I headed to Iceland for an artist residency this past summer for a whole month and then camped along the Ring Road with my boyfriend for a week. I knew Iceland´s tourist influx had doubled since 2016 but wasn´t prepared for the news that the Reykjavík airport had a million people pass through it in July.
I knew tourists had been exhibiting bad behavior, some of it caused by the fact that Iceland doesn´t have an infrastructure for this amount of people coming in, and a nature tax and steep fines for littering are being debated. Who throws a pizza box on a lava field? Seriously, I´m going to some northern territory of Canada next time I need to camp and let Iceland have a rest. All regular cultural, artistic, and educational efforts in Iceland are battling with and losing space to tourism. If you´re already going, here are some ideas for how to shop for food and minimize any negative effects your presence may have on Iceland.
1. Buy from Icelandic groceries. This article by Foodie Baker saved our life. As did a kilo of Whole Earth peanut butter from Krónan, a grocery store slightly more expensive than Bónus but also very comparable to prices at home, probably even less expensive. Krónan has a lot of special foods for people with allergies. (Why would you shop at Costco when they are eating into Icelandic profits?)
2. Buy from local fisheries, mutton jerky makers, dry fish and cod. Smoked fish, mutton jerky and dried fish are all items that keep without refrigeration for at least a day or two which is great for camping or sightseeing. Here´s a favorite smoker of trout in the Golden Circle, Reykhúsið Útey. To get to this smokery, start in Laugarvatn, head south on 37 (on the circle road or roundabout intersection, follow the sign toward Selfoss). You´ll see a sign for Útey 500 meters further down the road...don´t forget that means almost 1500 feet or half a kilometer...turn left.
3. Enjoy local restaurants. If you´re broke, it´s fine to share a soup and have fries. A lot of restaurants give you free bread and butter with the soups. I found it so fascinating in Reykjavík to see people in fancy cars (locals) eating Dominoes, which is at least 25 or 30 per pie.
4. Picnic areas...the humor of seeing a picnic table on a sign and showing up to a gravel circle with no table and no trash can! It´s a great way to make sure tourists take their garbage with them and don´t litter. If there is a table, take the opportunity to chat with people from either Iceland or some other travelers. Or learn how to balance food on your knees as you sit partway out of your car or attempt to sit on a rock without touching bird poop.
5. A closet with a heart on it...this sign means there will be a port o potty and may be a bit new on the N1 route, but how glad we were to take advantage of this whenever we saw it so we wouldn´t have to do anything drastic. You also might just take some ziplocks with you in case of a real emergency.
6. Pack a garbage bag. I mean, it´s that easy.
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