CONTENTS
Our Big Resource List
Nowadays, it seems like there are endless companies to choose from when trying to book a trip and purchase goods. Many are great, some are scams, and more than a handful just offer terrible customer service. Over the years of travel and transitioning to a more sustainable lifestyle, we have narrowed down a go-to list of our favorite resources. The Traveling page is a sneak peek of many websites and companies we use and recommend but here, on this page, you’ll see our extensive list. We are not sponsored by any of these companies- we simply and sincerely have used and benefited from each brand and want to share them with you.
Disclosure: Please note that some links below are affiliate links. This simply means that if you click on the link provided and purchase the item, we may earn a (very small) commission from the seller. This is no extra cost to you. We are super grateful to those of you who support our brand by the usage of our affiliate links. This helps us fund this website.
Accommodation
When it comes to accommodations it seems like there are endless types of stays and companies to book with. Whether you’re going backpacking, camping, RVing, or wanting to reserve a place with walls and a roof- below you will find a range of our favorite go-to resources for finding and booking accommodations. You can always try to wing it and find stays along your travels, but doing some research ahead of time might give you a better chance at finding that gem of a place. Check out tips on how to choose eco-friendly accommodations on our Ecotourism page!
BACKPACKING, CAMPING, RVING
VACATION RENTALS
These are our top three companies to book sustainable accommodations with.
It is more of a challenge filtering sustainable accommodation options through the following three booking sites. We typically only use them if the above three don’t offer options in the area we are traveling to.
Transportation
Depending on where you are headed and what you plan to do at your destination, transportation is an important aspect of the trip you will want to plan ahead for. If you’re driving your own car or picking up a rental, learn about your parking options and if 4-wheel drive is necessary. For rentals, pick a vehicle with low gas mileage and check with your credit card to see if they offer you car insurance before you purchase some with the company. Or consider experiencing a train ride, a bus ride, or a cruise! When you arrive at your destination, consider a more sustainable way of travel by riding a bike, walking, kayaking, hiking, using public transit, or hiring a bike taxi! Check out the following resources that can help!
CAR RENTAL
AIRFARE
As a supporter of the sustainability movement, we encourage travelers to consider all other travel means before choosing to fly. Unfortunately, flying is one of the most damaging ways to travel for the climate. But, if this is your only option, here are a few sites to book with! Skyscanner is our favorite because they highlight which flights are the ‘greener’ choice!
Experiences
Before heading to a new destination we always do some research to have a few things ready to do. The resources below can help you determine what exciting experiences are in specific areas. We also highly recommend searching travel blogs and talking to locals to find out where the less busy, hidden gems are! Consider things like hiking trails, viewpoints, historic landmarks, national/state parks, restaurants, breweries, wineries, museums, tours, train or boat rides, bike rentals, zip-lining, ATV rentals, etc.
RV Membership
After years of full-time RVing and always trying to get the best ‘bang for our bucks’, we found that bundles can really help you save. After shopping around with countless insurance companies, Good Sam’s full-time RVer and vehicle insurance bundle option was the cheapest and offered us the most coverage. We also take advantage of other savings with their membership plan. We suggest shopping around yourself, but definitely check out Good Sam and see if is a contender for your needs.
Good Sam has grown so much over the years now offering almost all services that RVers should consider. Although they offer numerous services, we ONLY use and recommend a few of them!
Goods & Gear
“What if we started by slowing down and not consuming so much stuff, just because it’s there and cheap and available. It’s amazing how that process makes sense financially, it makes sense ethically, and it makes sense environmentally”. – Andrew Morgan
Begin purchasing quality products, from eco-conscious brands, that are reusable and long-lasting. Shopping with Certified B Corporations can easily assure you that you’re purchasing sustainably. It’s also sustainable to support small and local businesses that use locally sourced materials and offer handmade goods.
The best places to view our most used goods and gear are on the Gear page and in the blog posts How to Be More Eco Friendly and Tips on Living a Healthy Life. Below you will find some of our go-to brands and shopping options!
CHOOSE RECYCLED GEAR- THE ULTIMATE ECO-FRIENDLY WAY TO PURCHASE
OUTDOORS: CAMPING, RVING, HIKING, EXERCISING
CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES
HOME GOODS & BEAUTY
Shop Sustainably at Online Eco-Friendly Marketplaces
If you are willing to become a more eco-conscious shopper here are three fantastic online stores that strictly offer a variety of eco-friendly brands! This makes shopping sustainably really easy. resources should use before making a purchase. Each of these websites will aid you in choosing companies that create unique, high-quality products, made in a way that’s good for people and the planet! Doing your part matters!
DoneGood is “the amazon of social goods” – Forbes
Shopping Resources
I use a few reliable apps and websites to help me quickly research whether a product or good is eco-friendly. Here are my two favorites!
