Waste-Free Hiking: Tips for Eco-Friendly Outdoor Adventures
Aotearoa is famous for its jaw dropping landscapes. Our plunging waterfalls, soaring peaks and serene lakes have gained worldwide acclaim and hiking has become a popular pastime for New Zealanders and tourists alike. Walks like the Abel Tasman Coast Track and Tongariro Crossing are hugely popular, the former garnering over 140,000 visitors each year. However, our access to these pristine landscapes comes with responsibility. To keep these places as they are, we need to be aware of our impact on the land. Being an eco-friendly hiker helps the planet and allows you to continue hiking! Here are some simple things to keep in mind as you embark on your outdoor adventures, to ensure you are creating a positive impact on the earth.
Being an eco-friendly hiker starts even before you get to the walk While venturing into remote areas, it’s important to be prepared, especially for longer/multi-day hikes (here is a useful list of essentials). It can be tempting to buy all new gear, especially when starting out, but is that really necessary? Where you can, use gear you already have. If you are new to hiking and don’t have everything yet, instead of buying first hand, try borrowing from friends or finding things secondhand on Trademe or Facebook marketplace. This gives you a chance to save yourself some money and take the time to figure out what kind of gear you actually prefer as well!
Be an informed hiker We are more likely to be respectful of a place when we are aware of its importance. Incorporate researching the area you are going to as part of your trip preparation. Are there any rare plants or animals near where you will be hiking? Make sure to take note of any special precautions you should take to protect wildlife, like cleaning boots and walking poles before entering a Kauri forest. Look into the history of the area and any significant landmarks. Are there any cultural practices you are expected to abide by? For example, the Mount Taranaki summit has certain rules you are expected to respect. It is a Tupuna, or ancestor of Taranaki Maori and is therefore a tapu/sacred place. For this reason, no one is permitted to stand on the utmost peak of the mountain or to cook, camp or litter on the summit (although you shouldn’t litter in any forest, regardless!).
Spending time in nature is always a good thing As you are walking, take note of what is around you. I am always on the lookout for funky fungi or patterns in moss and lichen. Immerse your senses in the forest and notice the little things. Try to identify birds by their songs or take a moment to appreciate the breeze and rustle of the trees. It’s easy to feel disconnected from nature and forget that these ecosystems are what sustains us. Hiking and spending time in nature always motivates me to do the best for our planet. The birds, the lichen, the insects, that is who we are protecting by being eco friendly. Hiking is an ideal way to recharge and remember what this is all for!
Keep to walking tracks To keep disturbance of the forest to a minimum, always stay on formal walking tracks. This is particularly important to keep in mind in busy areas with heavy foot traffic. Walking tracks minimise the damage done to an area by localising damage to one specific part of the forest. This way, the rest of the forest is left in peace, away from constant human impact. A study on the disturbance informal walking tracks caused to the wildlife in the Horcones Valley in the Andes found that ninety percent of the valley had been damaged by visitor use, predominantly on informal trails near popular tracks. Nature is resilient, but constant disturbance from visitors can lead to disturbance in the soil, introduction of weeds and decline in plant cover and height. It’s important to check your bags and pockets before entering any forest to make sure you aren’t carrying any seeds or pests with you.
Leave only footsteps Leave only footsteps, take only photos. This is one you’ve no doubt heard before but always bears repeating! Take ALL litter out with you, including foodscaps. Even though food scraps are ‘natural’, they take years to break down and attract pests such as rats, stoats and possums. To make it easier to pack out your rubbish, avoid products with packaging from the get go. This makes your pack lighter, more eco friendly and leaves you with less rubbish to worry about! Tramping food often comes in single use packaging, such as dehydrated meals. Instead, consider preparing your own food. If you are doing multi day hikes, oats make a great breakfast and crackers or sandwiches make a great lunch. By doing shared group dinners you can easily lower the amount of single use packing you use. My friends and I often enjoy nachos, taking in canned beans and tomatoes, a block of cheese and nacho chips. It’s not perfectly zero waste but it's a big improvement from singularly packed meals.
Find ways to give back Show the earth your appreciation by giving back! A simple way to do this is to lead by example by staying on walking tracks, making low waste food choices and being an informed hiker. Others will follow suit! While walking, keep an eye out for any litter others may have left on the track and pick it up for them. If you want to get more involved, there are plenty of organisations you can volunteer to, such as Forest and Bird or Predator Free organisations.
So, when you’re out there exploring Aotearoa’s beauty, bear in mind that taking a lower waste approach to hiking is our promise to protect it and make sure others can continue to explore for many years to come. Lace up your boots, head to a refillery and grab some trail mix and get out into the outdoors!
article by Tian Hewetson, Nonstop Solutions
Barros, Agustina, and Catherine Marina Pickering. “How Networks of Informal Trails Cause Landscape Level Damage to Vegetation.” Environmental Management (New York), vol. 60, no. 1, 2017, pp. 57–68, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0865-9.
Carpenter, B., Southcombe, M., & Kiddle, R. (2022). Overtourism and colonisation in Tongariro National Park. Landscape Review (Lincoln), 19(1), 76–86.
“Take Your Litter with You.”Www.doc.govt.nz,www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/
know-befor-you-go-take-your-litter-with-you/#:~:text=Even%20food%20scraps%20are%20littr. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.
“Trail Etiquette.” Taranaki Trails, taranakitrails.nz/trail-etiquette/. Accessed 11 Dec. 2023.
