We’ve got sustainability on the brain! After we got ourselves settled and adjusted to the ins-and-outs of vanlife, we started to more closely examine our way of living.  Namely, we looked at the impact it could have on the environment around us.

We started implementing strategies and daily hacks to be make vanlife a little more eco friendly.  Those 20 tips are a great start, but we want to strive to become more and more zero waste, since zero waste the necessary philosophy of the future.

If you’re not familiar with zero waste living, essentially its goal is to eliminate waste by replacing the linear, one-way life of a product with a circular “cradle-to-cradle” approach.  Rather than something going from into the trash, zero waste tries to reimagine a product’s end-of-life into something with reuse value. 

Plastic has pretty much no reuse or recycle value, which is why zero waste focuses on eliminating plastic (especially single use).  Instead, we seek products made from biodegradable materials that are compostable, or high quality materials that are reusable.

For a lot more info on the logistics of zero waste living, Sustainable Jungle has some great resources.

A while ago, we talked about vanlife essentials, some items that have been crucial quality-of-life enhancers for us in the van.

Think of this as the same thing, but with a sustainability twist.  These are some zero waste vanlife essentials, or simple, everyday items that have helped us cut back considerably on our plastic waste.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Zero Waste Vanlife Kitchen

1. Propane stove and converter hose:

The simplest, most low-waste method of cooking.  Unfortunately, Coleman stoves run by default off those horribly wasteful single-used canisters which *technically can’t be refilled (*okay so you CAN refill them but it’s illegal, finicky, and it still requires a larger tank to fill from).  At that rate, just get a connector hose and hook your stove to a 20-pound tank which you can refill over and over, so long as the tank doesn’t get damaged. 

Find it here: REI / Amazon / EMS

2. Water dromedary bags:

Reusable water bottles are a no brainer, but what about for storing extra drinking water in the van?  Lots of people just buy plastic gallon jugs, but again, then we’re talking lots of single use plastic.  These refillable dromedary bags (like the MSR ones we use) are ultra durable, hold tons of water, don’t take up much space when not in use, and won’t leach BPAs in your drinking water.  Win, win, win, win!

Find dromedary bags here: Backcountry / REI / Amazon / Moosejaw

3. Stainless steel bento boxes:

Great for taking lunch out with you, or for getting take out food. Styrofoam containers are not only environmentally horrendous but just don’t fit in our fridge. 

4. Reusable sandwich bags and beeswax wraps:

Let’s get real here.  No one likes Saran wrap or aluminum foil.  We happen to think they’re the devil, both from usage and waste perspectives.  In a van, boxes of various baggies and wraps take up a ton of space and just don’t store well.  We traded in all those random boxes for a couple cloth reusable snack bags and some beeswax food wraps (which we mostly use for covering bowls of leftovers in the fridge).

5. Compost collector bin:

We don’t produce that many food scraps because we try to use every part of the food we can (Chris even eats the shells of sunflower seeds!). However, for the ones we do, we try to save them for composting. We just store them in this odor-sealing compost collection bin until we’re in an area that either offers municipal composting services or where we have friends that composting.

6. Coffee press:

Coffee filters may seem eco friendly, but many of them are actually made with bits of plastic.  Ditch filters altogether and just opt for a French Press.  They make way better coffee, anyway.  Alternatively, if you only want to ever make a cup at a time with a bit less hassle, try a coffee filter sock, which is washable and compostable if it ever wears out.

7. French net shoulder bag:

Ah, the van lifer’s perpetual problem: how to keep fresh fruit from bruising as your mobbing down bumpy backroads.  The solution?  Hanging storage nets! These are great because when you run out, just take them down and into the grocery store and use them as a reusable produce bag (which is actually what they’re intended for in the first place).

8. Solar lights:

As romantic as it sounds to cook by candlelight, it’s not that practical.  We try to let daylight illuminate most of what we do, but as the days get short, we rely renewable energy (rather than battery powered) to light up cooking and living space.  mPOWEREDs Luci Lights are super affordable and easy to charge bu just leaving in your dash all day.  No fancy electric setup required.

