Sustainable Travel Essentials: Snacktime
1. REUSABLE CUTLERY
Reusable cutlery is the easiest and cheapest travel essential to bring with you. I had a spork and spatula/knife that got me through 4 years of college and travel. It’s good for pretty much everything- take out, street foods, picnics, you name it. It’s small, it’s lightweight, and it will save you SO MUCH WASTE when you go out to eat or decide you need ice cream immediately.
2. WATER BOTTLE
You guys knew this was coming. This is an absolute zero waste travel essential. I would highly suggest a stainless steel insulated water bottle so you can use it for both hot and cold. No one wants warm Gatorade or cold hot chocolate. You can even get it filled up at a coffee shop as a reusable to-go mug (or just order ‘for here’ and dump your given mug into the bottle to go). Basically the goal is to avoid bottled drinks at all costs.
3. SILICONE ZIPPER BAGS
Zippered bags are basically a given travel essential. The issue is that the zip-lock plastic ones aren’t so great. Enter silicone zippered bags! All the benefits of zip-lock without the waste (and you can microwave them without wondering what chemicals you’ll be ingesting). I would suggest a sandwich size bag for lunch foods and a snack size one for junk foods or fruits. A tiny bag for trail mix or other munchies is great as well!
4. CLOTH NAPKINS
You can use it as a napkin or a makeshift plate. The best material to get is a lightweight material that dries quickly, like cotton or linen. That way you can rinse it out and hang it up to dry overnight. Because using the same cloth for days on end is kind of egh, and so is eating pretzels off a damp cloth. The other bonus to lightweight material is that it folds up super small and won’t take up too much real estate in your bag.
5. HARD FOOD CONTAINER
I personally use a stainless steel container, but a plastic one could work as well (I would NOT suggest glass because it’s heavy and not travel-friendly). You can use this container for things you don’t want crushed, like chips, for meals, for taking home leftover food from restaurants. You can also use it to steal breakfast foods from your hotel and hostel. Metal is great for hot foods (no chemicals leached yay!).
You can also get takeout in this container- depending on if the restaurant will let you – but it’s always worth a try. At a bakery, you can request an item be handed to you in just the paper and use your own container to transport your snack. It’s also great for zero-waste ice cream snacking! (Ice cream is a theme with me) You can request your ice cream in a cone- zero waste but stress-inducing, and then plop it into your reusable container to enjoy stress-free with your reusable spork.
6. HAND SANITIZER
Not technically zero waste, but an absolute essential, and a low waste option. I keep a large container of hand sanitizer at home and fill up a mini one over and over for travel, which usually lasts me months. It’s a lower waste option than hand wipes, and making sure your hands are clean before you eat is super important. As I always say, hospitals are not zero waste.
7. METAL STRAW
My last zero waste travel essential. Metal straws are super popular right now, and while their impact is overblown, they are still helpful. Plus, it looks great on Instagram and takes up zero space.
LEVELING UP
We’re now moving onto next level zero waste snacking essentials. You might not need these, but if you want to invest, they will serve you well.
1. PRODUCE BAGS
Personally I use super lightweight mesh bags which, yes, are made of plastic, but since you use them hundreds to thousands of times, you’re still saving a huge amount of waste. Produce bags are great for keeping your vegetables in check or if you need to bag your produce to check out. You can also use them to hang-dry dishes when camping.
2. COLLAPSIBLE SILICONE CONTAINER W/ LID
Great for camping, but also hot things, anything you need to microwave, a mini bowl for meals. I wouldn’t trust the lid to keep food inside in a bag, but it’s fantastic for meal prepping. Because the bowl folds down, it takes up virtually zero space. And here’s where the lid comes in big time. If you eat but can’t wash out your container right away, the lid will keep the inside of your bag clean, or alternatively, it will keep a freshly washed container clean and ready for snacking!
3. ENAMEL MUG
Next up is an enamel mug. I specify enamel because it’s lightweight and virtually indestructible. Perfect for travel. Ideal for avoiding those awful to-go coffee cups at hotel breakfasts. Great when you’d rather drink from a mug than your water bottle. You know, just a bit of luxury. It also works great as a bowl for snacks like-you guessed it, ice cream!
4. FILTERING WATER BOTTLE
A hefty investment, but entirely worth it. I use the GRAYL. Right now, I’ve been using it to filter chlorine from my tap water, but I’ll post a full review once I’ve put it to the test on non-potable water. A filtering water bottle is an absolute essential when traveling somewhere without potable water. You don’t want to drink the tap water, trust me. And bottled water SUCKS.
I love the GRAYL because it filters out the dirt as well as the pathogens. There are other bottles/systems on the market that use UV to sanitize the water. So you can drink clean dirt. (It’s safe, but still gross)
It’s a hefty investment for sure. The GRAYL runs about 80 USD but you’ll get up to 350 uses out of the cartridge, (around 300 L filtered) which you can replace indefinitely!
THE COST OF ZERO WASTE ESSENTIALS
You might have noticed that these items are investment items. AKA not cheap. The silicone bags, for example, can run you 10 to 20 USD apiece, and the stainless steel containers run about the same. Utensils and produce bags can come cheap though. The case with zero waste is often an upfront investment to save money, protect the planet and yourself. Comment down below with your best zero-waste snacking hacks!