Along our Airstream journey, Andrea and I have intentionally aimed to #LeaveItBeautiful at every stop along the way. From being thoughtful with our waste and trying to always to recycle, it's our job to make sure we're leaving nothing more than tracks at the campsites we visit.
One of our biggest saves on this trip has been using our LifeStraw Go instead of buying any disposable water bottles. Having traveled to many foreign countries, I’ve sadly purchased and used a fair amount of plastic water bottles. With the complete LifeStraw line up, we pretty much have all our filtering needs covered. While on the road, we’ve drank water from rivers, creeks, lakes, and even puddles.
One of my favorite things to tell people we meet is how we limit buying single-use plastic water bottles by using our LifeStraw products. So many people think of LifeStraw as the filter that will save their lives in an emergency. They really don’t see the need for LifeStraw products in their everyday life. We're aiming to change that misconception with each stop along our journey!
“If you’re going to a foreign country, you can drink out of the tap!” That comment generally gets most peoples’ attention. They never thought the water filter that I’m drinking murky water out of was good for drinking water out of the sink which can contain bacteria, heavy metals, chemicals, and microplastics. We can really reduce the amount of single-use plastic, by using reusable products like the LifeStraw Go and LifeStraw Home.
In normal travel, or even living at home, I've noticed that I waste way more than I have on this trip living in Astrid the Airstream. Cooking in a trailer is a lot more “green” than eating out—especially when you're particularly conscious of food waste.
As you may know, food waste in America is a huge problem. The USDA estimates that 30-40% of our food supply is wasted each year. This waste also means that the water used to grow/raise our food went to waste (approximately 21% of the US Agriculture’s annual water usage), which contributes to 2.6% of all US greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why we tried composting, but it’s even better to start higher up the chain.
During our Airstream trip, I can count on one hand the amount of food items that we’ve wasted. Additionally, water consumption goes way down when you look at your grey water tank and see that you’re at 60% capacity. Suddenly, the desire to take long showers or leave the water running is curbed pretty quickly! If I were at home, I’d be showering for at least 10 minutes and running the dishwasher almost daily. In Astrid, showers are about two minutes and we use a bucket of water to dip the dishes in so we don’t have to do a first rinse with running water.
All in all, I’d say we’re leaving a much smaller footprint than we even did at home, and definitely use a lot less water than the average traveler. (Just think about how often sheets and towels have to be washed after checking out of a hotel!) We’re now at state number nine, and I’d say this is definitely the greenest travel I’ve done yet. Sure there is still waste, but I can honestly say we’re doing our best to keep it clean and #LeaveitBeautiful.
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Photos credited to Harry Yuan and Andrea Loeffler 📸
Join the tour online with #airstream, #cleanwateracrossamerica, and #leaveitbeautiful.
