We are a wasteful society. Looking at plastic bag consumption alone, Americans use around 14,000,000,000 plastic bags per year, which in turn require 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture. According to Waste Management, only 1% of those plastic bags are returned for recycling — the rest end up in landfills or as litter. (Side note: Please use reusable shopping bags.)   It's a hard pill to swallow, sure, but the truth is that we have a lot of work to do when it comes to living more eco-conscious lifestyles. While some of the changes needed aren't completely in our control and need to happen at government levels, there are plenty of small edits that we can apply to our personal habits that have the potential to do some good for our Earth.   It goes beyond recycling your water bottles and soda cans the ethical way — what you eat, how you travel, how much electricity you use, and other actions you take on a daily basis all contribute to the state of our planet today, as well as its future.   One action we urge you to take immediately, though, is changing how you shop. While buying more stuff isn't all that eco-friendly to begin with (non-necessities, at least), it's an inescapable fact that we all need certain things to simply live our lives.   For many of us, one of those things is luggage. If you travel at all, you need something to carry your stuff in — the thing is, a lot of luggage isn't made sustainably. So how can we shop for our necessary luggage in the best way possible? What is the most eco-friendly way to buy our bags?  

What to look for in eco-friendly luggage

  The term "eco-friendly" is kind of an umbrella term — there are a lot of things to consider when shopping with the environment in mind. So it's vital to scrutinize the facts before you click "add to cart."   Not only should construction materials be taken into account when shopping for your luggage (which is what most buyers will probably look to first), you'll also want to inform yourself on where the product was made, who made it (and the treatment of those people).   Here's a breakdown of the boxes your eco-friendly luggage choice should tick:   Materials: Your best option here is going to be buying something that is manufactured with recyclable materials. Keep an eye out for luggage that is constructed from PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the thermoplastic polymer which is also used for plastic bottles. It's known to be really flexible, which helps to protect it from surface damage and cracking while also being highly recyclable.   Transparency: Give your business to a brand that is open with their consumers about how their products are made, where they are made, and the people who make them. Are these workers being paid fair wages? Are there warehouses, factories, and various other work environments safe for their employees? These are questions you'll definitely want to ask yourself throughout this process. (Companies like Everlane even have dedicated pages to their warehouses in an effort to be more transparent about their manufacturing processes.)   Packing materials: What is you're luggage going to be shipped in? Some retailers, while offering an ultimately eco-conscious product, don't ship those products in recyclable packaging. This information can be harder to find, but it's worth looking into. This helpful report from the Green Business Bureau lays out some of the best environmentally friendly packaging materials that can be used in place of wasteful, single-use options.   Your personal preferences: Lastly, you should also be getting luggage that you actually like — something you'll easily be able to carry around an airport. This is where things like style, quality, durability, size, number of compartments, built-in locks, luggage "genre" (a wheeled roller, backpack, or large tote), and more come into play. Really think about the role your luggage needs to fill and how it will fit into your specific lifestyle. Don't waste precious resources on something you don't love or won't use.   All of this doesn't necessarily mean you should go throw out your old, non-sustainably made suitcase right now. While that's an understandable first reaction to this information, it's actually more eco-friendly to use what you already have while it's still in serviceable shape — you should only pick up a new, ethically made bag if you actually need a replacement, or didn't have one to start with.   Remember, in general, buying more stuff is not always an eco-friendly action, whether said purchase is made sustainably or not. It still costs materials to create those products that you're inundating yourself with, and carbon emissions only increase when they're loaded onto the truck to be shipped to you.  

Alternatives to throwing away your old luggage

  If you do happen to have some used luggage that you're looking to offload, there are way more ethical ways to dispose of it than just leaving it on the curb (please, do not do that).   Here are some alternatives to sending your old luggage to the landfill:   1.     Donate it. You can always take a trip to your nearest Goodwill, but also consider doing some research about local clothing and hard goods dropoffs in your local area. A lot of community centers, municipal buildings, places of worship, travel agencies, and more have programs that send your used items to people who could use it. You can also send your stuff to Suitcases For Kids — an organization that donates luggage to foster children that move from home to home on a regular basis.   2.     Repurpose it. If your luggage is no longer fit for travel but isn't totally unusable, keep it and use it for extra storage in a closet or under your bed (it looks way tidier than putting your things in trash bags or assembling it into a terrifying Jenga tower of randomness). If your retired luggage happens to look vintage and chic, you can repurpose it as decorative accent storage instead of shoving it into a dark corner where no one can see it.   3.     A designated recycling service. If you opt to send your old suitcase into the next life instead of those other options, make sure you do it the right way. Plenty of cities and residential areas offer free-of-charge curbside pickup for bulky items to be recycled, like this one that's exclusive to San Francisco. And, while pricey, you can also make use of TerraCycle's Zero Waste Box, which lets you ship your luggage to be recycled if you aren't fortunate enough to have a local pickup program.   At the end of the day, thrifting consigned luggage instead of buying something completely new is a good way to save materials and extend the life cycle of whatever you purchase. It's usually really easy to find good, secondhand stuff in local thrift shops or on sites like eBay and depop.  

So, what's the best eco-friendly luggage option?

  A lot of brands out there claim to be sustainable, but in reality, they barely scratch the surface of true eco-friendliness (some can't even treat their own employees the right way) — so it's vital that we make sure we are supporting sustainable luggage production by giving our money to those companies that are exemplifying what "eco-friendly" can truly mean.   Here are our picks for the best eco-friendly luggage: