Going Footprint Free is about ensuring your environmental footprint doesn’t limit your imagination or the things you can achieve.
This is not meant to be something that makes you feel guilty about your next trip. Its a collection of ideas, adventures and suggestions to help all of us reduce our environmental impacts the next time we are heading outdoors.
We focus on three main areas
Equipment Footprints
What do we look for?
Reliable and hard-wearing Gear
Gear that can take a beating and is going to last.
When stuff lasts it means you throw less away. The good stuff is often expensive but it’s usually worth it for the long-term impact on both your wallet and the environment.
We are looking for stuff that is made to go the distance or companies that have excellent returns/repair systems in place.
Traceability and transparency
How clear is the company about where their products come from, how they deliver their services and how their products are made?
This gives us a really good insight into what changes or policies the brand has put its time and energy into rather than bland commitments to “environmental awareness”
There are plenty of examples of companies that publish everything from their travel to work polices to their schemes to reduce waste plastic.
Use of sustainable or recycled materials
If it grew on something, or from somewhere then you are immediately winning.
For our upcoming expeditions, we have been building wooden skis, choosing only sustainable clothing options, buying bamboo ski poles and finding ways of using recycled composites instead of plastics.
Brand Ethos
Does it feel like these guys give a damn or is it just a branding exercise? It doesn’t take much digging to work out which companies have been pursuing their own footprint-free programs for decades and those who are chasing the trend.
We search for companies with nothing to hide and who put it all out there. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Companies are now more approachable than ever. Their honesty about the journey they have been on and the future problems they will face can help inform your decisions about their own commitment to the long term.
Equipment and Brand List
Featured
Latest Equipment Blogs
Featured
Travel Footprints
You have to get there somehow!
Travel will probably be one of the, if not the largest footprint you leave once you have finished your trip
There will always be those unavoidable travel footprints that come with getting into the outdoors and the bigger the trip the larger the impact. Want to get to Antarctica or into the back-and-beyond somewhere? You’re probably going to have to fly, Which is not great.
So
1. Work out your Footprints Using the calculator
2. Find ways to Reduce your Footprints
3. Where possible. remove Them
Use the calculator to work out your Footprints. The offset button links you to another website which we dont have any control over
Reduce Your Footprints
Is there a train, can you car share, which airline has the best environmental policy?
There are probably some easy ways you can significantly reduce your impact without trying to hard.
Have a look at these examples of people reducing their travel footprint and check out our Facebook page to ask questions, for inspiration and ideas
Reducing Footprints Through Travel
Remove Your footprints (Kinda)
Offsetting is not something that everyone agrees with and there will always be those who say, why not just not go in the first place. This isn’t part of our ethos. Of course you should go, its why you love the outdoors, you should just try and do as lightly as possible.
So with that in mind, offsetting can be a valuable tool. Its not perfect but it can make a big difference.
Whilst there are many options we have broken them down into two categories. Money and Time.
Money schemes are those you will part with some cash to offset your footprints and Time are those that involve you investing your time and energy in a way that reduces your impact.
The Money options dont include Carbon credits as these seem totally pointless.
Offsetting by
Travel Hints and Tips
Latest Travel Blog
Blog
Food Footprints
They are really important.
Not just because you need it to stay energised, happy and, well, alive when you are in the outdoors it also has a huge impact on the footprints you are going to leave behind.
The packaging you are using, then potentially leaving behind even if by accident or the mountains of plastic all those lovely energy bars come wrapped in.
The miles your food has travelled to get to you. Eating avocados in the Arctic or Salmon in the Sahara? Then its probably not from a local source.
And also considering the choices our food consumption has on the planet.
All of these can have an huge impact on the footprints of your adventure.
Check out our blogs and adventures on food to get some inspiration on how to make some tasty changes to you adventure lunch box or visit our Facebook and Instagram communities.
Food Blogs
