Woman shares travel hack for dirty clothes: ‘Seriously a game changer’

This story was written by Olivia Johnson and originally appeared on The Cool Down.

Travel can provide a myriad of headaches, but there’s one ever-present dilemma that plagues us all: How do I separate my dirty clothes from the rest of my suitcase? 

Luckily for us, sustainability TikToker Carissa (@carissaandclimate) has a solution. 

The scoop

In Carissa’s video, she demonstrates how she repurposes reusable bags to make her travel packing hassle-free. As she explains, you just need three transportable cloth bags.

The first bag is for undergarments and swimsuits, which are small items that are easily lost in the shuffle of a larger suitcase. 

As items get dirty, Carissa puts them into her second bag, which she uses as a sort of portable laundry hamper. 

The third and final bag can be used as a purse (where else will you put your sunscreen?), a grocery bag, or for toting any miscellaneous items.

“Seriously a game-changer, honestly,” Carissa says at the end of the video. 

How it’s helping

Reusable bags offer a much higher quality than plastic bags, which is perfect for traveling when you need your items to be reliable. 

Additionally, many stores now charge a plastic bag fee, so by bringing your own, you’re saving money to spend on souvenirs! 

Plastic bags aren’t as convenient as they appear. Although they can seem like an easy way to transport your groceries, single-use plastic has consequences. A single plastic bag can take 1,000 years to break down in a landfill, turning into harmful microplastics that absorb toxins.

Microplastics come from stuff we use every day — like plastic bags, water bottles, food containers, paints, and electronics — and since they don’t completely break down, they can find their way into our drinking water and our food. According to Yale’s Office of Sustainability, humans are consuming more than 100,000 microplastic particles per year. 

What people are saying

The feedback for Carissa’s video showed that it’s easy to get on board with sustainable packing. Users sounded off in the comments supporting Carissa’s hack, calling her tip a “great idea!”

This story was written by Olivia Johnson and originally appeared on The Cool Down.