Researchers have found that spending time in nature has positive effects on mental and physical health and wellness. Dedicating just 20 minutes each day to being outdoors has been shown to reduce stress and promote immune system health. So it makes sense that over the last year, people have been turning to national, state, and city parks, public lands, and other outdoor spaces at higher rates than ever before.
As we use and benefit from protected lands, doing our best as individuals to protect our beloved natural spaces is more important than ever. With that goal in mind, we’ve compiled a list of tips to help all of us explore the outdoors more sustainably. We hope that these simple strategies will help you to be even more eco-friendly, culturally-aware, and locally engaged while planning and engaging in your next outdoor experience.
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– Before You Hit the Trails –
Being an eco-traveler starts as soon as you decide to venture into nature. Before embarking on any new experience outdoors, research should be done to ensure your safety and your preparedness to explore responsibly.
Prepare for a Sustainable Experience:
Learn about the places that you will be visiting by watching documentaries and reading novels, books, and websites about the wildlife and ecosystems present, local community cultures, and history of the areas.
Familiarize yourself with local trails and their conditions (we swear by the AllTrails app), gear needed, and safety measures that should be taken while in the area. Also be sure to gain an understanding of local laws and regulations. Will you need a permit to hike your desired trail? Is camping permitted? Will hunters be present? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you have a safer, and more sustainable and enjoyable experience.
Pack for a Sustainable Trip:
Bring your reusables with you. I always pack a reusable shopping tote and my NetZero Co. plastic-free lunch bundle on trips to help me reduce my waste. The set includes a stainless steel lunch box, bamboo cutlery set, stainless steel sauce containers, and beeswax wraps – basically everything needed for an eco-friendly picnic. I love my Happy Earth reusable water bottle for short hikes, and swear by my Camelbak backpack for longer hikes.
– While You are Enjoying the Outdoors –
Pay for Use
Start your visit off right by always paying to enter the park and for parking when there is a fee system in place. Parks and conservation areas really need all the fees they can get in order to maintain trails, remove trash, and protect wildlife. Your contribution matters! Another way to support your favorite parks is to purchase a State or National Park Pass. These passes are typically valid for one year and grant access to parks for a flat, annual fee. They also often come with digital educational resources.
Magnify your impact by:
– Donating beyond the entrance fee
– Spending time at the visitor center, and learning about the area and conservation efforts from staff
– Writing a note on the park’s social media page or via email to show your appreciation for their efforts to protect the area and to make it accessible to all
Always Follow Posted Rules
Typical rules in outdoor spaces include staying on all trails to prevent vegetation damage and erosion, never removing rocks or pinecones from the area, refraining from feeding birds or any other wildlife, and disposing of your trash properly. Be sure to always follow these general guidelines and try your best to leave all of the places that you visit better than you found them.
Other Important Conservation Practices to Keep In Mind:
– Follow laws about how far to stay away from wild animals. These can vary from 20 feet to 50 yards depending on if the animal is on land or in the water and whether or not they are endangered. Different space requirements are in place for different species, so familiarize yourself with general guidelines and local laws as well. As a general rule of thumb, do not approach wild animals and respect their habitats.
– Pack out what you packed in. Oftentimes trash cans along popular trails overflow with debris before they are able to be emptied. Excess trash from overflowing cans is often carried from trails into our rivers and oceans. By taking your trash with you and disposing of it elsewhere, you are helping to keep our trails clean and our waterways trash free. If possible, we encourage packing out trash you find on trails or at beaches to help reduce habitat pollution (see below).
– Be cognizant of the impacts of your campfire. Will it damage the area? Is there enough wood available? What is the wildfire risk? Are you skilled in how to build and extinguish the fire?
– If visiting protected beaches or marine areas, use reef-safe sunscreen with a zinc oxide or titanium dioxide base to protect fragile coral reefs and other coastal ecosystems including sea grass, kelp beds, and tidal pools. You can easily check if your sunscreen is reef safe by looking at the active ingredients on the bottle to be sure that the formula does not include oxybenzone or octinoxate, the two chemicals that have been shown to harm aquatic ecosystems. Sunscreens with nanoparticles and other possible reef-harming ingredients, including avobenzone, octocrylene, and homosalate should be avoided as well.
