Deciding what to take with you when you travel have always been one of your main challenges – and that frustration is why I eventually created my own detailed packing list for travel essentials I want to share with you.
The most important things a woman should pack when traveling are her intuition and Diva Cup
Women on the Road’s Ultimate Long-Term Travel Packing List for Women
Documents & Bags
Passport + extra photocopy of the front page of your passport
Additional photo ID (such as a driver’s license, student ID) debit and/or credit cards
According to the EPI index in year 2016 (Environmental Performance Index) prepared by Yale and Columbia Universities, Finland is the world’s cleanest and greenest country.
The Environmental Performance Index is a method developed to measure the environmental quality of countries in numbers. The index compares how ecosystems and people’s health are protected in different countries. The index takes into account multiple factors such as care of air quality, clean water and their water resources and how they manage agriculture, forests and fish stocks, biodiversity, CO2 emissions.
In 2016, Finland had the highest EPI score in the world (90.68 out of 100), closely followed by fellow Nordic states Iceland and Sweden.
The index score is also influenced by energy solutions and the states’ attitude to the diversity of nature and climate change.
“Finland has the opportunity to develop into a gem of nature tourism. We have clean and exuberant nature all over the country in the vicinity of good connections and services.”
Finland’s air, forests, lakes and drinking water are exceptionally clean by global standards. More than 80% of Finland’s lakes are either good or excellent in quality. More than 70% of Finland’s land area is the forest, which makes Finland one of the most forested countries in the world. The air quality in Finland is good, because the country is situated far from big sources of emissions and because Finland’s own emissions have been successfully curtailed. According to WHO, Finland has the cleanest air of the EU countries and the third cleanest air in the world after Canada and Iceland.
The score justifying the country’s number one position in the EPI index is 90.68. After Finland came to Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, and Slovenia. The EPI report praises many of Finland’s environmentally-friendly objectives. Finland intends to create a carbon-neutral society by 2050, in which nature’s capacity is no longer exceeded.
The country has also passed a decree according to which as much as 38% of Finnish energy production will be renewable in 2020. Already now most electricity is produced in an environmentally-friendly manner in the nation.
Photo Credit: Quang Nguyen Vinh from Pexels
Comprehensive commitment
According to the EPI report, the environmental policy goals set by the nation are tough but practical. The key goal is to achieve a carbon-neutral society by 2050. Under that overarching goal, progress is made by setting smaller objectives aimed at protecting the environment and carefully measuring the success of their implementation. However, the core strength of Finland is that society as a whole is committed to protecting the environment.
In addition to legislation and government policies, Finnish businesses and civil society are also active in introducing sustainability initiatives. For example, the Helsinki-based Uusix workshop offers long-term unemployed people the opportunity to work converting and repairing recycled materials into newly useable items. Many other companies have shifted their focus on renewables. This year, use of renewable energy is set to surpass that of fossil fuels for the first time. Businesses are proactively rising to the challenge set by the government to reach 50% renewable energy consumption by 2030.
It’s all coming together because different sectors of Finnish society are supporting each other in pursuit of a greener tomorrow. The key question to ask is – why is that?
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“Finland has the opportunity to develop into a gem of nature tourism. We have clean and exuberant nature all over the country in the vicinity of good connections and services. Holistic nature experiences can be built for tourists, for admiring the silent wilderness landscape, picking berries and mushrooms for food on an excursion, going to the sauna next to clean waters and waiting in a hide-out for the majestic bear to arrive from the shade of the forest as the night falls,” says biodiversity expert Riku Lumiaro of the Finnish Environment Institute.
Water purifiers can give you the best of both worlds: clean, safe water on demand, without destroying the environment in the process.
Clean water is the key to overall health and survival. Sadly much of the water in the world is polluted, particularly in third world countries. Even within North America, truly clean water can still be difficult to come by.
A pump filter will work better for large volumes of water, but most are larger, pricier, and harder to carry. A UV pen, meanwhile, is a simple purification option, but it won’t work on murky water, as the light won’t be able to reach as deeply as it needs to.
The piped water that comes from taps is often chlorinated or fluoridated, or both, and pass through old water pipes on its way to homes and business, where it can absorb heavy metals that have very harmful effects on our body.
According to WorldWaterReserve, of the waters covering 70% of the earth’s surface, only 3% is fresh, and only 0.4% is actually available to us.
Below you’ll find a summary of the best portable water purifier filters for travel.
The most well-known portable water purifier, the various models of Steripen use a UV lamp to kill the bugs and bacteria. You just dunk the lamp into a cup or water bottle, stir for a minute or two, then drink.
Ultra model charges via USB, compare to the cheaper versions use hard-to-find disposable batteries.
The LifeStraw Personal Water Filter is one of most highly rated, popular and acclaimed water purifiers on the market with an almost cult-like following.
The good thing about LifeStraw is, that it is really small and light and thus it doesn’t take much additional space. It is also very convenient.
The manufacturer of the LifeStraw is a Swiss-based public health company called Vestergaard.
Sawyer’s water filtration products are known for their ability to filter contaminated water to a higher standard than US bottled water.
Sawyer has a humanitarian mission to bring safe drinking water to developing countries
Being able to keep the filter in a pocket close to the warmth of your body will help prevent the filter from freezing if you’re using it in sub-zero temperatures.
The Filter Pro has three-stage filtration, with the carbon filter capable of handling 2000 liters before needing replacement, and the other two filters handling up to a huge 100,000 liters.
It works very well for filling from rivers and lakes, but can be a bit fiddly to use from a tap. Still, there’s always the sink!
Outdoor Gear Lab’s favorite pump filter wins praise for its light weight and easy use, especially in shallow water sources. The Katadyn Hiker Pro is a classic and reliable hand pump. It filters out both bacteria and protozoans like Giardia and Cryptosporidium
It is estimated that by 2025, 1.8 Billion People will live in water-scarce areas.
Water is finite. The amount of water circulating through the earth’s hydrologic cycle is the same amount that has been there since the earth’s beginning, not a drop more or less. What has changed is the number of people living on earth, and thus, the amount of drinkable water required for human sustenance.
With humans being made up of 60% water, our natural instinct might be to fight for it. But by collaborating to find ways to access the untapped groundwater beneath us, helping to conserve clean water use, and preventing further pollution of our clean water sources, it is possible for all peoples to have access to clean water.
If you want to learn who are some of the market’s best solutions in portable water filters check our Filtered Water Bottles for Travel article.
