Summer Vacation is in full swing and I’ve had to check in my baggage twice now because my personal toiletries were not in TSA (Transportation Security Administration) approved sizes. I hate the idea of buying the mini travel-sized products at the drug store for two reasons.

One, most of the products offered are chemically enhanced and bad for your body. Two, those miniature plastic bottles are destined for the landfill where they’ll sit for the next four hundred years. There is enough of a carbon footprint from flying alone; I hate the idea of adding to it even more so…(it brings out my catholic guilt).

Up until now I was resigned to simply checking in my luggage where I’d stashed my regular-sized products.

However, I was just introduced to My Smartpac, a personal kit of disposable products for travelers. My Smartpac is compact, completely complies with the TSA standards for liquids and has a pretty cool environmental initiative you can check out here.

Most of their packaging materials are made from polypropylene, which is made up of only hydrogen and carbon atoms that do not poison the environment after they are trashed. The cherry on the top is that their polypropylene is made from 25% postindustrial waste.

Smartpacs come in His and Hers, so you don’t have to share yours if you don’t want to. Inspect the product yourself on their website, or locally at ydt favorite, The Traveler’s Bookcase.

ydt confession: I do want to add that while polypropylene does not poison the environment, it still will take a long time to degrade in the landfill. We believe it is important to share with you that these plastic products, while better than most, still have an effect on the environment. To learn more about the effect of plastics check out the following links: www.lifewithoutplastic.com/factsonplastic.htm and www.vbs.tv/video.php?id=1485308505.

Tags: eco-travel, natural skin care, polypropylene, Travel