Reduce Plastic Waste By Choosing Biodegradable Wet Wipes When Camping

• 29th Mar 2018

Many families who enjoy camping are horrified to learn that the wet wipes that they rely on to keep everyone clean and healthy while they are away are made almost entirely of plastic. Most of us are aware now of the problems of plastics, and many of us are trying to reduce our plastic use as much as possible. But wet wipes are not the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about single use plastic items.

Most people imagine their wet wipes to be completely biodegradable – like tissues – but this is not the case. In fact, these are amongst the plastic items that will take a long, long time to disappear from our environments. Plastic wet wipes contribute to the huge mountains of plastic clogging up our waterways and oceans, disrupting food chains, killing wildlife and despoiling our planet.

You may wish to consider avoiding wet wipes altogether. But if you feel that a camping trip would be a complete nightmare without them, the good news is that you can still use wet wipes on your adventures – just choose biodegradable wet wipes rather than your usual, plastic brand.

There are a number of eco-friendly wipes for babies and for families in general available from a range of retailers. CannyMum bamboo dry wipes, Waterwipes and M&Y 100% biodegradable baby wipes are amongst the examples currently on the market. There are also biodegradable wet wipes designed specifically for campers – though these do tend to have a higher price point than those aimed at parents with babies or small children, but are very similar products at the end of the day.

Of course, another option if you would like to avoid plastic wet wipes is to make your own wet wipes using a gentle, natural liquid soap or simply water, and your own cloths – ideally made from organic cotton or another planet-kind natural material and stored in a non-plastic watertight container.

Wet wipes can be handy when camping. But make sure you are not using the kind that damages our planet. Seek out eco-friendly alternatives in order to reduce the impact of your holidays on the Earth.