Some things change, some things don't. Roll the clock back forty years, and you'll find young B2 loving life exploring the hills and commons of Malvern, but also enjoying the novelty (and reduced local walking time) of food shopping at the supermarket.

Zoom forwards to 2021, and I still love being outside but have definitely fallen out of love with supermarkets.

A life outdoors has plenty of benefits but even ten years ago I wouldn't have predicted the relationship between outdoor skills and saving the planet.

Outdoor skills and climate change

Of course there's plenty about an active, adventurous life that can do environmental damage. We all need to think more carefully about how we get to our favourite outdoor locations, how we behave when we arrive, and what we buy before we go there.

However I'm talking about the small things an outdoor life has taught me. Here are some examples:

  • Clothes really don't need to be washed that often
  • Neither do bodies or hair
  • Hand washing clothes uses less water than the washing machine
  • Walking to the shops uses no diesel at all, and is very satisfying
  • Making tea in a flask produces less waste than buying coffee from a kiosk
  • Picnics packed in tupperware produce less waste than bought sandwiches
  • Gear that lasts and does the job is far better than gear that's trendy
  • Keeping warm with jumpers and blankets saves on heating
  • The best entertainments don't use electricity
  • Being in the outdoors makes me feel so good, I want to look after it

We all need to use less

What has really struck me the most about outdoor life and planet saving is that it's taught me to be happy with less.

Backpack or wild camping is the perfect example of this because there's nothing more likely to restrict what I use than having to carry it on my back. Less bedding, less clothes, less food... just less of everything really.

As Sir David Attenborough said (and who am I to argue)

'We are going to have to live more economically than we do. And we can do that and, I believe we will do it more happily and not less happily'.

As anyone who's ever carried a heavy rucksack will tell you. Less is definitely more.