A few people suggested that this trip would be a good opportunity to raise money for a cause close to me. Indeed lots of TA walkers and other adventurers I’ve followed have raised substantial amounts for really worthy causes.

In the end, I decided that the cause closest to my heart is sustainability and doing as much as possible to reduce our impact on the environment. I hope through talking to people I meet on my journey, and writing this blog, I can raise awareness of ways we can all contribute. If you’re at all inspired by this journey, rather than donating money, I’d love for you to do whatever you can in your everyday life for our beautiful planet.

Here are some ways I’ve tried to make this adventure kinder on the planet:

• Using a lot of gear I already had, that is good quality and more durable than some of the ultralight gear around
• Buying second hand gear on trademe where possible, including:
  • My Macpac hiking poles
  • A Macpac polarfleece
  • 3 pairs of Salomon shoes (pretty new, people had just bought the wrong sizes)
  • A Mons Royale singlet
  • An awesome hi vis vest my friend bought on trademe and then adapted for me
• Choosing brands that are doing their bit for the environment where I could, like
  • Macpac
  • Ethique
  • Skinnies
  • Patagonia
  • Sungod
  • And those that are part of Terracycle in a couple of cases
• Making my meals as low waste as possible by
  • Collecting almost all my ingredients from bulk bin food stores, in my own containers, mostly on my bike
  • Dehydrating my own ingredients, which I bought almost entirely without packaging
  • Packing them up in Compostic ziplock bags, which I’ll make sure end up in an actual compost bin
• Eating ‘low waste’ in towns and on rest days by
  • Eating in where possible to avoid takeaway plastic wrappers & containers
  • Trying to avoid drinks in plastic bottles and convenience food in plastic packaging
• Practising Leave No Trace carefully

I’m definitely not claiming to be perfect, just trying to do what I can and apply the way I’ve been living for a while now to this adventure. I really like this quote that was mentioned at a talk I went to on doing Te Araroa low waste:

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

Maya Angelou