Travellers have a problem with plastic.

We have talked a lot in all our destination guides about the importance of trying to reduce our personal plastic footprint within every destination we travel - especially as the travel community are often most responsible for the increased amount of single-use plastic water bottles consumed in developing countries - and trying to reduce this footprint wherever practically possible.

The good news is that reducing your plastic footprint when you travel, whether you care a jot or not about sustainability, is actually quite easy. And is almost always guaranteed to save you a lot of cash in the long-term.

This rationale, and three easy steps, is why we haven't had to buy overpriced plastic bottles of water in the airport for the last five years.

And why we think every traveller can start to make a small, positive change to the frightening statistic that over a million plastic bottles are bought every minute around the world.

We've written this post to raise awareness of perhaps the simplest, most effective way for every traveller to cut down on needless plastic waste at the start and end of any trip. Follow this advice and you'll be able to save money, reduce plastic, and stay hydrated whenever you're at the airport.

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There are two clear habits certain people have at the airport: they glug and ditch their drink before security, and then sensibly buy a bottle of water once 'airside' to bring on the plane. The intentions are good and sensible - staying hydrated is the new cool no?

In a completely non-scientific way, based solely on what we see whenever we travel, I'd wager that some travellers buy and consume an average of two bottles of water on every airport trip.

It's well known that most high-consumption or perishable goods in on sale in the limited amount of shops as transport hubs ( e.g. train stations and airports) are priced higher than in the usual supermarket or high street. Once you factor in that the hell-hole of WH Smith is the most common post-security check shop at UK airports, you can guarantee that you're paying nearly double on certain items.

However, let's be generous and price the a 75 cl bottle of water purchased after airport security at £1. It doesn't seem too much on the front-end, but factor that in as a bottle of water purchased at the airport for every trip you take over the next 5 years.

It just seems like a total waste of money right? But it's also really important to stay hydrated, particularly when flying for several hours.

So what can you do?

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Understandably, some of you may be reading this and thinking that buying a bottle of water after the airport security is the ONLY option available.

After all, all airports have had strict and stringent restrictions on liquids that you can take through security in your hand luggage since 2006. And, due to this, you are only allowed to take liquids in containers up to 100 ml (psssst take a look at our city break packing list post).

This restriction has however not stopped us from boarding every single flight in the last five years with a full bottle of free, clean drinking water.

How? We bring our own refillable water bottles.

Some of you may be thinking that this is not such a novel idea - and you'd be right! However, we are definitely appear to be the minority of the minority of people who do this in any airport we pass through.

Some of you may also be thinking that it's a good, sensible option - but you've been worried about doing it because it appears to go against those liquid restrictions at security. After all, the last thing you want is for your favourite insulated water bottle to get thrown in the bin before your flight.

But we can tell you confidently that we've done this in airports all over Europe, in the US, South America, and India - and even through that horrendous terminal in Manchester which has the meanest checks on earth!

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And so, here are the steps to follow to ensure your reusable and refillable water bottle can get through security at the airport:

Drink the entire contents before you go through security.
Unscrew the cap, lid, or top from the bottle (it's best if you can detach it fully)
Take another deep sip to get rid of any lingering drips or drops.
Put the empty bottle in a security tray, putting the unscrewed cap or lid separately in the same tray. Don't leave the bottle in your hand luggage.
Breeze through.

That's it!

It's also completely legal. According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority - "The Department for Transport does not prohibit the carriage of empty water bottles through security in hand luggage."

There have been a handful of occasions where the security staff have checked the bottles, and that's when we've forgotten to unscrew the lid or we didn't get the final drips out before putting it in the tray.

After that, simply fill the bottle up before you board the plane. Thankfully, many airports are making this easier than before and really starting to promote their bottle refill stations and position them in high footfall locations; others may only have a single water fountain hidden away near the toilets (hello London Luton). If you can't find one, simply ask a member of staff or two!

Alternatively, I have never come across a cafe or restaurant after security that won't fill up our insulated metal bottles for free if I flutter my eyelashes at them (even when we're not a paying customer).

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And that's how you can go to the airport and board a plane with a full, free bottle of water.

Changing your travel habits and following the above advice is also the first step to significantly reducing your overall single-use plastic water bottle consumption and dependency on your future trips too!

If you're travelling to a destination which has safe, clean drinking water, then simply keep refilling as much as possible wherever and whenever you can instead of wasting money on single-use plastic bottles at the supermarket or airport. If you use a refillable metal insulated water bottle (like us), you'll also be able to have cold water available for free and for longer whilst exploring in the sun. They are a great little product, keeping the liquids cold or hot for a 24 hour period.

This is what we do when packing for all our European city breaks.

Alternatively, if you're travelling to a destination with unsafe drinking water, you would be right in having concerns about how often you’ll actually be able to safely fill up. Thankfully, there are two positive developments:

Lots of hostels and hotels now provide guests with free refill stations with filtered drinking water (or charge a small fee to refill).
Travel filter water bottles.

After using our own travel filter water bottles for the last three years in South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, we think they are an indispensable piece of kit for every traveller. We now bring one each on backpacking trips, alongside our metal insulated refillable bottles.

To find out more about how travel filter water bottles work, read this article. Alternatively, you can read this review article of the Water-to-Go bottles that we use.

Recommended Refillable Water Bottles

If you don’t already have a refillable water bottle that you use regularly at home, or when you travel, we have created the list below to help. We personally use the insulated BOGI ones which are vacuum-sealed and double-walled to keep water cold for up to 24 hours or hot drinks hot for 12.

Note that if you’re buying a refillable plastic bottle, you just want to make sure it is BPA-free (those listed below are). Prices below are correct at time of writing.