travel accessories — Zero Waste — Trying to Be a Zero

Some of the things I wanted to post about, when I thought about doing this blog, was efforts and ideas to be a more zero-waste traveler. Up until COVID-19, we were a family that traveled quite often. Now, I don’t know when we will travel next. However, I imagine and hope that we will still take some “local” trips in the near future so there are still some travel-relevant changes and things to try out and post about. In preparing to travel during our last trip, I was reviewing what toiletries I needed to bring. I actually never really bought travel-sized, single-use toiletries on a regular basis but I do still have a small stash of random shampoos and lotions in the depths of my bathroom cabinet from who knows where. I think that my inventory of small bottles of toiletries has come mainly from hotels and samples from random places. In my thrifty mindset, I admit, I definitely used to take shampoo etc. when I would stay in hotels. As I transform into a more waste-reducing mindset, I plan to not only NOT take single-use hotel products but also to not even use single-use hotel products anymore. Those small bottles really are so very wasteful and good news, some major hotel chains are on board with doing something about it (click here)!

Although I never really bought travel-sized items, I did often use travel-sized reusable containers to fill up with my regular shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc. It started more as an effort to save money rather than reduce waste, but I have found that these things often conflate. However, as I was packing, I realized that I did not have any more random samples of liquid body wash and since I had discontinued liquid body wash for the adults in my household, I needed a container to bring bar soap—a soap box. I chose this one for travel for a few reasons: 1) it has its own soap lift type of thing so that the soap doesn’t just sit in water and become gooey, 2) it has a tight band that wraps around and ensures tight and leak-free transport if the soap is not 100% dry, and 3) it’s cute and fits with my aesthetic. I really like this product, it has worked very well, and it will definitely be a part of my regular travel gear.