Walking Green by Ben Webb

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Making

Gear Green

here’s a mountain in Ecuador which is shrinking. At least that’s what it looks like to the people who live and farm on the slopes of the magnificent Cotocachi (4944m). A hundred years ago the mountain was capped with snow and glaciers, its crystalline peak cutting a brilliant slash into the equatorial blue. Today the snow and ice are gone, and the mountain appears black and shrunken. A lake that lies in the Cotocachi foothills has withered too. Once buoyed by melting glaciers, the water is now draining away, leaving the people subsistence farming, facing possible drought and in competition for what little water there is left. It was with this stark image that Nick Brown (above), inventor of Nikwax and member of the European Outdoor Group Association for

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Gear companies are wising up to the environmental impact of their gear – but are walkers buying into the green revolution?

Conservation, opened his speech at Innovation for Extremes 08, a conference exploring the outdoor industry and climate change. The conference, held at Lancaster University in April 2008, was notable for being the first time that leading figures in the gear industry collectively acknowledged an inherent irony in their businesses: that the manufacture and distribution of outdoor gear contributes to climate change, which damages the very environment the gear is designed to help people enjoy. As Frank Bennett, chairman of the umbrella group, the Outdoor Industries Association (OIA), said: “We are having to review fundamental aspects of the way we make outdoor kit and conduct business in general, reflecting the need to reduce the impact on the planet of what we manufacture and what we do.”

Top: Nick Brown of Nikwax and P ramo. Above: Gear companies such as Teko use green electricity.

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Making

Gear Green

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Gear companies are wising up to the environmental impact of their gear – but are walkers buying into the green revolution?

Top: Nick Brown of Nikwax and P ramo. Above: Gear companies such as Teko use green electricity.

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Over 80 per cent of UK companies commit some form of ‘green washing’ where a product is sold as being more eco-friendly than it truly is. explains. “You start looking at what your energy output is, relative to what you produce, and then ask yourself where savings might be made. Once you start looking you realise there’s a huge amount of waste that can be avoided.” Nikwax and Páramo had cut their CO2 output from 12.5 tonnes to 2 tonnes a year simply by looking rigorously at where savings could be made, he said. Many companies are making a start at this process, but others try to cut

POLARTEC FABRICS

But where do businesses begin? As with all industries, environmental considerations cut through the outdoor gear trade all the way from the production of the raw materials to the disposal of the product at the end of its life. If it’s not the vast quantities of water needed to grow cottons, it’s the energy consumed in producing the fabrics. If it’s not the use of petrochemicals to manufacture polyester, it’s the toxic chemicals used in the dyes. Then there’s the carbon produced during the making of the gear, the energy used to ship it from factory to outlets across the world, the plastics used in labels and packaging, and the energy gobbled up in advertising and sales. And finally, at the end of it all, there’s all that secondhand, non-biodegradable clobber that gets cast into landfill, often long before it’s reached the end of its useful life. And yet Nick Brown says the task of becoming more environmentally friendly is not as daunting as it first seems. “The important place to start is by measuring what you do,” he

corners in a way that Nick Brown calls ‘discouraging’. Mark Held, secretary general of the European Outdoor Group (EOG), explains. “Over 80 per cent of UK companies commit some form of ‘green washing’, where a product is sold as being more eco-friendly than it truly is,” he says. It’s the kind of practice that paints a grim picture of an industry plagued by cynical marketing, rampant capitalism and abject wastefulness. But there are also stories of brilliant innovation where an environmental conscience and a little creative thinking are transforming the way companies work. US company Patagonia is widely recognised as the world’s most environmentally active outdoor brand. Members of Bluesign, 1% for the Planet and the EOG Association for Conservation, Patagonia also issues grants to environmental projects and have given a total of $32 million to more than 1,000 organisations. Much of their gear is made from recycled polyester, their distribution centres and offices are run on solar energy, and they are currently involved in a campaign to turn the region of Patagonia – in southern Argentina and Chile – into a national park. Here in the UK, fabric manufacturer Polartec was the first

Recycled polyester Clothes made from recycled polyester are generally the most widely available eco-gear. They can be mechanically recycled where a material such as a plastic bottle is melted and made into a yarn or chemically recycled where recycling is taken back one step further to produce a purer, betterquality, recyclable fabric. Verdict Chemical recycling is energy-intensive but good. If mixed with other yarns, it isnÕt necessarily recyclable.

