Sustainability when hiking with children – 4 simple tips for environmentally conscious hiking
Hiking is a gentle sport that can be wonderfully enjoyed with children in harmony with nature. To ensure that the beautiful natural world is preserved for our children, we parents can lead by example when it comes to sustainability. Children learn by example.
With the following 4 tips, you can lead by example and hike sustainably with children.
Why is hiking important for children?
Hiking and experiencing nature are essential for our future. Only when children can connect with nature, when they feel its power and importance, can they contribute to protecting and preserving it sustainably.
Children don't learn this in their bedrooms, at school, or from books. We parents need to give our children access to nature – and hiking is a wonderful way to do that.
On our blog you will find tips for motivation when hiking with a toddler , many ideas for simple micro-adventures in nature and 8 game ideas for rainy weather with children .
1. Make the journey sustainable
To avoid unnecessarily large ecological footprints before the hike even begins, you can use public transport to get there. Most children love train or bus rides, and you can use the time saved to play a game together or look at a book.
2. Sustainable hiking with children – bringing food without packaging
When hiking and exploring nature, it's important to avoid packaging waste. Healthy snacks like apples, carrots, or pears don't need any packaging at all. You can easily make your own little treats for the trail. Baking together with children is fun and increases the anticipation for your hike.
Here you can read about and bake 3 simple vegan snacks that children will enjoy .
Pack your hiking food in lunchboxes. Our tip: Lunchboxes from the Norwegian company Blafre: Blafre lunchbox with blueberry or cloudberry design.
For your drinks, you should use refillable water bottles. Glass bottles are far too heavy for hiking; stainless steel water bottles are an environmentally friendly alternative.
Please take all your trash with you when hiking. Banana peels and eggshells also have no place in nature.
3. Sustainable hiking with children – The equipment
Consumption is never sustainable. Even if outdoor advertising suggests that our children need to be completely outfitted with new gear.
Before you buy something new, consider the following points:
- Can you buy used?
- Can you repair broken things?
- Can you borrow it?
- Can you wear tried-and-tested clothing for a little longer?
We shouldn't teach our children that you always have to be dressed in new and trendy clothes to be able to go hiking and have fun.
When buying new clothes, make sure the manufacturer prioritizes fair working conditions and sustainability in their production. This isn't always easy for us parents to understand. Labels like bluesign or the Fair Wear Foundation are a good indicator of fair and environmentally friendly products.
In the hat category, we have a sustainable tip for you: children's hats made from alpaca wool by the brand Pacabamba. If you'd like to know why alpaca wool hats are a good and sustainable choice , you can read about it on our blog.
4. Sustainability when hiking with children and experiencing nature correctly
The basic principle is that everything in nature has its place and shouldn't be changed. That's sustainability too! But don't be too hard on yourselves or your children.
In protected areas, you should absolutely not leave the marked hiking trails, and picking flowers and plants is prohibited. Animals also need peace and quiet in winter or during periods of extreme heat – please behave with particular respect during these times.
Otherwise, we as humans are part of nature. It's not a museum we just look at. Our children, in particular, need to experience nature with all their senses: while hiking, roaming through the woods off the beaten path, walking barefoot through a stream, and spending the night in the forest under the open sky.
For hikes, and to encourage children to experience nature and especially the little things in it, a forest bingo or a forest treasure hunt is a wonderful idea.
We hope you have a wonderful time hiking or spending time in nature with your children. Be a good role model when it comes to sustainability. Nobody's perfect, but even small things can have a big impact on our future.