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So you fly a lot, as I do, and you have successfully navigated eleven countries, all fifty states and the realization that "just because it's free does not mean I'm hungry," saving your already time-zone interrupted, altitudinally exposed and frequent-flier seat-restricted digestive tract from thousands of roasted peanuts, cheesy goldfish and unidentifiable thrice-heated meals. Then you are off to a good start as far as staying healthy as you trot around the globe.

But let's say that your mission—now evolved past "how to maintain a vegetarian/vegan diet outside of the utopia of your kitchen pantry" or, better still, "how to view a four-hour hiatus from food less like a death sentence and more like a life-insurance policy"—has extended outward from just your personal health to the community's as well. And, it seems, most everyone who nurses himself or herself to health via raw foods progresses into environmentalism eventually. After all, environmentalism—exemplified by the simple acts of refusing single-serving pretzels, Styrofoam-contained coffee and creamers each in their own miniature peel-away plastic packaging—is the next obvious outlet for the expression of compassion.

When we consider the cost to our health and our planet's future, "free" becomes a less appetizing value.

Although environmentalists, health advocates and pure renegades would likely agree that refusing cola is unanimously beneficent, they might think it unwise for the business commuter, family vacationer or globetrotter to abstain from water, that elixir of life itself, especially in the dehydrating confines of the economy-class cabin.

For short-duration liftoffs, a reusable water bottle (or two) works wonders. So long as, when you proceed through airport security, it is as empty of liquid as your backpack is empty of lighters, jackknives and still-illegal medicinal herbs.

Once safely past the metal detectors and sniffer dogs, you can immediately fill the reusable—preferably glass—container at the nearest fountain and save yourself a travel-store five-spot with this and each subsequent foresight.

If hydrating the 1/2 hour before boarding and packing in two additional fountain-filled containers still does not satisfy the fluid-ravenous flyer or 12-hour transatlantic traveler, there is yet one more weapon the intelligent transient will pack. For while flight attendants are trained to offer multitudes of two-swig bottles when additional drinking water is requested, they have an invaluable and apparently inexhaustible artillery of piped hot water available to the coffee-drinking, movie-viewing counterculture of the alcohol-consuming, sleep-seeking mainstream. And with one reusable insulated tea mug, the real system breakers and relentless idealists can refill en route as many times as desired, asking for a tea bag or ice as preferred, remaining hydrated and, all the while, garbage-free.

Don’t let the deep love of your environment prevent you from exploring your environment. Nor should you permit your powerful ideals, which should be shared with the world, to waver when exploring the world.  Even as an eco-conscious traveler, you can utilize your passion for adventure to navigate both seat 26A and exotic lands.

It’s true. With a little thoughtful planning, you can foster a curious mind, have a cleaner conscience and keep your spirit free—the way it is meant to be.

[Sign up to be notified each time Tonya publishes a new Clean and Green Everyday blog entry on EcoHearth. See a complete list of writing by Tonya Kay on EcoHearth.com or visit her Clean and Green Everyday blog. – Ed.]

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