Find LUCI Lights here: Backcountry / REI / Amazon / EMS / Moosejaw

Zero Waste Vanlife Personal Care

9. Zero waste shampoo cubes:

Make vanlife showering more convenient without clunky plastic bottles. Naked packaging, no SLS, no parabens, no phthaltes: and they take up no space! If you have a particularly difficult hair texture, you can also get conditioner bars.

10. Loofah:

Vanlife may not have us showering all that often, but that means we like to reaaaalllllly scrub down when we do.  Be sure scrubbing doesn’t come at the cost of sustainability but switching to an all-natural loofah sponge.  Loofahs are actually a plant and thus can be fully composted at the end of their life.

11. Reef safe cardboard sunscreen stick:

When your house is less than 70 sq. ft. suffice it to say you tend to spend as little time in there as possible. That means you spend lots of time out in the sun. While Chris has rich Italian blood that makes him look more like a bronze god after a day in the sun, my Irish butt will closer resemble a lobster.  I use a LOT of sunscreen and I hated seeing how many panic tubes and bottles I wasted.  

Instead, switch to zero waste sunscreen, either in a reusable glass pot or a compostable cardboard stick.  The latter is the more portable of the two options.  We (or Amber anyway) like Raw Elements, which is also non-nano zinc oxide and 95% organic.

12. Handkerchief:

Maybe it’s just us, but we feel like we blow our nose a lot more now that we live in the van.  Not because we get sick more (quite the opposite!).  Instead, we’re just exposed to colder climates more often, which makes your nose run.  Rather than tear through tissues, invest in a couple organic cotton hankies like the ones your grandpa used to carry.  Then just wash them out in a sink every couple days. 

Zero Waste Vanlife Cleaning

13. Laundry soap papers:

These are a DREAM for vanlife laundry day.  These biodegradable, earth-safe soap papers work super well in either washing machines or for hand washing and are literally everything you need (except maybe a zero waste laundry stain stick if you tend to spill a lot like me).  Zero waste, and, best of all, take up pretty much zero space.

14. Dish washing block:

Swap out the plastic bottles of unsustainable suds and swap to a zero waste washing solution. There are actually lots of options for zero waste dish soap, from soap nuts to powders (some great recommendations here), but we find the No Tox Life dish block is the easiest to manage for van life.  Plus, one block lasts us FOREVER. 

15. Wooden pot scraper and dish brush:

Makes sure all that plastic you save in bottles doesn’t go into plastic sponges, Brillo pads, and dish brushes.  Instead, opt for biodegradable materials than can be composted once you just can’t get those food particles fully out any more (because dish brushes get GROSS, especially when you don’t have hot running water to keep them clean).

16. Hand broom:

A simple hand broom can actually replace a lot of other paper cleaning products.  Those crumbs on the counter?  Sweep them off rather than waste a paper towel.  I can accomplish most of my van cleaning tasks with a simple hand broom. 

17. DIY cleaning:

For all your other cleaning, ditch the plastic bottles and remade products altogether by going DIY and making your own simple, non-toxic cleaners.  It’s amazing how effective a simple mixture of vinegar, water, and lemon essential oil is.  Or if you need some extra abrasive scrubbing powder, throw some baking soda in the mix. 

For plenty more DIY cleaning recipes and tips, read here.

Before You Drive Away…

We hope these tips and tricks have helped you set off on the road to sustainable vanlife.  You don’t have to many the journey overnight.  Zero waste is a lifelong pursuit and, much like van life itself, it doesn’t exactly have an “end of the road”. 

Learn a lesson from a Westy: Take is slow and just keep chugging away, even if it feels like the hill never ends.

If you have any questions about going zero waste in the camper van, please feel free to reach out to us and ask away!  We’re on the journey here with you, but helpfully we can help you avoid some bumps and potholes.

**This post contains affiliate links to support the continued creation of these van life guides. This just means that if you purchase something from one of the links above, I get a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Read more here or reach out with more questions.