Baby, it’s cold outside! And if you’re going somewhere even nippier for the holidays, then we’ve got the eco-friendly travel products and winter packing tips you need for a greener, more efficient trip.

Spending the holidays out of town can be a fun and exciting time, but if you don’t travel often, packing is usually dreadful in some way or another. However, with the right travel products and some simple winter packing tips, it’s possible to enjoy the process. Not only will these necessities align with your eco-friendly values, but they’re also invaluable when it comes to schlepping around those bulky items.

Winter Packing Tips

Ideal for plane travel to wintry locales, these tips will help you slay your suitcases and carry-ons while flying high in the sky this holiday season. Efficient and savvy, these are suggestions you’ll want to use year after year.

1. First thing’s first — if you’re traveling with gifts in your carry-on bag then you might want to leave your gifts unwrapped and bring the paper and embellishments along with you. According to the TSA, wrapped gifts are allowed, but if they ask to see what’s inside, then you have to comply, potentially destroying your gift’s awesome wrapping job.
2. Opt for a pair of fleece or flannel lined jeans that will keep you super toasty during your trip and wear those on the plane. This will save space in your carry-on and you can wear them several times throughout your trip. If you need more warm bottoms, pack a couple pairs of insulated leggings for a week long stay, and one more pair of insulated jeans if you’ll be gone for more than a week. Thermals are a great choice, too, and can be layered under your regular jeans and long sleeve tops.
3. When possible, also wear bulky outerwear pieces on the plane, and try to choose garments that serve more than one purpose, or are aesthetically versatile, like one heavy jacket or coat that will pair well with everything. Other ideas include only bringing one or two sweaters, while packing a few different oxford shirts to layer underneath. These are thin and take up less room in your suitcase, but will still provide a layer of warmth.
4. Bringing knee-high or over-the-knee boots? Wear those on your plane ride, too. Avoid packing large and heavy footwear to meet weight limits and free up space in your suitcase or carry-on. Different colored tall socks or boot cuff are lightweight, easy to pack, and can add a cute touch of versatility to your outfits on the trip.
5. Also, don’t forget the power of scarves, hats, and gloves. Knit accessories like these are easy to pack and don’t take up a lot of room in your bag. And always use the rolling method, rather than folding, for every kind of travel!

Eco-Friendly Travel Products

What’s better than packing tips that can make your trip easier? Eco-friendly products to put them in! These tools are better for the environment and will help get you from point A to point B without a hitch.

1. Travel Pillow

Long flights need comfy pillows, and this eco-friendly version from Kuhi Comfort is perfect for your upcoming trip. This innovative pillow made from organic cotton and stuffed with all natural fiberfill made from corn sugar claims to cradle your head better than any other kind on the market. The carrying case has a convenient strap that slides over your luggage handle.

2. Reusable Pouches

Instead of Ziplock bags, opt for something you can use again and again for your toiletries, makeup, and other odds and ends. These TSA compliant zippered pouches from Reuseit are FDA-grade, BPA-free, PVC-free, and lead-free PEVA film. It can also be tossed in the washing machine.   

3. Duffel Bag

Duffel bags are actually great carry-on options, especially if you don’t feel like going the suitcase route, or are traveling light. Perfect for a short weekend trip (or as your personal bag if it can fit under the seat), this cotton, handcrafted bag from Reuseit is made by female artisans in India.

4. Rolling Luggage

There is eco-friendly luggage on the market, and it even comes in hard case style. The Eco Orbis is made from 100 percent recycled ABS plastic, comes in a variety of colors, is expandable, has 360-degree swivel wheels, and carries a five-year warranty.

We hope you feel a little more prepared to travel this holiday season with these awesome packing tips and eco-friendly supplies. Stop by the EcoSalon Facebook page and share your favorites!

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Northern Europe’s air traffic is at a near-total standstill after windblown ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano spread across Scandinavia and the north of the U.K. While posing little environmental threat in the long term, this silica-rich ash could melt into liquid glass inside aircraft engines, clogging and even stopping them in mid-air.

Pity the U.K’s commercial airline services, set to lose tens of millions a day while disruptions last and if Eyjafjallajökull repeats its performance of 1821, that could be a very long time indeed.

