Waste, reuse and pollution

At home most of us take for granted that we can reduce waste and pollution, reuse or recycle things. We have the option of buying sustainably sourced or eco-friendly products. We have a system of dealing with our rubbish or sewage safely.

Not everyone is that lucky. In places without proper infrastructure or awareness of the harm to people, animals and the environment, rubbish is often dumped anywhere, oil and chemicals are poured out on the streets and into rivers, and raw sewage is dumped anywhere.

How to minimise your footprint

These are my 3 small changes to help reduce your environmental footprint when travelling:

1. Avoid single-use plastic
Have a reusable bag with you for shopping and groceries and refuse the offer of plastic bags. Avoid plastic straws by taking your own bamboo or steel one with you. Take it one step further and take a bamboo cutlery set with you. Plastics are literally choking our planet and wildlife, so every small action helps.

2. Avoid buying small bottles of water
It’s not always possible to avoid buying water in places where sanitation is poor. But you can cut back by buying larger bottles to refill your day-to-day one or finding local businesses that will refill it for you for a small fee. You can also get a water bottle with an in-built filter, which makes most tap water safe. If you are staying somewhere for a while, find out how people access clean water; you may be able to do the same. In parts of Thailand, for example, I could refill my 6L water bottle at the village tap, which provided filtered water for everyone, where available, at a fraction of the cost of buying more bottles.

3. Dispose of rubbish responsibly
If there are no bins near you on your daily adventures, take rubbish back to your accommodation. While recycling facilities may not be what we are used to, residents often collect plastics and other items to sell on to others who can recycle them.

By being more socially and environmentally responsible on your travels you’ll get more out of your journey, give something back to the communities you visit, and leave a place as good as or better than you found it for the next traveller.