win operation
The eco-friendly hiking gear
We discovered the Vaud brand when looking to renew some clothes and hiking gear especially.
We tested their “green” hiking shoes — the promise: shoes made of eco-materials, bioplastics, recycled materials, and fair trade leather. We were going to be sustainable hikers.
In addition to being lightweight, they were comfortable from the first trek, waterproof and looked like new on the way back.
They beat all the cheap hiking shoes, which we ruined in two weeks of hiking before that.
Sustainable and waterproof backpack
Whether on the move or in transit, a backpack is the ideal travel companion.
Experience has shown us that you can ruin the contents of a bag under the monsoon if you are poorly equipped. (Put your phone in a rice bag #reallifestory)
So we needed a bag that was resistant to tropical rains, but not unsinkable either.
We chose the Patagonia brand and their Black Hole® range
Like most of their products, the bag is Blue Sign™ certified.
Meaning that the products used are safe for consumers and the employees who manufacture them and that they preserve natural resources.
The brand uses eco-friendly water-repellent products and its commitment to sustainable development is well established. You can read more about their philosophy here.
Conclusive test: the bag was practical, light and accompanied us everywhere.
In short, a responsible and durable purchase, which we will use all year round.
In the next series of our eco-friendly travel tips, we will zoom in on the zero waste travel toiletries
How about you what eco-friendly products can you no longer travel without? Tell us in the comments
HoliableHoliable is an eco-friendly travel planner helping you find sustainable hotels, green restaurants and ethical tourism activities around the world. Holiable was developed to share experiences, advice and reviews on sustainable travel, making it easier to prepare your next eco-friendly holiday.
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