6 Easy-to-Carry Essentials That Will Keep Your Travels Green

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/south-africas-first-hemp-house-goes-greener-with-a-planted-roof-video/">Inhabitat correspondents travel</a> to every corner of the globe to find cool green projects, so we thought we'd show you what we carry in our backpacks to keep our footprint as low as possible. As you might know, sticking to an eco-conscious lifestyle when you're traveling can be tricky since it's pretty easy to end up using disposable items, but we've got a few tricks up our sleeve that can help you stay green even on the road. Hit the jump for a list of 6 products that we carry to ensure our excursions stay as eco-friendly as possible.

Many tourists are so afraid of the water in foreign countries that they end up buying bottle after plastic bottle that then lands either on the ground or in the local dump. Even when recycled, <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/environment-plastic/">plastic exacts a terrible toll on the environment</a> and never biodegrades. But in developing countries using plastic bottles is even worse because they frequently lack <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/inhabitat-visits-the-new-les-ecology-centers-e-waste-collection-warehouse-in-gowanus/">recycling facilities</a>. A good, durable water bottle that was made without Bisphenol A (BPA), an organic compound that is considered by some to be toxic to humans, will last forever and leave you a clear conscience.

But maybe the water isn't safe to drink, you say? In some countries this is a valid concern. This author usually drinks the local water because it's safer than most people think, and bottled water, since it is less regulated than municipal supply centers, often contains harmful chemicals. <a href="http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/08/ban-saudis-bottled-water/">Recently in Saudi Arabia</a>, for example, it was found that one company was selling water laced with Bromate - a chemical that causes tumors in rats and mice,” according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Still, it's not safe to drink water in some places, in which case a water filter is a great solution. We picked this one from <a href="http://www.rei.com/product/807755/steripen-adventurer-opti-water-purifier-with-solar-charging-case">REI</a> but there are dozens of them on the market. Check out camping stores for one that suits you.

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We don't want to pollute the water sources in foreign countries any more than we do in our home town, but it can be really difficult to find shops that carry <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodegradation">biodegradable shampoo</a>, conditioner, or body wash. So what we usually do is stock up when we reach an urban center that has an organic market or local shops that carry homemade products that are free of nitrates and other chemicals that pollute the water supply.

Of all fabrics in the world, <a href="http://www.ecouterre.com/turkish-denim-factory-sandblasts-jeans-with-laser-beams/">denim has one of the worst embodied environmental footprints</a>. It requires a lot of water to make jeans and jackets, for example, and the industry (particularly in China) is often deeply socially irresponsible. Also, the dye used to put the blue in blue jeans in under-regulated countries often leaks into nearby water ways. Apart from one pair of jeans, this author mostly carries clothing made of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/hemp-hoodlamb-winter-wear/">natural materials like hemp</a> and bamboo. Not only are they more earth-friendly, but they also take up less space and dry more quickly.

This may not seem like an obvious eco-choice, but the sarong is one of the best investments a green traveler can make. Ours doubles as a towel, which requires more water to wash and more "air-time" to dry, and a wet wipe. A wet wipe? That's right: instead of carrying around wet wipes to freshen up on a long bus or train journey, for example, the corner of a fast-drying sarong can work wonders and then you don't leave behind a trail of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/reducing-paper-waste/">wasted paper</a>. Plus, if you buy a sarong that was made locally, somebody earns money from your purchase, and you have a nice souvenir to take home!