“We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains.” – Ursula K. Le Guin

“Don’t dance on a volcano” – French Proverb

Further reading:

“How do volcanoes affect world climate?” – Karen Harpp, Scientific American

” ‘Volcanoes emit more CO2 than humans’ – not even close…” – Grist

“Harness volcano power, energy experts say” – Daily Telegraph

“Erupting Volcanoes From Earth As Seen From Space” – Betsy Mason, Wired

Editor’s note: Join us every Friday for our environmental photo essay with Mike Sowden.

Images: rachel thecat and NASA

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Aviation and space exploration suck – fossil fuel that is. Not to mention clean air, and quiet habitat. Can these industries, so essential to global scientific and economic progress, go green? The race is definitely on.

Offering hope, inspiring blog posts and tweets-a-plenty over the past two weeks were the test flight of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, which burns 20% less fuel than other passenger planes of its approximate size, and the unveiling of the world’s first, commercial passenger space craft, the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) by Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites. SS2 is reportedly more fuel efficient than NASA’s spacecraft.

But such breakthroughs are just the start of what’s possible, in terms of fuel efficiency and other environmental advances, says Joe Parrish, vice president of research and development for Aurora Flight Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Aurora makes innovative aerospace products, including unmanned space vehicles, planes that can fit in your pocket, and planes with a 500-foot wingspan that can stay aloft for five years.

Working on the NASA N+3 “future commercial flight program” with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), and the engine technology firm Pratt & Whitney, Aurora Flight Services’ research showed, in preliminary results, “that as much as 40% fuel reduction can be achieved through reduced cruise speed and redesign of aircraft,” Parrish reported.

In other words – a makeover and taking it easy!?

“You can’t take an existing aircraft and just reduce its speed to realize these environmental benefits. It’s not a matter of pulling back the throttle. But the redesigned aircraft does not look totally different from the old,” Parrish notes.

The more fuel efficient flying machine Aurora researchers envision (illustration, above) would be designed to cruise at mach 0.72 instead of the industry standard of mach 0.8. It would not have to use composite materials (which are lighter weight and used in the newly tested Boeing 787 Dreamliner) but it could use conventional aluminum and manufacturing technology, while still saving substantial amounts of fuel.

25% of costs for a typical airliner are spent on fuel, studies show. So the environmental benefits should deliver economic benefits, too.

Can the same efficiencies apply to space travel and space ships? As an industry, commercial space travel is too nascent to “go green,” Parrish says. But it is starting with a very ecological-minded entrepreneur, Richard Branson, along with pioneering spacecraft designer Burt Rutan. Branson famously supported and financed the development of alternative, renewable energy and signed the Clinton Global Initiative in 2006.

A report out on Wednesday (Dec. 16, 2009) from the American Lung Association showed “sixty percent of Americans live in areas with unhealthy air pollution levels,” even with new laws in place attempting to regulate and improve air quality. Every little bit of petroleum saved, and greenhouse gas emission avoided, helps.

Read up on the Boeing 787, and the SpaceshipTwo, and make your wishes for greener commercial and space flight known.

Basic Reading:

“With more than 300 future passengers already putting up the $200,000 for a seat on SpaceShipTwo, there appears to be a strong demand for the rides to the blackness of space…” – Wired.com

“Boeing’s first new aircraft for ten years represents a radical departure for the manufacturer, eschewing traditional aircraft materials in favour of composites, in the pursuit of efficiency and lightness. If the composites, comprising 50% of the aircraft by weight, do not perform as expected, major headaches could emerge.”- Center for Asia Pacific Aviation

“The [Boeing 787] Dreamliner will offer greater efficiency for airlines”¦ The plane [should] use 20% less fuel than today’s aircraft of comparable size, provide up to 45% more cargo capacity and include a new interior environment with cleaner air, larger windows, more stowage space, improved lighting and other conveniences.”- AviationRecord.com

Further Resources:

A NasaWatch blog entry in anticipation of the roll out of SpaceShipTwo, entitled “Big Party in the Mojave Tonight”

A blog entry at UniverseToday that includes photos and a video tour of the six-passenger vehicle, the SpaceShipTwo

A story in the New York Times entitled “A Takeoff and Hope for Boeing”

The official home page of N.A.S.A., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the U.S. Government

Image: Aurora

This is the latest installment of EcoMeme, a column featuring eco news, tech and business highlights by columnist Lora Kolodny.

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