While on vacation, we tend to relax and abandon our regular routine. Although back home you might be dedicated to recycling and protecting the environment, when you visit the beaches of Thailand, Vietnam, and Hai Nan Island, you may lapse into bad habits.
Plastic waste is bad for 2 main reasons. Plastic takes over 200 years to decompose, so any plastic left behind will create an eyesore and a menace to wildlife for centuries to come. And when old plastic is not recycled, more new plastic must be manufactured in its place for essential uses.
You can easily reduce plastic waste while enjoying beaches in Japan. Here are 10 easy suggestions for a more eco-friendly vacation in Asia.
1. Rate and review local businesses
When you’re traveling, you have the power to rate and review the businesses you use. This will impact on their future sales. If you praise businesses that use reusable cutlery and recyclable packaging and politely criticize those that use single-use plastic, you will encourage businesses in the area you’re visiting to adopt policies that lead to less plastic waste.
Some hotels and tour operators supply feedback questionnaires. Politely make your options about plastic waste known so they can make suitable changes.
2. Use reusable bags
When shopping for souvenirs, take along a lightweight cotton or jute shopping bag that you can use instead of making use of the giftshop’s single-use bags. A thin shopping bag can be carried around in your beach bag in case of spontaneous purchases. Many countries are adopting policies to reduce the number of single-use plastic bags used, but you can hurry this along by being prepared.
3. Don’t use cling film
If you decide to enjoy a beach picnic in Indonesia, don’t wrap your hard-boiled eggs and sandwiches in plastic or place them in disposable sandwich bags. Instead, take along reusable plastic boxes, such as those manufactured by Tupperware, to keep your picnic food fresh and unsquashed.
4. When choosing beer multipacks, avoid those with 6-pack rings
Many multipacks of cans are held together using plastic rings. These have proved dangerous to marine wildlife when poorly disposed of. If you cannot avoid purchasing products with rings, remove the rings before you go to the beach and dispose of them with care.
You can still keep your cans together and safe, and you can also keep them cool, by using a cooler. Better quality soft coolers will also have extra compartments and pockets you can use for your sandwiches, camera, and other beach necessities.
5. Don’t use disposable cutlery or plastic straws.
Purchase better quality plastic knives and forks that you can use again and again. Avoid anything that is single-use, such as flimsy plastic straws. You can purchase reusable novelty straws that your kids can use again and again. If restaurants issue you with single-use straws, politely make your opinions known in the hope of influencing future policy.
6. Cut down on plastic packaging
Products such as sunscreen, shampoo, and soap often come in single-use plastic containers. However, today there are alternatives. You can purchase eco-friendly sunscreens that are not only better for marine life when you go swimming but are also packaged in biodegradable tubes or recyclable metal tins. You can also buy solid shampoos and soaps that are not squeezed out of a plastic bottle. These are lighter to carry and often vegan friendly and cruelty-free.
7. Water filter bottles
Although they are relatively expensive, a water filter bottle will save you from having to purchase multiple bottles of water in single-use bottles. For example, check out products manufactured by Water-To-Go. Water filter bottles also work out much cheaper in the long run since bottled water is often overpriced, even in Asia.
If you’re going hiking along the beach, you can take along a backpack with a built-in hydration bladder. Rather than hydrating from a disposable plastic bottle, fill the hydration bladder with clean water for your Asian hiking adventure.
8. Take a reusable coffee cup
You can purchase travel coffee cups designed to fit underneath standard coffee and hot water spouts. These are lightweight and easy to clean and avoid the necessity to take out disposable coffee cups from coffee chain stores.
9. Think beyond yourself and be an Eco-Warrior
While it’s great that you’re reducing your own plastic waste on the beaches in Asia, that doesn’t stop others from polluting that beautiful beach in Malaysia. But if you take along a spare bag, at the end of your day’s fun on the beach, you can also do a bit of voluntary clearing of other people’s trash.
Yes, it isn’t fair that you should have to clear up other people’s mess. However, what’s half-an-hour of your time when you’re on vacation anyway? And if your neighbors on the beach are especially messy and uncaring, your act of collecting their plastic for recycling may have a bigger positive impact on the local environment than reducing your own plastic waste.
10. Recycle
This is so obvious that it should not need listing, but you must ensure that any single-use plastic items you use end up in a recycling bin rather than a trash can. When you arrive at your beach destination in Bali, check out the recycling facilities at your hotel. If they don’t recycle, look around for other options. There will be somewhere you can take your metal and plastic waste for recycling. Learn where this is on arrival and then ensure you collect anything that can be recycled to deposit there before you set off for home.
This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media