The sustainability problem

The issue

The photo you see above you is of me and my father on a wee hiking trip in the highlands, the Cairngorms specifically. To get there we drove up the M6 to Glasgow and then made our way west to Aviemore to start our walk. A journey of about 400 miles... oh and we were in a fossil fuelled van. Sure we picked up rubbish while we were there and made sure we kept to the track so as not to disturb the grouses nests in the heather but, How could we say that we were trying our best for the environment when we had quite obviously clocked up a large carbon footprint while we were just travelling to our destination? 

The fact of the matter is that as adventurous people there is a lot of travelling involved in our various passions whether that's going to our favorite boulder spot 30 minutes away or going on expedition in Greenland. This is unavoidable. In order for us to continue our passions and keep our community and sports alive then we must accept that we will emit some carbon emissions by way of travelling. With that being said, how does the outdoor community help the environment today?

Our positive effects + what more we can do

The outdoor community is well known for being very politically active, consistently banging the drum for awareness of humanity's effects on nature and our planet as well as holding politicians and corporations to account for their harmful plans for example the organisations Protect our winters and Protect our rivers both excel at this. These organisations give all of us a voice, a chance to have our say as people who are pretty consistently on the frontlines of the climate emergency. These organisations have very useful user friendly ways that we can have our say for example Protect our winters 2 minute survey. 

Obviously how we conduct ourselves outdoors is of the highest importance, such standards are vital for example:

. Taking nothing but pictures

. Leaving nothing but footprints 

. Dispose of waste properly

. Use the toilet outdoors in a sustainable way e.g. away from water sources for number 1 and bagging up number 2

Such standards are our building blocks, our vital pillars to which we as outdoors people can have a more sustainable impact on our planet. If you want more information on leaving no trace please look up the "leave no trace 7 principles". 

It is also vital that we keep messaging our MPs as well as educating each other and those less minded to the outdoors as well. Spread the word. 

In recent times thanks to author like Alistair Humphries (i know another Alistair!)  the emergence of "micro adventures" have captivated our community. if you don't know what Micro adventures are ill give you a couple of examples: Walking from your back door to do an overnight camp in a field, paddling on the river nearest to you, finding an urban boulder problem otherwise undiscovered. These Micro Adventures are the perfect cure to when you need to scratch your adventure itch without eating through some more dinosaur sauce in our land boats ( or diesel in our cars if your actually normal!) Micro adventures i think will be a growing division in our community in the future especially after the pandemic and the rise of people going into the outdoors. This will be something i might write about further in the future. 

All in all our duty to the planet is important, Action is vital, inaction is not an option.

Thank you very much for reading if you got this far, This is my first blog post and hopefully not my last so please join me next time for another read.