Sunscreen is extremely important to protect your skin from the harmful effects of the sun. Besides a slight sunburn, which does recover, it can also cause permanent damage such as pigment-related abnormalities. This causes either dark or light spots on your skin that can even grow when your skin gets more exposed. An even worse consequence of UV radiation on the skin is skin cancer. So I’m absolutely not going to tell you to stop using sunscreen. But unfortunately, most sunscreens aren’t that great for the environment, so I would like to advise you to be conscious about your choice of sunscreen.

Harmful ingredients in sunscreen

Sunscreen, like all cosmetics, is made up of different ingredients. Each cream has its own composition and there are several ingredients that can be harmful to the environment.

Microplastics in sunscreen

Microplastics are found in many cosmetics and unfortunately, sunscreens are no exception to this. The danger of microplastics is that they affect the ecosystem in the sea. In addition, marine animals can ingest the plastic pieces, causing their stomachs to slowly fill up with plastic. Because this is indigestible, it remains in the stomach until it’s so full that they can no longer eat and thus starve. Because it’s so hard to filter out of the water, it keeps floating around forever. They also end up in our drinking water and the water used for our crops. So chances are, your portion of vegetables from last night was served with a free load of microplastics. This isn’t healthy for us, either. Yet, it isn’t mandatory for cosmetic companies to disclose the fact that microplastics are in a product.

Harmful UV filters

Unfortunately enough, the UV filters that help protect our skin, is the most harmful ingredient in sunscreens. There are all sorts of regulations that ensure that the products aren’t toxic to humans, but unfortunately, little attention is paid to the environment. And this while sunscreen so easily ends up in the oceans. How often do you run into the sea after using sunscreen? Whether that was an hour ago or longer, the cream is designed to stay on the skin for a long time and therefore ends up in the ocean either way.

• Benzofenon-5 / Benzophenone-5
• Benzylideen kamfer sulfonzuur / Benzylidene camphor sulfonic acid
• Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine
• Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate
• Dinatriumfenyldibenzimidazol-tetrasulfonaat / Disodium phenyl dibenzimidazole tetrasulfonate
• Peg-25 PABA / Polyethylene glycol (25) PABA
• Fenylbenzimidazol sulfonzuur / Phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid
• Polysilicon-15
• Natriumfenylbenzimidazolsulfonaat / Sodium phenylbenzimidazole sulfonate
• Titaandioxide (nano*) / Titanium dioxide
• Tris-Bifenyl Triazine (nano*) / Tris-biphenyl triazine

• Benzofenon-3 en -4 / Benzophenone-3 en -4
• Kamfer Benzalkoniummethosulfaat / Camphor benzalkonium methosulfate
• Diethylhexyl Butamido Triazone
• Drometrizole Trisiloxane
• Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate
• Ethylhexyl Salicylaat / Ethylhexyl Salicylate
• Ethylhexyl Triazone
• Methyleenbis-benzotriazolyltetramethylbutylfenol (nano) / Methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol
• Phenylene bis-diphenyltriazine
• Terephthalylidene Dicamphor Sulfonic Acid

Are you looking for travel items that are better for the environment than the ones you have now? Travelling is great, but it can be very damaging to the environment. Especially when you fly somewhere. However, there are small things you can do to make sure you minimize your impact on your holiday destination. Think about an alternative to plastic bottles or those small one-off plastic shampoo bottles in hotels. Here are 8 tips for sustainable alternatives to take with you on your travels.

1. Sustainable cosmetics

Many cosmetics contain harmful substances that can damage coral, among other things. Everything that is flushed away, whether it is down the sink, toilet or shower drain, eventually ends up in natural water. Much of it is filtered, but ingredients such as microplastics and chemicals are difficult to filter out. Do you know what is in your toothpaste, shampoo, or sunscreen that is harmful to the environment? Go for sustainable alternatives with an eco-label that cause less damage to our planet.

2. Choose environmentally friendly packaging

We now know that plastic is bad for the environment. However, we still tend to take small packaging with us when we travel to save space or because we are only taking hand luggage and are bound by the limits of the airplane. These are almost always made of plastic. Fortunately, there are many alternatives. If you go for sustainable cosmetics anyway, they often come in recycled packaging or are made of glass or biodegradable material. This is always mentioned on the packaging, so just read carefully to find the proper products. Are these containers too big? Then go for reusable travel minis made of silicone instead of the well-known plastic versions. Easy to wash and better for the environment.

3. Ditch the wrapping altogether

Do you want to go the extra mile and be sure that it is allowed on the plane? Then go for packaging-free products such as shampoo bars, soap bars and toothpaste tablets. These products have several advantages. First of all, you don’t have to worry about any bad packaging materials. In addition, these products are made of environmentally friendly ingredients. And finally, they are not liquid products, which means they are always allowed on the plane. No more hassle with 100ml per product, you could fill your whole bag with these products.

8. Reusable water bottle

Every year, we throw out billions of plastic bottles, which often end up in nature. In most countries, there’s no proper recycling system, so they just end up in a big pile or in the ocean. To avoid contributing to the plastic soup of other countries, it is always a good idea to bring your own reusable water bottle. But what about in countries where you can’t drink tap water? Then go for a water bottle with a water filter.

The same goes for your coffee mug, by the way. Instead of getting to-go coffee in plastic containers, you can bring your own coffee cup and ask them to serve it in it. This isn’t very common everywhere and might be difficult to explain in a language you don’t speak. But in most cases, they will understand if you show them your cup. Bringing a thermos with your own coffee from your Airbnb or hotel is also an option. Especially nice in countries where the coffee isn’t very good anyway.