– If camping, be sure to select a site that minimizes ecological disturbance. The site should be positioned on a durable surface such as rock, sand, or gravel, distanced from trails and waterways, and (needless to say) in a place where camping is legally permitted. Find more tips on how to reduce your impact while camping here.
– Avoid disturbing rocks on land and in water, and do not take plants, shells, mushrooms, or other products from protected areas. Moving a rock or stacking rocks may seem like fun, but it actually causes harm to wildlife, changes their habitat availability, and can especially impact highly endangered species like salamanders.
Bottom line, it is best to take a “Leave No Trace” approach when visiting any natural space in order to reduce your impact.
Make Time to EcoWalk
In addition to properly disposing of your own waste, you can also take an EcoWalk. Bring your reusable bag and your gloves and pick up any litter that you see on your walk. Each time you pick up trash, you are helping to curb the global plastic pollution crisis and stopping debris from polluting animal habitats and eventually entering fresh water and marine ecosystems.
Magnify Your Impact: Encourage others to do the same by posting selfies of you picking up trash/the litter that you collected with the hashtag #ecowalk. Also, tag us @happilyeverexploring and @engageglobally for a chance to be reposted.
Help Conserve Wildlife & Support Local Conservation Initiatives
All outdoor spaces are habitat for native plants and wildlife, and in many locations, some of these species are endangered or threatened. There are many apps that you can download to learn about the wildlife that you may encounter while outdoors including eBird, iNaturalist and Seek. Through your use of these apps, you may also have the opportunity to collect data that could contribute to citizen science projects that help protect plants, birds, and wildlife
Magnify Your Impact: A quick Google search will allow you to find local organizations that protect the area you are visiting – this might be an animal rescue facility, a ‘friends of’ group, or a waterkeepers organization. You can help support these organizations by following them on social media, commenting on their posts to thank them for their work, or making a donation.
Volunteer in the Community that you are Visiting
Research local organizations that work to protect the area, and check to see if they are hosting any service events during your trip. Popular park-based volunteer events include river clean-ups, tree plantings, and invasive species removals. Taking part in these events is a great way to help out the community and environment, learn about local conservation efforts, and meet new people!
Popular park-based volunteer events include beach park or river clean-ups, tree plantings, and invasive species removals.
– After Embarking on Your Outdoor Adventure –
Offset the Carbon Emissions from Your Trip:
Offsetting your carbon footprint is a great way to green your travel. If you are flying, one option is to pay the offset fee when you purchase your airline ticket. You can also use a carbon offsetting service, like CarbonHero, to offset your emissions from your entire trip. Another option is to donate to an NGO you like to fund the planting of trees. We usually go with the latter, and make a donation to Engage Globally, to support tree planting programs in rural Northern Ghana.
Magnify Your Impact: Share your offsetting with your traveling companions or post online about where and how you chose to offset. By sharing, you can role model carbon neutral travel.
Say Thank You
Show your gratitude to the people who keep your favorite green spaces safe and clean. Drop a note online or by email to the volunteer educator group, the rangers, your tour/excursion guide, or anyone who made an impact on your trip. Be sure to also leave reviews on Yelp/Google of businesses that helped/impressed you during your stay. Positive reviews are so important, especially for community organizations, conservation groups, and small businesses that are trying to grow a clientele.
Advocate for Conservation
You can make a difference by writing to city leaders, state governments, and House and Senate representatives to share your love of parks and advocating for increased funding and conservation policies. Be sure to include a photo from your trip and personal comments about why the places you visited are important to conserve for wildlife and for people! We hope everyone will engage in the global and national #30by30 effort.
Our parks and public lands are critically important and need our protection. They provide habitat to plant and animal species, economic benefits to local communities, as well as health benefits and opportunities for recreation to millions of people. We hope that you found these tips helpful and that you will consider them when planning your next outdoor adventure. How do you make your time in nature more sustainable? Let us know below!
