Meet Kelly and her Zero Waste Travel Kit!

Looptworks has been participating in the Northwest Earth Institute's 2017 EcoChallenge and one of the challenges taken on by a number of the staff is to reduce their use of single use plastics. All of us here carry a reusable water bottle (or two), and insulated reusable coffee cups are a common sight on our desks.

That said, one of the biggest challenges in reducing use of single use plastics and waste is when going out to eat. Straws are easy enough to avoid, but some of our favorite lunch spots utilize disposable cutlery and cups. So when our friend Kelly — who blogs about her personal efforts in living more sustainably at www.kellyssustainablelife.com — stopped by to visit we had to take a closer look at her “Zero Waste Travel Kit”.

 Kelly's Zero Waste Travel Kit

Kelly says: "My zero waste kit is my #1 tip for beginners looking to make efforts in reducing their personal impact - start eliminating single use plastics when you are on the go."

Her travel kit includes the following items:

• Pouch
• Cloth napkin
• Handkerchief
• Durable utensil
• Reusable straw
• Reusable bag
• To go container
• Reusable water bottle

Most items fit into her pouch, but they also fit into the stainless steel to-go container. (other than the bottle and reusable straw) In addition, her Zero Waste Travel Kit also doubles as a fantastic lunch carry kit! Plus, everything discretely fits into her tote bag, so she has it where ever she goes.

Kelly's Travel Kit. We're fans of the smaller size bottle!

Since Kelly was here, we had to introduce her to one of our favorite and most versatile products, the Travel Hoptu Device Sleeve. In fact, we sent two of our favorites, the 11" and 7" Travel Hoptu Sleeves with her so she could help us come up with even more uses for these versatile sleeves!

Kelly's Zero Waste Travel Kit, upgraded with the addition of our Hoptu Neoprene Travel Sleeves!

Read more about Kelly's efforts to live more sustainably (and more on her zero waste kit) at www.kellyssustainablelife.com!

Did you know that of the 30 million tons of plastic waste generated in the US in 2009, only 7% was recovered for recycling? With China no longer accepting our imported plastic waste, much of the plastic waste the west has been sending east for recycling will be entering our landfills instead.

We've been watching this topic closely, as our recycling efforts are going through a major transition period right now. Redoubling our efforts to reduce our personal waste is the best option for reducing our impacts.

Looptworks & Pendleton Sustainable Voyager Wine & Dine Products