This January I had the pleasure of attending my cousin's wedding in the Dominican Republic! It was quite the adventure and while I've done pretty well traveling while being zero waste, I did accumulate some waste on the trip including a few straws, a plastic bag, and some wrappers.
I also had a really weird exchange with an airline host. I asked if he could fill up my reusable mug about half way with the tea they were serving. He gave me all sorts of excuses of why he couldn't:
Host: "That'd be way too much tea!"
Me: "You don't need to fill it all the way, it can be equivalent to the cups you normally use"
Host: "Well what if I poured it into one of our cups then into your mug?"
Me: "... that sort of defeats the whole purpose, why don't you just pour it directly in here?"
Host: "Well there could be something weird in your mug"
Me: "There's not ... This is pretty routine, coffee shops do this for me all the time!"
Host: "No, no..." as he not so slowly makes his way down the aisle away from me "it definitely violates a health code..."
Well, the hostess on the last flight did this for me with no issue! At this point I just stopped, I was exhausted from an overnight flight and didn't have the energy to fight this guy over some mediocre tea. I don't know where the line is here between holding your ground and making a scene. Navigate this as best you can!
I also totally caved and got some of my favorite bagged tea because I wasn't feeling so well for a few days. It's Yogi Tea's Throat Comfort Tea and I have not been able to find a loose leaf alternative that does it for me. I may need to try mixing my own soon to prevent me from buying it whenever I have a sore throat!