Recyclable polyester Clothes that are recyclable are ones that are made from one pure type of yarn. In theory they can be recycled again and again and, because of the inherent strengths of polyester, will not be weakened by the process. The Japanese gear company Teijin has a project called Eco Circle, where their clothes can be sent back when they wear out and made into other clothes. PatagoniaÕs Common Threads Programme uses TeijinÕs Eco Circle. Verdict Good stuff, as long as you remember to put your used garment back into the circle.

POLARTEC FABRICS

Eco-fabrics: the ones to watch

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Ecotricity: Turning Bills into Windmills

Why switch to Ecotricity? ECOTRICITY is an electricity company with a difference. Instead of focussing on proÞts, its sole aim is to change the way UK electricity is made, providing an alternative to burning fossil fuels for conventional power supplies. ÒWeÕre not here to make shareholders money. We take the money our customers spend on their electricity bills and invest it building new forms of clean power. We turn electricity bills into windmills.Ó says Dale Vince, Ecotricity MD (above). For every £1 our customers spend on their electricity bills with us, we spend £1 building

new windmills. In fact we spend more money per customer each year than ALL the other electricity companies in the UK put together. And we price match the standard rate of the local supplier for each of the 13 regions in the UK mainland. ÒWe urgently need to change the way we make our energy in the UK. WeÕre facing the twin problems of a global energy crisis Ð the world is running out of oil and gas Ð and of climate change. We can solve both these problems with wind energy - a local resource grown here in the UK. In fact, we have enough wind to power the country three or four times over. Wind is our new North Sea Oil except that itÕs clean, safe, abundant and cheap,Ò says Dale Vince So what can consumers do?

Everybody can help create a future worth living in, where the lights are kept on for our

children. Everyone can vote with their money and choose an electricity supplier thatÕs actually making a difference. Currently in the UK there are 6 main electricity companies and a handful of independent ones, all of whom offer a green tariff. And yet, in 2007, Ecotricity spent a staggering £555 per customer compared to a measly £17.28 by Powergen, £3.89 by npower and £2.63 by Scottish Power! ÒJust look at how much each electricity company spends building new sources of green electricity each year. The only green electricity that does anything to reduce CO2 emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels is the new kind Ð the stuff that gets built today and tomorrow. If youÕre not building youÕre not actually achieving anything green at all.Ó Dale Vince

BEN WINSTON

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Being in the wilderness increases our awareness of how much we have to lose. 08

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won’t be able to make them.” But there is some evidence that attitudes are changing. “Last summer the OIA asked 10,000 outdoor enthusiasts about their attitudes to the environment,” says Lines. “Over two thirds of respondents said they always try to buy environmentally friendly products. Although most pointed out that eco-gear is more expensive than standard product, 51 per cent claimed they would be willing to pay more for it. If this is reflected in purchasing patterns, then outdoor companies have even more reason to increase their focus on developing environmentally friendly kit.” And perhaps in another respect, the outdoor industry can also be a force for good. “We have a strong role to play because we encourage people to have an emotional response to the environment,” says Nick Brown. “If people love something, then they are more likely to look after it. Perhaps encouraging people into the wilderness isn’t the best thing in terms of conservation, but that is balanced by the emotional response people have to that wilderness. This response increases people’s awareness of how much we have to lose and how important it is to protect it. Emotion can be a great motivator.” And so, in spite of everything, perhaps we should take heart. Let’s all remember what is at stake,

shop accordingly – that is buying only what we need and being prepared to spend more on eco-friendly gear – and hope the gear industry follows suit. It probably won’t bring the snow back to Cotocachi, but it might help save other mountains from a similar fate.

Made in the UK Check for where a garment is made. Long-haul shipping has a bigger carbon output. They belong GrangerÕs, Nikwax, Bridgedale, Primaloft

If we love the outdoors we have to care about the fate of the planet.

