How to Adventure Sustainably

November 24, 2020 Jack and Jacques

Learning how to adventure sustainably will help you to reduce and offset your carbon footprint and explore without making a negative impact on the natural world.

Climate change is slowly but surely stripping us of the opportunity to explore, adventure and enjoy our world’s natural beauty. Thankfully the decline of our natural world isn’t as inevitable as Trump refusing to bow out gracefully…

We can all do something about climate change, which is why we founded Carbon Jacked – we’re all about helping you adventure sustainably.

Of course resolving the climate crisis requires coordinated international action from governments and businesses, but the actions of individuals are also critical. We must all live, and for those brave enough, adventure more sustainably.

Adventure sustainably icelandic landscape — Enjoy your wanderlust in an ethical way ©Norris Niman

Climate change is the greatest threat we face, but too often the debate around it gets polarised between those on the extremes. On the one hand you have those arguing that you must change your entire lifestyle overnight and on the other those saying that you don’t need to do anything.

As with many things, we think the truth is much more balanced. Individuals need to take action, but demanding that they stop everything and live like a monk on a low-fun diet won’t work because it will alienate more people than it converts.

At Carbon Jacked, we think people must understand their environmental impact and take action to reduce it so that they can continue adventuring, rather than stop.

Mountains and lake — Never stop exploring ©Andy Kerr

So how the hell do you know what your environmental impact is? Your environmental impact is effectively your carbon footprint. This is the total amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from the activities of a person or organisation, and we all have one. In fact, every single object and action has a carbon footprint.

According to Our World in Data, the per capita carbon footprint of somebody in the UK is 5.8 tonnes of CO2 a year, whereas in Norway it’s 8.25 tonnes a year.

Worth noting that if you travel a lot, as well as eating meat and dairy regularly, your personal footprint is likely a lot higher. Now you understand what a carbon footprint is, what can you do to reduce it on your next adventure?

How to Adventure Sustainably

There are a whole host of ways you can reduce your impact, for example:

How you get there: try to avoid flying and take a different form of transport
How you get around when you’re there: walk, run, cycle, ski tour, it’s normally more fun, cheaper and better for you
Don’t buy new gear before every holiday – you’re not Derek Zoolander. Buy clothes and equipment that last or borrow from your mates instead
Minimise the waste you leave behind
Think about your accommodation and stay somewhere that values sustainability. If you’re looking for something more adventurous, why not camp or even stay in an ‘Earthship’…
Eat locally sourced, preferably plant-based, food
Avoid single-use plastics wherever you can

Once you’ve done everything you can to reduce your environmental impact you’ll still be left with an unavoidable carbon impact from your actions, which everybody has to some extent.

If you want to make your adventure carbon neutral / negative you’ll need to offset your carbon footprint.

Carbon offsetting should never be the whole solution or even the starting point, but it has an important role to play. Offsetting not only benefits the environment, but also communities in developing countries most impacted by climate change.

If you want to learn more about how to do carbon offsetting right then see our explainer in Adventure Uncovered Magazine.

We’re not into sitting at a desk indoors all day. Whether exercising, exploring, or spending time with friends, for us it’s better out in nature. But if we want this to continue we need to protect the planet. So if you want to keep adventuring, but in an environmentally friendly way, join us.