Shop Sustainably with Amazon
When shopping with Amazon, it is really important that you understand HOW to search and purchase with sustainability in mind. There are ways to purchase from Amazon in a sustainable fashion, but if you don’t purchase carefully, you could be supporting terrible companies that don’t offer fair or safe working conditions and produce non-environmentally friendly products.
Due to the massive amount of people shopping with Amazon, we wanted to share information about how to shop as sustainably as possible if you do in fact ‘need’ to use this third-party seller.
Amazon does not have the best reputation when it comes to the sustainability movement, but they are trying to improve. Will their efforts be enough? Experts still aren’t sure… Although their greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise with sale growth, in 2019, the company did adhere to The Climate Pledge initiative. Along with many other companies, Amazon is working towards technological advancement to help cut down greenhouse gases and has adopted the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040. Check out Amazon Sustainability to learn more.
Amazon does offer some sustainable options for customers to choose from but if you’re not careful, you can easily be aiding in non-eco-friendly purchases and supporting careless corporations producing crap products and polluting our planet. One of the worst things to do is buy cheap “things” on Amazon. All of those off-brand, inexpensive, and most likely “made in China” products are terrible to buy for SO many reasons! The quality is usually junk, only lasting a few uses. They are made from synthetic chemicals and plastic, not only toxic to the user, but also to the environment while it is being made and disposed of. Also, if you don’t live in China, especially overseas from the country, then you are contributing to a huge shipment carbon footprint that is unnecessary! We have no idea what the working conditions are or how the production workplace contributes to sustainable practices. It is a cheap, convenient purchase we all just need to stop making! Instead, here are smarter, more environmentally conscious tips to follow when Amazon is needed to be used. Click the blue button below.
Tips on Shopping Sustainably
- In the Amazon search bar, search, select and make your purchase directly from the brand the product was made by. It is best to support the company as directly as possible- without too many “third parties” involved! You should always be familiar with a reputable brand before making a purchase!
- View the reputable brand’s page directly on the Amazon website to see what else they sell on Amazon.
- Filter your search by choosing local companies that sell in the country you live in. For USA residents, simply type the product you are searching for following with “made in the USA”.
- In the Amazon Menu, scroll down to “Programs and Features”. Check out “Small and Medium Businesses” to search for local businesses in your area. Or try browsing through the women-owned businesses! Also, look for “Amazon Second Chance“! Here you can shop for pre-owned items and recycle, trade-in, or repair your used electronics! They also offer information regarding how to recycle Amazon packaging.
- When using the search bar to find an item, filter by department and choose “Climate Pledge Friendly: Shop ALL” to shop companies that have passed Amazon’s sustainability certification called “Compact by Design“. This will help you choose items that are labeled with the Climate Pledge Friendly badge which signifies that the product has one or more trusted sustainability certifications.
- Search “frustration-free packaging” in the Amazon search bar to select products that are packed in 100% recyclable packaging only. You can also use the filter system to select this option. This doesn’t mean you will get 100% plastic-free packaging all of the time, but each distributor will do the best they can with limiting it.
- During checkout, select no-rush shipping (which means you do NOT need to pay for an Amazon Prime account) which will help reduce the carbon footprint of your orders.
The simple online search and click of a button makes shopping almost too accessible. Don’t fall into the trap of consumerism. It is an expensive, short-term fulfillment, and non-environmentally friendly hobby!! But when it is necessary to purchase goods, be responsible and do your part by choosing as sustainably as you can!
Additional Resources
“Demand quality not just in the products you buy, but in the life of the person who made it”. – Orsola de Castro, designer and co-founder of Fashion Revolution.
Once again, we genuinely use and recommend each of the brands listed above. We are NOT sponsored by any company nor do we suggest a company if we have never tried it or have not had a pleasant experience with them ourselves. We have created the resource page solely for our organizational purposes and to help others travel this beautiful world and take care of it as best as possible with smart shopping! Planning and traveling can certainly get overwhelming, especially if you are new to the hobby! We truly hope our website as a whole, but specifically, this resource page will aid in your future journies, experiences, and eco-friendly purchases!
Packing List and Travel Schedule Templates
If you’re interested in travel guides and tips I highly suggest you check out our Traveling page! There you will find our packing list template, travel schedule & itinerary template, a more reserved resource list, and expert planning tips. The templates we’ve created help make traveling stress-free! If you’d like a copy of our templates use the form below and we will email you both editable templates! You will also be signing up for our monthly newsletter. We’d love to keep you updated on the new travel content we create, but you can unsubscribe anytime.
Seeking the unfamiliar – Promoting a sustainable lifestyle – Let’s see what happens