Looking for a travel company or sustainable product I recommended in a blog post? You’ll find them all here – and if you don’t, just ask!
These are my favorite travel resources, plastic-free products, and sustainable & ethical online shops that I’ve recommended on the blog – all together in one place. In addition to providing great products or great service, many of these companies are B-Corps, they’re third-party certified as carbon-neutral, or have other strong credentials for sustainability.
I try to keep this page updated with links to my full reviews and any discount codes (in the gray boxes!), as I find new products worth mentioning.
Table of contents
By the way: Using the affiliate links on this page helps me earn commissions to run this site. For more about how this all works, just scroll down to the bottom of this page.
Discount Codes!
My favorite brands that I can offer discount codes for:
- TILTEDMAP10 gets you 10% off your order at Bite Toothpaste Bits, LastObject and Earth Hero.
- And TILTEDMAP20 will get you 20% off at Cleancult!
- At Dropps, use DROPPS15 for 15% off.
- This referral link for 100 Senses will get you $15 off a $50 non-subscription order.
- This referral link for the Package Free shop gets you $10 off a $40 order (you should see a pop-up right up away with a discount code to copy).
- And for Thinx, shop through this link for $10 off any order!
Travel Booking Resources
Intrepid runs all sorts of small-group tours with local guides from Italy to Iran to Antarctica. But this is what makes them unique: They’re a B-Corp, they’ve been carbon-neutral since 2010, and they just became the first tour company to have science-based climate targets!
Trains are the greenest way to get around Italy, and ItaliaRail is the simplest way to book train tickets in Italy (if you don’t speak Italian).
For more options and everything you want to know about riding Italian trains, check out my guide!
Starting a Booking.com search here takes you to the same site you normally use (with the same prices – I’ve tested it), but helps support Tilted Map by sending me a (small) piece of Booking’s commission. Thank you!
Travel Insurance
World Nomads is well-known throughout the industry as one of the best travel insurance providers. (Intrepid Travel, another of my favorites above, also recommends them.) They’ll even insure your camera and other gear. You can read stories of claims they’ve covered here, and quickly get a free quote with the form below:
Sustainable Products
I’ve reviewed lots of sustainable products in detail: You can read the details about shampoo bars, about cleaning products, and about my entire less-waste toiletry routine.
Below are my favorites from all the posts:
Plastic-Free Cleaning Products
Cleancult is my all-around favorite sustainable cleaning brand. I use their all-purpose cleaner, dish soap, wool dryer balls, and super lathery bar soap.
Get 20% off any order with this link! (If it doesn’t apply automatically, use the discount code TILTEDMAP20.)
TruEarth laundry strips are the easiest plastic-free/ zero-waste swap I’ve found. You get a whole plastic jug’s worth of laundry detergent in an envelope. The strips WORK, and they ship all over the world for FREE.
Through Dec. 3, get 50% off on 10-packs of TruEarth (32 strips in each pack). Enough to give as easy zero-waste gifts, and stock up for yourself!
I use Dropps‘ for plastic-free dishwasher pods. And they’re a good alternative for natural detergent and fabric softener and in multiple scents and lots of varieties, all in plastic-free packaging.
You can use this link and the code DROPPS15 for 15% off your order. (Plus, they give a steep 30% discount on subscription orders, which you can change or cancel anytime.)
I use Blueland‘s foaming hand soap and their unique glass cleaner – which is a plastic-free, dehydrated tablet refill system that’s pretty brilliant for sustainability. (I recommend just buying the refills and using your own bottles, for reasons I explain in my full post about these products.)
Plastic-Free Personal Care Brands
Only my favorite, tried-and-true brands are below. Detailed reviews and comparisons are here: All plastic-free toiletries. Shampoo bars. LastObject reusable items.
byHumankind is my favorite brand for plastic-free toiletries – they make my favorite refillable floss, deodorant and hand sanitizer, which doesn’t dry out your skin.
After testing several brands for this post, Bite makes my favorite plastic-free toothpaste in tablet form. (And my dentist approved, too!)
Be sure to use the code TILTEDMAP10 for 10% off at Bite!
Thinx are normal-feeling underwear that absorb your menstrual flow – without leaking, smelling, or feeling like a pad. It sounds weird, but I swear it works better than I ever expected. Easy, wash & wear with no more plastic and cotton to throw away.
This link (and the one above) gets you $10 off any Thinx order.
100 Senses makes my all-around favorite, completely plastic-free shampoo & body wash combo bar. (Perfect for travel!)
$15 off a $50 order with this link!
I also love HiBAR shampoo and conditioner bars, from a zero-plastic start-up and made in Minnesota!
Order HiBAR from Earth Hero and get 10% off with the code TILTEDMAP10.
LastObject designs simple, reusable replacements for throw-away items. I use their easy-to-clean replacements for Q-Tips, cotton balls, and Kleenex packs – all of which I reviewed in detail in this post.
Use the code TILTEDMAP10 for 10% off any LastObject order!
Better Online Shopping Options:
Earth Hero (Lots of Sustainable Brands)
There are lots of online marketplaces for eco-friendly products, but I think Earth Hero has the best sustainability credentials. For any kind of sustainable products – toiletries, yoga pants, tech, you name it – this Colorado-based start-up is my favorite place to shop.
The company is carbon-neutral, a B-Corp and a member of 1% For The Planet. (Excellent certifications that I always look for in sustainable companies.)
Get 10% off an Earth Hero order of any amount with the discount code TILTEDMAP10 !
