Travel: A Greener Approach to Airport Security

Let's talk travel.

It's one of my favorite things, and I'm leaving on a jet plane today to the land of blue water and palm trees. I CANNOT WAIT. Brace yourself, the Instagram spam is coming.

Raise your hand if you like going through airport security. Bueller? Bueller? Right, that's what I thought. There is nothing relaxing about elbowing some sweaty dude in line in front of you while you wrestle your laptop into a bin, and then wondering if you're going to catch athletes foot from him or his three weird smelling children as you kick your shoes off in that security line. (I am passionate about airport security.)

Here's how going greener can mean less time packing and less struggling in the security line, dear readers:

Travel sized liquids and gels. Can we all agree these things SUCK?

They're not worth the expense for the amount of product you get, half of which is going to lodge in that Barbie-sized bottle when you need it most. 

Also, let's take a minute for the product to packaging ratio, shall we? Look at that mess. Are yours recyclable containers? And if yours are, what's the carbon footprint of shipping those tiny bottles all the way to China, where we Americans have been dumping our plastic for the last however long?

Oh wait, China doesn't want our waste anymore. (Side note, my hippie friends: most glass recycling is done domestically. Support the US economy and grab a glass bottle off the shelf, when possible/practical.)

But anyone who has ever had lotion or conditioner explode in your luggage (that cannot just be me), or had their bags go missing entirely, (I once spent 10 days in Rome in two outfits and had to burn them when I got home) knows better than to put those goodies in your checked suitcases.

Shampoo: before (left) & after makeover (right) with reusable bag from Spice & Tea Exchange

BAR PRODUCTS TO THE RESCUE! 

This transition is easier for me since I'm already on the bar shampoo/conditioner train at Moore Manor. But guess what. Facial moisturizer and body lotion also come in bar form - thus making them plastic free.

CALM DOWN AND KEEP READING. I know you're jumping on your sofa like Tom Cruise on Oprah right now. #neverforget

Check out my newest Lush add ons for my upcoming jet-setting! 

I've gone from this...

to this.

You're losing your mind right now, I can tell. Here, let me give you a quick tour with an excessive number of photos - it's an occupational hazard. You can check out my shampoo before and after above, and here's the conditioner before and after product mashup. You may notice all my new products are in cloth bags, reused from my air freshener post, thanks to the Charleston Spice & Tea Exchange.

Lush bar conditioner, available HERE.

Lovely smelling conditioner? Check. Doesn't qualify as a liquid or gel or need a ziplock bag and special treatment in the security line? Check. But wait, there's more. 

Face wash and body wash (right and left), meet your nemesis (middle). 

Contrary to what the media want you to believe, you can and will find a soap that meets the needs of the skin on ALL of your body eliminating the need for specialized cleansers. Shocking, but your skin type might actually be the same on your face as your chest and knees. Streamline your products, y'all, and save waste and chemical additives. 

Moisturizer revamp courtesy of Lush. 

Why I love it:

• I once had a bottle of moisturizer explode in my bag. Goop looks good on no one.
• The bar so easy to pack, and so tiny.
• And easy to use! It melts on contact and makes my sensitive skin so happy.
• It's vegan and isn't tested on animals. 

Lotion upgrade also thanks to Lush cosmetics. 

If I had to wrestle with trying to coax lotion out of one more miniature bottle, I was going to lose my mind, or get kicked out of my hotel room for wall-penetrating screams of primal rage. The Lush body lotion melts on contact and your skin feels like satin. I recently switched to a local brand - which isn't quite solid enough to be travel friendly - and we'll be readdressing the lotion issue at a later point, I'm sure. 

Hollaaaaaaa! Are these the greenest products on the market? No. Nope. Not at all. But this blog is one girl's real life attempt at doing better. And this is a step in the right direction, given the below packaging/waste statistics. And they smell AMAZING. (Not into specialty stores? Check out J.R. Liggett's at Walmart or Earth Fare, or their mini travel size on Amazon, or Obia bars at Target.)

• 254 million tons: amount of trash Americans generate in one year
• #1: America's place at the top of the list of countries generating the most refuse
• 40-66 pounds per room per month : solid waste generated per hotel room
• 75.2m tons of container/ packaging waste generated in US in 2012, 30% of total volume
• 30-40 days: intervals at which we have discarded our own body weight in trash
• 51: glass beneficiating facilties (aka "glass processing" plants) in 27 states

Not into bar products? Not afraid of trying to cram all your liquids and gels into one tiny baggie? Awesome! Use refillable travel size bottles, like these from Amazon. Not bringing your own? Take that bar of soap home with you from the hotel and use it. Otherwise it'll wind up in a landfill. Rome wasn't built in a day, and there's a wealth of ways to step up your eco-friendly travel game. 

And on that note... Adios, friends! It's time for this girl to hit the tarmac.

Travel safely, y'all!