Eco-labels: the ones to watch Bluesign Based in Switzerland, this is a global benchmark that guarantees products are free from substances harmful to humans and the environment. They belong Patagonia, Grangers, Polartec, MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op USA), Teko, Vaude n www.bluesign.com

GOTS Organic Certification The Global Organic Trade Standard standardises the requirements for classifying a Þbre as organic. In order to be labelled organic, at least 95 per cent of Þbres must be organic in origin. They belong Teko n www.global-standard.org

OEKO-TEX 100 standard Developed in Austria and Germany in the late 1980s, this standard screens for any harmful substances present within processed textiles intended to come into contact with humans. They belong Teko, Polartec, Gore-Tex n www.okeo-tex.com

Eco Circle This is a polyester recycling scheme based in Japan. Manufacturers of gear bearing an Eco Circle label are committed to sending your used gear back to Japan, where it will be recycled and made into something else. They belong Montane, Patagonia n www.ecocircle.jp

1% For The Planet This means a company donates at least one per cent of its annual net revenue to environmental organisations. They belong Howies, MEC, Sigg, Ascent Marketing, Patagonia n www.onepercent fortheplanet.org

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Kit List

that doesn’t cost the earth

Footwear

GreenVee Dalesway £125 The United Nations says we should tackle climate change by having one meat-free day a week. Start your veggie career with these 3-season boots made from artiÞcial Lorica, rather than real leather.

Keen Newport Hemp Sandal £65 Sustainable woven hemp upper and eco-friendly cork midsole. Keen has a Care Programme which supports a variety of social and environmental organisations including the Conservation Alliance.

Wynnster Light Walking Sock £11.50 Socks made from 63 per cent bamboo, which is considered sustainable as it is the worldÕs fastestgrowing timber.

Vegetarian Shoes Veggie Trekker £115 Another synthetic shoe, manufactured in the UK or Europe, thus cutting carbon emissions associated with shipping. The use of synthetics over leather is more sustainable.

Teva Keagan Canvas £50 Canvas made from recycled plastic bottles and a 50 per cent recycled rubber outsole.

Timberland Hokkaido £85 Made from recycled rubber, with a lining of recycled plastic bottles and merino wool-covered footbeds. It comes in 100 per cent recycled shoe boxes too.

Teko Light Hiking Sock £11 Teko factories are 100 per cent wind-powered and its socks are made using organic cotton, merino wool and recycled polyester. Packaging is 100 per cent recycled and uses no glue or staples.

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Jackets

Patagonia Shelterstone waterproof jacket £240 The worldÕs Þrst recycled nylon waterproof that can be reprocessed through PatagoniaÕs Common Threads Recycling Program.

Montane Sabretooth soft shell £150 Made from PolartecÕs WindPro Stretch fabric, which uses 87 per cent recycled polyester Þbres. The other 13 per cent is spandex thread as there is currently no recycled stretch yarns on the market.

Sprayway Toast gilet £50 A cosy little number with a Pertex recycled insulating layer made from polyester recycled through TeijinÕs Eco Circle programme.

Eco-friendly gear – what’s not to smile about?

Fleeces

Berghaus Activity Jacket £60 A cosy, durable ßeece jacket made using recycled Polartec Thermal Pro 200 fabric.

Tog 24 Vaughan jacket £80 Made from recycled Polartec ßeece, which can be recycled again through PatagoniaÕs Common Threads Program.

Sprayway Solar Half Zip fleece jacket £55 Made from recycled Polartec Thermal Pro ßeece, certiÞed not to contain any substances harmful to human health.

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Vaude are well known for their eco-credentials included Bluesign accreditation, and Ethiscore ranking.

A 17-litre Ă&#x201D;sack made from 70% recycled materials.

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Sleep easy

Buy a forest!