Bookshop (Ethical Online Book Shopping)
I shop on Amazon sometimes, too, and I include Amazon affiliate links on this website because I know sometimes people are just going to go there anyway. But whenever possible, I also link to a small-business alternative to Amazon – and this is one of my favorites!
Bookshop is a certified B-Corp and at least 10% of every purchase goes into a pot, which is divided equally among indie book stores that are members.
It’s the best of both worlds: You get the convenience of ordering books online, while still helping to support local, independent book stores.
You can search for books above, or check out the Tilted Map storefront on Bookshop, which has all of the food and travel books I’ve mentioned on the blog together in one place.
Novica (Fair Trade Gifts)
In the interest of consuming and accumulating less stuff, I’ve mostly stopped gifting anything that’s not edible (which, from me, usually means homemade limoncello). But when I occasionally feel the need to give something, Novica is a great source for artisan-made, Fair Trade items. (They have everything: Handmade cloth face masks, jewelry, scarves, art, seasonal decorations, natural beauty products… You know, good gift-y stuff.)
Pela (Eco-Friendly Phone Cases & Sunglasses)
Pela Case makes compostable phone cases – they’ll break down into nothing but dirt within a year – and Pela Vision makes sunglasses that do the same! (They have a quick explanation of the difference between “compostable” and “biodegradable.”)
Pela is another B-Corp (like Bookshop, Earth Hero and Intrepid Travel, above), plus they’re certified by Climate Neutral, and they’re a member of 1% For The Planet – all of which are meaningful badges that I always look for!
VPNs & Tech for Travel
Usually you don’t actually need a VPN to get online securely when you travel – or any other time (as I learned when I interviewed a cyber security expert for the linked post). Using a password manager is much more important – it makes your passwords unique and uncrackable (and you don’t have to remember them).
LastPass is the password manager I’ve relied on for several years. (I have the Family membership because it lets my husband and I share selected passwords and secure notes.)
If you do need a VPN, I recommend TunnelBear (the free version is the only VPN I use, and only occasionally). It’s secure, EASY to use, and reasonably priced. (But if you need a VPN for China, definitely read my full post first.)
If you want to keep things simple and use the same company for everything, TunnelBear makes a password manager called RememBear. I haven’t used it, but it’s well rated and I think highly of the company.
Blogging & Website Help
I’ve been using SiteGround hosting for several years, and I wouldn’t use anything else. I was on DreamHost before, but it had a lot of down-time and not very helpful customer service. So I did a lot of research and decided on SiteGround, which has 100% solved both of those problems!
You can find cheaper hosting, but honestly, this is something worth doing right. Cheap hosting can cause crashes, lost content, slow loading times, and other hassles that you’ll have to fix with a patchwork of plugins down the road. Also, Siteground’s customer service chat feature – with real tech people – makes life easier when things inevitably go wrong, or whenever I have a question.
Blogging Courses
I’ve taken several blogging courses on topics from social media to SEO. Here are two that I recommend:
- For beginners starting a blog or website, Super Star Blogging by Nomadic Matt is a good overview of everything all in one place. (From choosing a blog name, to setting up your website, to social media, guest posting, working with companies, and more.) If you’re overwhelmed, this is much simpler than getting lost on Youtube looking for answers!
- Stupid Simple SEO is a more advanced course that teaches you an SEO strategy, not just quick tricks (which only get you so far). I used to pay for the premium Yoast plugin, but this course made me realize that was totally unnecessary and there are more useful ways to spend my my SEO time (and money).
- There are countless online courses for SEO and social media, but very few about the most important part of blogging: The actual writing. That’s why I’m currently working through How to Become a Successful Travel Writer, which is created by Nomadic Matt, but taught by the writer and editor David Farley. (Who also teaches writing at NYU and Columbia.) Even though I have a degree in Journalism and have been writing online and for magazines for many years, I’m still learning a lot from it!
Graphic Design
I’m really happy that Canva exists because it’s much simpler (and cheaper) than Photoshop or other software. The paid version gets you advanced features and quality stock images, but I just use the free version (mostly to make my Pinterest images, like the one below!).
For when you’re tired of Canva and looking for a real graphic designer, I highly recommend Hollis Callas. She created my Tilted Map logo – and if that’s not enough, she’s done work for Samsung and Metallica (yes, the Metallica). You can check out her beautiful patten designs on her Instagram.
More about the Affiliate Links on this page:
Some of the links on this page (but not all of them) are “affiliate links,” which means if you make a purchase after clicking them, I’ll earn a commission on the sale. This is at no extra cost to you, of course, and some of my links even get you a discount.
Others are “referral links.” These are like affiliate links, except that instead of earning a commission, I earn some kind of credit with the company (which I use to buy more of their product). So I wouldn’t be using these if I didn’t use and love these products!
And some of these links don’t get me anything at all, but I love them anyway so I want you to know about them.
I’ve chatted with so many friends (of all ages) who have no idea these links exist – which is reasonable if you don’t work in blogging or online marketing. But they’re ubiquitous all over the internet. They’re a huge part of what keeps most blogs and websites funded (including major, famous ones like Wirecutter, which is owned by the New York Times). So affiliate links are a perfectly legitimate part of online business and media, I just think everyone should know about them, just to be aware. Plus, any website that doesn’t announce their affiliate links is not only in violation of lots of laws, but is probably trying to scam you.
If you have any questions about affiliates or how any of this works, feel free to reach out! I’m happy to discuss. (Or read through my Privacy Policy… but that will be less fun.)
-Ketti
