Now that the holidays have passed, travel season is in full swing, and there’s a good chance you’re contemplating a break from winter weather in the coming months, but while getting away is good for your stress levels, it’s definitely not great for the environment. Beyond the huge impact that comes from transportation (especially air travel) there are plenty of other, smaller, environmental issues like the increased consumption many of us practice when away from home. One way to help shrink your vacation carbon footprint is to invest in a few items that will help you stay green on your next trip (and all the ones after that) and add some ease to your trip planning. So whether you’re headed for sunny skies or just scheduled for business trips, check out the collection of green gear in our eco-friendly travel kit below.

Timbuk2 Getaway Bag, $119.94

If there’s one thing you’re definitely going to need when you go away, it’s luggage. This Timbuk2 bag can accommodate up to 5 days of packing for the lightest of travelers (and traveling light will help reduce your impact). It functions not only as a carry-on, but even fits below the seat for easy access, and the interior is made from recycled polyester. Pockets keep everything—including water bottles–organized inside and straps can be adjusted for over-the-shoulder, in-hand, or backpack use.

Satori Hemp Socks, $12.00

Stash these hemp socks in your carry on for times when you end up in the security line wearing sandals or other sock-free shoes and you can avoid having to trek across the germ-laden floor leading to the x-ray machines with bare feet. They’ll also help keep your tootsies warm on a cold flight should you find yourself without a blanket (which, chances are, you will), and the hemp blend means they’re naturally antifungal and more resistant to bacteria, as well as greener than your average pair. Click here to read more

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Trying to stay away from bisphenol A is tricky enough with the stuff lurking in the water cooler at work, the tupperware in the fridge, and even glass baby food jars at the grocery store; but a new announcement from Sigg reveals another difficulty—BPA in products that have a reputation of being BPA-free. Sigg bottles have long been thought of as the BPA-free alternative to the hard plastic Nalgene bottles that were popular before BPA concerns arose in recent years (Nalgene now makes BPA-free bottles), and business has boomed for the company as the aluminum bottles started showing up in the hands of people everywhere, the majority of whom preferred the Sigg bottles for their lack of BPA. Or, rather, who assumed that the Sigg bottles were without BPA.

Sigg CEO Steve Wasik sent out a letter this month alerting Sigg customers to the fact that up until a year ago, Sigg bottles did, in fact, contain BPA in their water-based epoxy liners. Click here to read more

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Before you start rolling your eyes and saying “another eco-documentary?” and then “and it’s about bottled water?”, bear with us. Sure, settling in to watch a film that focuses solely on bottled water sounds boring, but Tapped is anything but. The eco-doc investigates and explores all areas of bottled water and the results are in turn both shocking, appalling, and inspiring.

Brought to you from the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car, Tapped spills the goods on all the bad in the bottled water industry. Think you already know everything there is to know about why we shouldn’t be buying bottled water? You might not. Maybe you acknowledge the environmental issues of using petroleum to make the plastic and not recycling the bottles after (leaving them to linger for hundreds of years), but do you think about the carbon emissions that come from transporting the water from the facility where it’s bottled to your local store? What about the fact that bottled water is less regulated than tap in many cases, and is, in fact, tap water just without the pesky government monitoring. And that’s just the tip of the ice berg (or, in this case, the first sip of the bottle). Click here to read more

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The craze of bottled water is a national obsession, but tap water in the U.S. is usually safer, and often better tasting too. This hilarious Penn & Teller video tells you what you really get with bottled water.

Instead of buying bottled water, please invest in a reusable water bottle.  Learn more about reusable water bottles by reading our SIGG Buyer’s Guide and our Disposable vs Reusable Water Bottle Face-off.

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