Outdoor companies should donate part of their proÞts to an organisation which buys up endangered rainforests such as the Guapa Assi reserve in Brazil (above) to preserve them, says Nikwax founder and boss Nick Brown. Speaking at the industry conference Innovex_08, Brown said companies should pour funds into the UK-based World Land Trust, which gives responsibility for the land it buys to local conservation groups. ÒAll our attempts to reduce the use of carbon-based energy will be undermined if we allow tropical rain forests to be cut down,Ó he says. ÒSupporting the WLT helps preserve biodiversity and keeps carbon out of our atmosphere.Ó They do it! Nikwax, Montane, P ramo

Get your tents and sleeping bags from Vaude. They are the highest ranked outdoor brand by Ethical Consumer magazine; they were the Þrst sports brand to gain Bluesign accreditation; theyÕre eco-audited by the EUÕs Eco-Management and Audit Scheme; and theyÕve been making products with 100 per cent recyclable polyester for over a decade. Go Vaude!

Pack it in!

A plastic bag takes up to 500 years to decay in landÞll. Look for gear that uses minimal packaging and recycled or biodegradable materials. Teko packaging is made of 100 per cent chipboard and printed with soy inks Osprey hangtags are printed on recycled card Bridgedale packaging is printed 5 miles from its factory on recyclable card Ecofact Howies donates 1 per cent of turnover or 10 per cent of pre-tax proÞts to environmental projects. Ecofact Craghoppers was the Þrst outdoor brand to use Fairtrade-certiÞed cotton, ensuring a fair wage for small-scale cotton farmers in the developing world.

Ecofact According to the department of transport, road trafÞc caused 120.3 million tonnes carbon emissions in 2005 Ð take the train to your walk! Ecofact The factory and ofÞces that produce Teko socks are 100 per cent wind-powered.

Bottle it!

N It takes up to 12 litres of water to make one litre of bottled water. N Only 25 per cent of plastic water bottles get recycled. Producing and delivering 1 litre of bottled water emits hundreds of times as much CO2 as 1 litre of tap water. N We drink 200 times as much bottled water today as we did in the Ô70s. N The British bottled water industry is worth £2 billion. N A billion people around the world donÕt have access to clean drinking water N Need we go on? Buy a Sigg water bottle, which will last you years, and Þll it from a tap before heading out on your walk. Ecofact GoLiteÕs GoLite on the Planet scheme plans to make it a carbonneutral, zero-waste company by 2010. Ecofact Nikwax manufacture, Þll and label their products within a radius of 2.5 miles, eliminating many road or air miles.

Ecofact The European Outdoor Group Association for Conservation donates all its proceeds to conservation groups nominated by its members. Members include: The North Face, Mammut, Patagonia, Hagl fs, P ramo, Nikwax, Salomon, Deuter, CamelBak, Berghaus, Merrell, Vaude, Keen, GrangerÕs, Grivel, Polartec.

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You might be walking in head-to-toe hessian and foraging for your lunch; but if youÕve arrived in a car, you arenÕt truly green. Ditch the Datsun and let the train take the strain, with these routes reachable by public transport. Southern Uplands

North-west Highlands

Start/finish Sanquhar railway station Get there Trains run to Sanquhar railway station from both Carlisle and Glasgow. Map OS Explorer 329 Terrain Clear path with waymarkers Walk this way Take a taster of the Southern Upland Way, which heads north-east from Sanquhar before splitting at Cogshead and looping back on itself. You could cut the walk short at Wanlockhead and catch a bus back to Sanquhar (Þve buses a day, Mon-Sat only) or walk back to complete an epic 14 mile romp.

Start Cluanie Inn Finish Shiel Bridge Get there The Citylink bus 917, connecting Inverness and the Isle of Skye, runs fairly regularly along this remote stretch of road. Map OS Explorer 414 Terrain Mountain ridges; rocky, rough and tough walking Walk this way From the Cluanie Inn, a wealth of high-mountain adventures can be yours. Tackle the seven Munros that make up the South Glenshiel ridge or the six Munros that form the ridge North Glenshiel. Both routes will spit you out on the road between Inverness and Skye from where the 917 bus can ferry you back to Cluanie Inn for a cosy night, or straight on to Inverness and your train home.

