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Pack the 3R's While on Holiday Travel
Green your travel this holiday season.
Put Your Holiday Leftovers to Good Use!
‘Tis the season of bounty—from cooking large quantities of stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin and apple pies to company parties with lavish buffets—we’ve all got leftovers aplenty. Learn how to put surplus food to good use and do your part to reduce waste this holiday season.
While you’re traveling for the holidays, don’t leave your waste reduction and recycling habits at home. With almost one-quarter of all travel occurring during the holiday season, we have a huge opportunity to recycle and reduce waste without sacrificing our comfort or convenience.
Minimize your environmental impact before you hit the road. When planning your trip:
- Use electronic, not paper, tickets when booking transportation or events. Electronic tickets generate less waste and cost less to replace.
- Ensure that your vehicle is “road-ready” by properly tuning your engine and properly inflating your tires to help save gas and money.
- Contact your newspaper publisher to ask if you can stop your subscription while you’re away, or if it’s possible to donate the newspapers to schools or other organizations.
- Ask about alternative fuel vehicles when renting a car.
When booking accommodations, make an effort to stay in an environmentally conscious place that practices waste reduction, energy conservation, and recycling. Many hotels advertise their recycling and conservation programs on their Web site or you can also request information when calling to book your room. Also, organizations such as Green Seal 
and the Green Hotels Association now certify lodging facilities based on their environmental attributes. If your hotel does not participate in a certification or standards program, encourage it to do so. During your hotel stay:
- Use the hotel's electronic checkout program to reduce paper waste.
- Let the hotel know it's not necessary to change your sheets and towels every day.
- Leave unopened shampoo, soap, and other complimentary items at the hotel; take partially used items with you when you leave.
- Turn off lights and heating when you leave for long periods of time.
- Use the hotel's transportation or share a taxi with another hotel guest when traveling to a well-known destination.
While you’re on the road, pack drinks, sandwiches, and snacks in reusable thermoses and containers. If you dine at carry-out restaurants, take only the condiments, napkins, and utensils you need. If you are at a visitors’ center, take only the brochures you need and recycle the ones you don’t keep. And above all, don’t litter—carry your trash or recyclables with you until you find an appropriate waste or recycling container.
Recycling while traveling supports our Recycle on the Go campaign, which promotes recycling wherever you go. In addition, our fact sheet Reducing Waste When You Travel: Making Environmental Choices (PDF) (4 pp, 235K, About PDF) outlines outlines waste reduction tips and ideas to follow while you’re traveling. These waste reduction efforts exemplify the type of initiative encouraged by the Resource Conservation Challenge within its focus on Municipal Solid Waste Recycling.
11 Tips to Reduce Waste during the Holidays:
- Make a commitment to recycling by getting involved in local events, and by making a pledge to recycle more and buy products made from recycled materials.
- Grass clippings and shredded (or unshredded) leaves make excellent mulch. Pile shredded leaves deep around your shrubbery, as well as in and around any plants you want to overwinter in pots.
- If you host a party, set the table with cloth napkins and reusable dishes, glasses, and silverware. Consider using more formal tableware. Also save and reuse party hats, decorations, and favors.
- After holiday festivities, put leftovers in recyclable containers, and share them with family, friends, or others. Donate whole, untouched leftovers from parties to a local food bank or homeless shelter.
- Where possible, compost leftover food scraps, leaves, and grass clippings.
- Show your guests where to put recyclables such as aluminum, glass, and plastic beverage containers.
- After parties, fill your dishwasher to capacity before running it. You will run fewer cycles, which saves energy.
- Wash and reuse empty glass and plastic jars, milk jugs, coffee cans, dairy tubs, and other similar containers that would otherwise get thrown away.
- Avoid placing hard, thick, or waxy food scraps down the drain. These materials can clog the pipes or damage garbage disposal blades and send parts of your sink to the landfill before their time.
- Buy products in concentrate, bulk, or in refillable containers. They reduce packaging waste and can save you money!
- If you’re going to be away from home, to save energy, turn down your thermostat and put lights on timers
Related Links:
- Resource Conservation Challenge national priority area: Municipal Solid Waste Recycling
- Recycle on the Go
- Reducing Waste When You Travel: Making Environmental Choices (PDF) (4 pp, 235K, About PDF)
- Green Hotel Initiatives
- Green Hotels Association
- Green Seal