As someone who tries to live as practically green as possible, I attempt to take that philosophy on the road with me when I travel. We just got back from a 9 day family vacation. Most of it was spent at a rustic cabin on a private lake in the woods of Wisconsin. Then we road-tripped to the sand dunes of Indiana on Lake Michigan. Here are some observations:
- It's possible to travel relatively waste-free if you bring your own water bottles and snacks and eat at sit-down restaurants instead of fast-food places. We had surprisingly little trash - but then again, we weren't driving across the country like we did last year.
- Shopping at a rural grocery store can be a challenge, but if you stick to the perimeter and avoid too much junk food, you'll be OK. (we usually give in to a little bit of junk on vacation anyway!)
- I'm not sure there's a big environmental advantage to using an outhouse - but we did it for 6 days and survived!
- The worst part about hotel breakfast buffets is not the food, it's the styrofoam. We suffered through it one morning but chose to eat at a different place (with real plates!) the next morning.
- When you are in the water all day, every day - you go through a ton of sunscreen. I'm a fan of Marie Veronique KidSafe sunscreen and Purple Prairie Botanicals Sun Stuff but I can't always afford to buy the pricey sunscreen. I ended up using Water Babies Pure & Simple sunscreen on this trip. It's the safest mass-market sunscreen product that I have found (it scores a 3 on Skin Deep). What is your favorite affordable sunscreen?
- Safer sunscreens have their drawbacks. My kids are begging me for the spray kind that "everyone else uses" because they hate how long it takes to rub the sunscreen in. How do your kids handle this?
- I desperately need to find a non-toxic bug spray that actually works. We were in the woods with some mean bugs and I gave in to the Deet a couple times. Advice, anyone?
- You can survive a heat wave without air conditioning....if you are at the lake! The temp was in the mid-90's but we were in the water 2-3 times per day - even me - the one who is a total wimp about cold water. :)
Do you have any green, travel tips to share?
(Full disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post. If you purchase something through a link, a teeny, tiny percentage will come back to me. Thank you very much if you do!)




























