8 Eco-Friendly Travel-Sized Personal Care Products

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Air travel is far from eco-friendly with air crafts burning up large amounts of fuel and releasing harmful greenhouse gases into our atmosphere each day. Notable greenhouse gases and materials emitted by air crafts daily include carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfate and soot aerosols, all of which can damage the earth’s ozone layer and accelerate Climate change. Carbon dioxide in particular is the killer; planes produce as much CO² per passenger per mile as a single person in a small car.

Yet cars, trains, and buses won’t do if what you seek is a trip to a rainforest or an archeological site overseas. Air travel is your ticket to an amazing international experience. While there is not much you can do to prevent a plane from releasing greenhouse gases aside from voicing your concern and urging the government and companies to develop cleaner jet fuels, you do have control over what you choose to pack. Skip PVC plastics and animal-tested cosmetics. Opt for eco-friendly products instead that are safer for you and the planet. With the size cap on carry-on products this could prove difficult but not to worry.

If you grab any of the following eight eco-friendly travel products you’ll move through security in no time and feel content knowing that you’ve made the conscious choice to take care of the planet by purchasing one of them.

1. xo(eco) Beauty Pak

Xo(eco)’s beauty pak is a great choice for a chic, traveling gal. You’ll get two products—a larger box and a smaller bag. Both are made from 50% post-consumer recycled bottle fabric and the pak even comes with an impact label which details the amount of waste avoided, the product’s carbon footprint, and how many bottles were upcycled. By purchasing the beauty pack, xo(eco) will also Donate 1% of all profits to ocean research and Conservation.

2. Eco Tools Beauty & Travel Recycled Travel Bottle Set

If you already have plenty of shampoo and conditioner at home and don’t feel like going out to buy new smaller versions of them, then Eco Tools’ Beauty and Travel Recycled Travel Bottle Set is what you need. All the bottles are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. Inside the reusable zip-lock pouch, find four three ounce travel-sized bottles. Eco Tool even donates 1 percent of its sale to environmental organizations. Now those are some do-good bottles.

3. Eco Tools Green, Clean, Go Travel Set

Eco Tools also carries a full travel set packed with eco-friendly body products like body wash, lotion, a scrub, hand cream, and a nail brush. All the products are vegan, phthalate-free and 98 percent natural. The nail brush inside is also eco-friendly — it’s crafted from sustainable bamboo.

4. Urban Decay Vegan Palette

Animal-tested, chemical-laden cosmetics pack beauty aisles in store after store. Your money is much better spent on this eye shadow palette by Urban Decay. It’s 100 percent vegan meaning its 100 percent cruelty-free. The palette contains some of Urban Decay’s best-selling eye shadows including Minx, Twice Baked, Smog, Gunmetal, Half Baked and Zero Liner. The palette also comes with a mini eye shadow primer in the color Sin.

5. skinnyskinny Organic Dry Shampoo

When you’re traveling sometimes you just don’t catch the time to shower every day. Thanks to dry shampoo you don’t need to let your hair suffer. Many dry shampoos on the market now are filled with chemicals. This vegan-friendly one by skinnyskinny definitely is not. It’s made with ingredients like cornstarch, brown rice powder, white clay, and orris root power, many of which are certified organic. The shampoo comes in eco-friendly packaging too—the labels are biodegradable and the paper tubes and plastic caps are recyclable. Skinnysknny’s products are green from start to finish as the company uses wind power for all of its manufacturing.

6. GO! Towel 100% Organic Bamboo Compressed Towels

It’s always good to carry a small towel around when traveling as you can never be sure where you might get stuck for a while. These towels by GO! Towel come in a 10-pack (so you can give them out to friends and family too!) and are made of 100 percent organic bamboo. The towels are compressed into little disks so they’re easy and light to carry along. The towels are also biodegradable and are even compostable—now that’s just something you don’t hear about every day.

7. Olivina Natural Hand Cream

Do your hands get dry during hours of transit? Napa Valley, Ca. company Olivina makes a lovely hand cream that’ll leave your skin soft and healthy. This hand cream is free of parabens and sulfates and has never been tested on animals. Choose between two fragrances: orange and clove or pomegranate.

8. Eco Nuts Organic Laundry Soap

If you’re the type who likes doing laundry on vacation then be sure to bring an eco-friendly detergent along. This trial-sized laundry soap is ideal for travel. It’s hypoallergenic, biodegradable and reusable and carries a USDA certified organic stamp by Oregon Tilth. The soap itself is actually a set of easily packable eco nuts which are berries that grow on Himalayan trees and naturally contain soap. They’re completely safe to use and far more eco-friendly than conventional laundry products.

If you loved these recommendations, you can browse through some more amazing product recommendations here!