Tips for Packing Light to Reduce Your Travel Carbon Footprint

The environmental impact of flying is significant.

I might be a tree-hugging environmentalist, but am I going to stop traveling by air? Heck no, but there are some ways we can reduce our impact each time we take to the skies.

One easy way: Pack Light.

The more you pack, the heavier your bags will be, and this adds to the amount of fuel being burned by an aircraft or any other vehicle carrying your luggage. 

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“Anything that reduces the payload on an aircraft is going to reduce the fuel burn.”
-Dan Rutherford (Shipping and Aviation Director at the International Council on Clean Transportation) for BBC.com

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My first reaction to hearing this is “yeah but what’s my one or two extra pounds of luggage going to impact?”    

Not much, probably, but if everyone on an A380 flight of 800 people reduced their luggage weight by a little bit every time they travel, we could be on our way to saving LOTS of fuel and emissions. 

I’ve listed a few easy ways to reduce your luggage weight here- but I’m sure you can think of more for the next time you pack for a flight. Just don’t overdo it. Take what you need and no more. You can always hit a pharmacy or shop along your journey if you get desperate for something you didn’t bring.

Toiletries in miniature. 

Shampoo, conditioner, soaps, lotions, creams, and potions.   This might seem obvious, but it’s worth being said.

I’m an enormous fan of these little refillable pouch-style bottles. They’re super lightweight, pack flat and get smaller/lighter as you use the product inside. Once they’re empty they weight almost nothing and can be refilled again for your next trip. They’re also really strong. I’ve really put the set I have through hell and had had zero problems with them leaking or breaking. Taking miniatures with just enough product to use on your trip is key. This way, you avoid dragging more liquids and bottles around than you need and will have lighter luggage full of empty miniatures for your trip back. I also like to have small pots and pump/spray bottles for things like pills or creams that don’t necessarily work in a squeeze bottle. Everything in miniature!

Ditch the Packaging.

In addition to the above, if you’re bringing ANY new products that aren’t suitable to be minimized into miniature bottles, remove any packaging that can be removed and recycle it at home.

I mean things like the packaging around a new mascara, the labels and tags on a fresh set of socks, or the boxing around the case of your favorite energy bars for hiking-  ditch it and recycle it at home. 

It’ll bring down your luggage weight, allow the previously boxed or packaged items to take a smaller footprint in your suitcase, and ensure that the packaging can be properly recycled with your home recycling service rather than hoping to find recycling services on the go. 

Consider your clothing.

I usually plan for multipurpose outfits that allow me to wear most of the major articles of clothing I bring on a trip AT LEAST twice, if not three to four times. Think monochromatic color palettes and basics that can mix and match (it’s a lot of black, white, beige, and navy for me, but the colors you go with are up to you).

A nice black cardigan can be worn as a shirt with jeans for daytime and over my shoulders with a dress at night. A pair of black boots can easily be dressed up or down with a black skirt or with black jeans. A crisp white t-shirt or button-down has INFINITE possibilities for individual looks while still looking put together and fresh.

Obviously- some things are only meant to be worn once, like underwear, socks, athletic wear, or a special occasion outfit.

Items like jeans, dresses, scarves, jackets, pajamas, sweaters and especially shoes should be packed sparingly and worn as many times as possible (styled differently each time- or not– you do you!) 

I typically pack sets of outfits to keep things organized.

I decide on one pair of jeans/slacks/shorts and match 2-3 tops to go with. I’ll then put it all into its own neat packing cube so I can remember what I’ve chosen to go with what and everything stays neatly folded and stacked inside my suitcase. This saves time and effort and helps me organize things when I’m unpacking and eliminates the possibility of an embarrassing sloppy suitcase when customs officials inevitably open my bag.

You may be thinking ‘sure, packing light is easy enough- and I can just have some laundry done at the hotel’ but that hotel laundry shiz is EXPENSIVE and typically done in a fashion that is highly water wasteful and not sensitive to items that shouldn’t be tumble dried or vigorously machine washed. (I air dry a huge portion of my wardrobe to avoid shrinking and fiber damage from the dryer!)

Also, I don’t really love the idea of some hotel worker handling my unmentionables. Maybe that’s just me.

Enter: the eternally useful hotel room laundry routine:  

I ALWAYS travel with a little packet of my home laundry detergent in my travel kit. I use a concentrated eco-friendly liquid detergent, so I only need a little drop to wash a sink full of clothes. This also means I just need to bring a small pouch of it when I travel.  This comes in handy so often, it’s as much of a staple for me as toothpaste and dry shampoo. 

Chocolate gelato spilled on the white shirt you’re hoping to wear another 2-3 times?  Stain treat it overnight with a dab of detergent and rinse in your bathroom sink before hanging to dry.  BOOM fresh again. Sweaty armpits in the sweater you need to wear again tomorrow evening? Rinse just those pits out with a little bit of detergent and dry it over the AC in your hotel room. Smells like new.

You can also do this for socks, underwear, t-shirts, or anything else that you decide needs a refresh before you can wear it again. Just throw a few travel hangers into your luggage to be sure you have a good place (like the shower or curtain rod) to hang your freshly washed items to dry.   (We’ve learned the hard way NOT to rely on hotel rooms to provide ample hangers!)

If hotel bathroom laundry isn’t your jam, you can still freshen up that sweaty pair of shorts or jacket that smells like the smoky bar you were in last night.  For these kinds of things that don’t warrant a full wash, I heavily spritz the item with a wrinkle and odor remover for a quick refresh and revival before hanging it to air out near the AC vent or on the balcony in my hotel room.

Another often overlooked secret weapon for refreshing worn clothing is your in-room steam iron or a travel steamer (this one is my ABSOLUTE fav) if you’ll be in a situation where a steam iron won’t be available. A quick steam will do wonders for a less-than-fresh item of clothing. The extreme heat from the steam will kill odor-causing bacteria that have gathered in your clothing and remove any wrinkles that have accumulated to give a nice refreshed look to a piece that’s been worn a few times.

Lighten Up Your Entertainment

Do you really need to bring 3 books on this trip? Could those printed books be consumed as audiobooks? Would a Kindle or your iPhone be an option? How about a riveting podcast series? Are your knitting projects a necessary means of entertainment? Are you even going to have time to read or knit?

Try not to toss things like books, crafts, electronics and excessive magazines into your luggage haphazardly. Think of ways you can condense your entertainment into a single device. An iPhone can be your movie collection, e-book and e-magazine collection, music library, and an endless supply of puzzles in one lightweight device.

Consider how you can condense (or locate at your destination) anything that isn’t 100% necessary to bring along.

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