We tend to think of hiking as a “green” sort of activity, and it absolutely can be.
But hikers can also have significant environmental impacts, from obvious ones such as a foot-trampled swale or accidentally sparked wildfire to the subtler but significant carbon footprint associated with outdoor clothing and gear.
In this article, we’ll run through some basic ways to implement a more sustainable hike, from selecting greener products to making responsible and ecologically sensitive decisions out in the backcountry.
- Keeping a clean campsite is important to protect local wildlife.
- Bears can be attracted to food odors and garbage, so it's important to store your food properly.
- Hiking and backpacking safely and responsibly entails being skillful and knowledgeable in outdoor skills, having proper equipment, and making good judgments.
- It's important to be aware of your limits when hiking and backpacking.
- Support organizations that offer ways for people to get involved in campaigns that benefit the environment.
Planning & Preparing For Your Hiking Trip
Let’s kick things off with what you can do ahead of actually hitting the trailhead in terms of pursuing a more eco-friendly hiking trip.
Outfitting Yourself Responsibly for a Hike
The kind of gear you bring (and wear) on your hiking trip is a major if often overlooked, a contributor to your environmental footprint.
Check out this video explaining what a carbon footprint is:
Two straightforward and related ways to lessen that footprint on this front are to (a) buy secondhand gear whenever possible and (b) use your clothing and equipment as long as possible.
This keeps items out of the landfill and gets, so to speak, the biggest bang out of the buck that is all the resource-extraction, pollution, byproduct waste, etc. involved in their production.
When it comes to extending the lifespan of your kit, attempt repairs of damaged or worn items—sleeping bags, tents, boots, what have you—rather than immediately shopping for a brand-new replacement.
Assessing the Production Footprints of Outdoor Apparel & Gear
When shopping for the right gear, try to gauge the environmental and social costs involved in an item’s production.
Doing your research like this takes work—and, needless to say, it can be hard to trace all the systems at play in bringing that puffy to the rack.
But a little investment of time and effort in this way is part of being a conscientious outdoorsperson—and an acknowledgment of the vast web of environmental pathways our actions and preferences influence.
Look for designations such as Responsible Wool and Responsible Down standards or Fair Trade certifications, and support companies that provide detailed information on their footprint and what they’re doing to decrease it.
More and more companies in the outdoor industry are attempting to tackle this insidious problem, which is only a good thing. Higher-quality synthetics tend to release less, so think twice before buying the cheap stuff.
Micro-plastics
We’re increasingly aware of the disturbing amount of micro-plastic waste and pollution shed by synthetic fabrics such as conventional fleece.
Consider natural alternatives (while, of course, weighing their own associated costs) as well as synthetics produced from recycled plastic, which tend to have the lower raw material, water, and energy inputs—and send less material into landfills or ecosystem channels.
Front-loading washing machines tend to slough off fewer micro-plastics from clothing than top-loading models.
You can also invest in washing-machine filters to keep more of the micro-plastic waste out of waterways.
Miscellaneous Tips on Buying New Gear
In general with new gear, avoid single-use plastic and excessive packaging as much as possible.
Reusable water bottles are obviously a better choice than plastic bottles.
Select eco-friendly sunscreen, insect repellant, and other chemical products. In the cooking-and-eating department, seek out grains, nuts, fruits, chocolates, and the like in the bulk aisle rather than in prepackaged form, and maybe prep some of your own food for the trail with an inexpensive dehydrator.
From a waste-generation standpoint, meanwhile, a liquid-fuel camping stove is more sustainable than a canister stove.
Choosing Where—and When—to Go Hiking
Consider avoiding popular areas that are vulnerable to overcrowding, or schedule your visit for the off-season (if there is one).
Within a given recreational destination—a national park, for example—you can also steer clear of more heavily used hiking trails.
That said, in certain locations—such as a hiking area of small acreage set in an intensively developed landscape—one could argue concentrating hikers on well-trammeled routes preserves refuges for wildlife.
As with all of this stuff, context matters.
More visitors tend to translate to greater environmental impacts after all, including greater trail and trailside erosion and disturbance to wildlife.
Speaking of the timing of your hiking trek, abide by any seasonal closures: They tend to be in place to protect sensitive wildlife—such as nesting birds—or the natural environment itself, as when certain trails are closed during the wettest, muddiest time period to lessen erosion.
The same, of course, goes for respecting rules and regulations when it comes to areas permanently off-limits to hiking.
Sometimes such prohibitions are there to protect hikers themselves from unsafe terrain, but keep in mind that in many cases they safeguard especially fragile or rare vegetation communities, critical wildlife habitats, or other natural resources that could be threatened by human visitation.
Traveling to Your Destination
Your hoofing it along the trail may not involve much in the way of carbon emissions (excepting, of course, those generated in the production of your clothing and gear), but what about getting to and from the trailhead?
Choosing a hiking destination close to home is one basic way to minimize the greenhouse gases involved in traveling there.
After all, there’s a good chance your big backyard includes some fabulous hiking, even if big-name national parks or exotic international locales seem more intrinsically exci