Sustainable vacation tips!
We often find it easier to think about sustainability and circularity at home. But what about on vacation? Did you know that you can also take beautiful and important steps around your vacation plans that are important for our environment?
We like to think along with you and come up with a easy overview of sustainable vacation tips that you can immediately make a positive impact!
Happy vacations!
Sustainable vacation tip #1 Secondhand for the win!
Need an e-reader quickly before vacation? Or in-car TV screens to keep the kids entertained in the back? Cool box last minute a good idea? Then take a look on Marktplaats for a second-hand one, for example. You can also search by location, so you can often quickly score another item nearby. Scoring second-hand is so much better for the environment!
But also ask around among family, friends or neighbors. You can always borrow or lend something for a vacation, otherwise it is often just lying in the closet. Sharing is a good idea and in the end you will need fewer appliances.
When you get home and you haven't used your latest purchase very much after all, you can always offer it on a second-hand platform or drop it off at a thrift store like Het Goed so it can be given a new owner. That way you can make even more people happy!
Sustainable vacation tip #2 Bottle up!
By drinking water from the tap, you are contributing to a better environment. It's that easy!
Buying new bottles of water (on vacation) creates a surplus of plastic, because after use you often throw these bottles away or they are used for recycling. But the whole recycling process is unnecessary the moment you bring your own bottle that you can easily fill with water. An ideal example is the widely known Dopper, which is leak-proof and can take a beating. Everyone knows it and you can easily take it with you on your travels.
Via Find a Water tap on Google, you can find a water point where you can refill your bottle. There are already almost 135,000 water taps in Europe. Super convenient!
And keep drinking good water, it is important for your body!
Sustainable vacation tip #3 Sunscreen!
Diving into the water at the beach during your vacation is, of course, wonderful. But did you know that your sunscreen is destroying the earth's 'blue lungs'? Sunscreen contains UV filters that contain substances such as Oxybenzone and Octinoxate. These substances are very harmful to marine life. It causes coral to discolor or even disrupt its DNA which in turn affects growth and kills the coral. Also, the microplastics contained in sunscreen are very harmful, so plankton think those particles are food and those particles naturally end up in the fish as well. Thus, we unintentionally and unknowingly destroy the underwater world ourselves.
How do you make sure you lend a hand to the earth by choosing the right sunscreen?
The World Wildlife Fund made a convenient list of tips last year and Jelle Derckx and Claire Wouters of Growthinkers also come up with a handy list of sustainable sunscreens that are suitable.
This is how we keep the earth clean together!
Sustainable vacation tip #3 Music on the road!
Listening to downloaded books or do you have some some cool podcasts standing by? Super! How about a Fairphone headphone to listen to these in peace on vacation? Fairphone has phones as well as headphones, they try to produce as fair as possible. They focus on minimizing the climate impact of production by sourcing raw materials fairly and ethically. Nice aim right?
If you want to buy new products, choose sustainably produced electronics!
Sustainable vacation tip #5 Clean up your mess!
Cleaning up your own mess sounds very logical, right? Yet there is street trash lying around everywhere. That's why we like the motto "Leave a place cleaner than when you got there." For example, if you are at the beach, make it a sport to collect and clean up the equivalent of the trash you make around you. See trash littering somewhere else? Take it and clean it up, then you are really doing good!
Do you get excited about picking up litter? Then you can always get started locally, too. Several municipalities have trash pickers available for this purpose, check with your municipality. Or sign up for the World Clean up day. Together with an enthusiastic group you can work locally.
Together we can keep the earth clean!