Lake District

Start Windermere railway station Finish Penrith railway station Get there Penrith is on the west coast main line, with trains running north to Carlisle and Scotland, and south to the Midlands and London. Map OS Explorer OL5 & OL7 Terrain Clear paths over rolling fells, open countryside and long valleys. Walk this way Try a two-day yomp across the eastern fringe of the Lake District linking Windermere, Shap (where you can overnight) and Penrith. There are clear footpaths taking in a stunning ridge walk across Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick and the regionÕs highest fell, High Street (828m/2,716ft). From Shap, a low-level, clearly marked amble could take in Bampton and Askham and a totter along the River Lowther before arriving in Penrith.

Brecon Beacons

Start The Gospel Pass Finish Longtown Get there The OffaÕs Dyke circular bus service runs from Oxford Road, Hay-on-Wye to Gospel Pass and back from Longtown. The nearest train station is Hereford, from where the number 39 bus stops at Hay-on-Wye. Map OS Explorer OL13 Terrain Well-marked paths across high mountains; a few boggy sections Walk this way Enjoy a long, high, linear stroll along the Hatterrall Ridge, the easternmost of the full-length Black Mountains ridges. The ridge carries the English/Welsh border along its back, as well as an excellent upland section of the OffaÕs Dyke National Trail. Join the trail from Gospel Pass after a steep pull up Hay Bluff and follow the waymarkers. A clear marker will point the way off the National Trail and back down into Longtown.

Yorkshire Dales

Cornwall

Start Boscastle Finish Tintagel Get there Take the train to Exeter St DavidÕs station and then the X9 bus to Boscastle. Map OS Explorer 111 Terrain woodland paths, tracks across Þelds and the South West Coast Path Walk this way From Boscastle, you can walk straight along the South West Coast Path to Tintagel. To extend the day, start by exploring the paths to the east of Boscastle, taking in St JuliotÕs church before rejoining the coast north of Beeny and heading south west to Tintagel from there.

The small print WeÕve given you the bare bones of some really great routes; but if youÕre heading for the hills, remember your safety is in your hands. Take a suitable map and gear, and be sure your skills and Þtness are up to the trip.

Start Dent railway station Finish Ribblehead railway station Get there Both Dent and Ribblehead stations are on the line between Settle and Carlisle. Carlisle is on the west coast main line. Map OS Explorer OL2 Terrain mostly solid, easy walking, some boggy ground Walk this way The Settle-Carlisle railway cuts through the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and walkers can jump off at any stop and march straight into the hills. Stepping off the platform at Dent plunges you right into isolated dales and onto clear footpaths that take you all the way to Ribblehead through superb, elevated scenery. A detour to tick off Whernside, one of the North Yorkshire Three Peaks, is well worth the effort; and look out for the famous views of the Dent Head viaduct.

Five eco-friendly hostelries to rest your green-haloed head Wythmoor Camping Barn, near Kendal, Lake District

What? A newly converted 19th century sleeping barn sleeping 12 How green? Hot water is provided free from solar panels, the barn has under-ßoor heating via a ground source heat pump, and the electricity is from a wind turbine. Why here? The Lake District is on your doorstep and you are 200m south of Moresdale Hall on the Dales Way long distance footpath. What’s the damage? £7pppn Contact 01946 758198; www.lakelandcampingbarns.co.uk

The Cross, Kingussie, Inverness-shire

What? A family-run, Þve star Ôrestaurant with roomsÕ How green? Energy saving and recycling policies, local, seasonal, organic produce, 4 acres of wild gardens to encourage wildlife Why here? Set in the heart of the fabulous, dramatic, mountain-rich Cairngorms National Park What’s the damage? Dinner, bed and breakfast from £85pppn Contact 01540 661166; www.thecross.co.uk

Deepdale, Burnham Deepdale, North Norfolk

What? An award-winning backpackersÕ hostel and campsite with tipis for hire How green? Solar panels, low-energy light bulbs, some rainwater toilets, underßoor heating and proud possessors of a Gold Award from the Green Tourism Business Scheme. Go Deepdale!

Why here? YouÕre a stoneÕs throw from the fabulous North Norfolk Coastal Path and a short hop to the gorgeous Norfolk Brecks for heatherstudded, wildlife-rich rambling. What’s the damage? Beds from £9.50pppn, camping from £4.50pppn, tipis from £40 per night Contact 01485 210256; www.deepdalefarm.co.uk