3.1

3.1
Hi. I’m Marie McGrory with National Geographic Travel. Recently, I took a trip to Belize, and I challenged myself to do it without any single-use plastics. This is how I’m taking National Geographic’s Planet or Plastic pledge and putting it into action.

Avoiding single use plastics in everyday life is already pretty hard but doing it while you’re traveling can be even harder. It means you have to avoid things like plastic water bottles, and those shampoos at hotels, and pretty much anything you can eat at an airport.

Here’s what I chose to bring to replace the single use plastics that I would normally be using. A reusable grocery bag, bamboo utensils, a glass straw, collapsible Tupperware, bar soap and bar shampoo, two reusable water bottles, and a Steripen.

There is so much I learned from this experience. But here are four things that I think are really important.

First thing, you have to ask. “Got a straw on my first night and my last night.” Having a glass straw is not helpful if you forget to say, “No straw, please.”

Second thing is you have to research the water situation. I couldn’t drink the tap water in Belize. And I worried that if I couldn’t purify my water, I would end up using dozens of plastic water bottles. I was so relieved that all of the lodges I stayed in and a lot of restaurants had purified-water stations.

The third tip is that collapsible Tupperware is definitely underrated. Turns out it was great for carrying around snacks and grabbing food to go for when I was in a rush.

The last tool tip is you don’t always need tools. You can skip single use plastics without replacing them, by saying no to an airplane snack, skipping a sample at an ice cream shop, or asking for a cone instead of a cup.