My top 3 tips to go plastic-free on your next scuba diving holiday

Make Holidays Greener is ABTA’s annual campaign in partnership with Travelife for hotels and accommodations to encourage us all to take positive social and environmental actions while on holiday, which will not only contribute to you having a great holiday but also help to ensure your favourite destination is preserved for years to come. This year, their campaign is focusing on plastic and encouraging holidaymakers to find alternatives to using plastic, which is exactly what we should thrive to do as responsible divers.

I am so proud to participate in this year’s campaign with my diving blog to represent the scuba divers’ community whom I know is committed to protecting what we love the most: our oceans. Of all the causes threatening marine life, there is one that can be tackled, which is plastic pollution by forming some simple habits. From plastic bags to plastic straws, single-use plastic is taking a terrible toll on the oceans.

So, why not try to reduce your plastic footprint on your next holiday? Take some time to think about the different single-use plastic items you may buy before your holiday, and make simple adjustments step by step.

I’m currently on my own zero waste journey, and it can be challenging at times, so I picked 3 single-use plastic items that are the easiest to get going with. Here are my top three tips to go plastic-free on your next holiday:

• Buy a cotton tote bag as a holiday souvenir and use it for all your shopping.
• Bring your aluminium refillable water bottle everywhere with you; it’s important to stay hydrated when we go scuba diving.
• Sit down, enjoy the moment, and order a drink without a plastic straw.

If you also want to go further with going greener on your next holiday, ABTA’s Make Holidays Greener campaign has 14 other pledges you can choose from including “look for the Travelife logo” (their hotel sustainability certification system), “reduce, reuse, recycle” or “protect biodiversity” for example.

Here are my other blog post about ocean conservation, sustainable living and responsible travel:

• Successes & failures of an aspiring responsible diver
• How I almost gave up writing about ocean conservation
• Plastic-free & reef-safe: finally, the sunscreen I was waiting for!
• How I became a citizen scientist with “Capturing Our Coast” in Scotland

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