Climbing requires one set of specific equipment, as does fishing, snow sports, biking, swimming, running, yoga, and so on.

MEC alone sold 13 million products in 2018, with other retailers such as Canadian Tire, SportChek, Helly Hansen, Atmosphere, Patagonia, Arc’teryx, and Cabela’s contributing millions more dollars in purchases in the Canadian outdoor market.

Several of these retailers—MEC and Patagonia in particular—are acutely aware of the impacts of their products and have practices in place to mitigate them. As a consumer, we also have a responsibility to know what we are purchasing, what it’s made of, and where it goes when we’re done with our adventures. Canadians are consuming an ever-increasing amount of product and we cannot afford to ignore the consequences.

With climate change, waste handling and species preservation increasingly at the top of our cultural awareness, and more information available than ever before, we have an opportunity to make informed and lighter impact choices every time we head out to enjoy the beautiful landscape that surrounds us.

As much as we are regenerated by forest bathing and nature adventures, we can look to equally support the regeneration of the land we are making use of, both where we enjoy our activities and in the places our accessories are manufactured and disposed of. Our stereotyped national image as a green leader is challenged by the stats, and it’s past time to pull up our Merino wool hiking socks and live up to our reputation.

CONSIDER THE END OF LIFE OF YOUR BELONGINGS. Donating sounds like a great idea, but the system is broken, and only a few per cent of the approximately 150 billion garments produced globally every year end up being bought from a second hand source. When you’re finished with your gear, try to find a specific individual who can use it, or a local organization that keeps the products in the community out of demonstrated necessity.

CHECK YOUR LABELS. Non-renewable fabrics have replaced renewable fabrics, making up 73 per cent of the fibres produced. Those techy polyesters, sleeping bags, stretchy pants and breathable shells are primarily made from oil and oil byproducts, with microfibre shedding just one of the many issues. Look for sustainably-sourced renewable fabrics such as hemp, linen, GOTS certified organic cotton, and for technical fabrics, Lenzing brand Modal or Tencel.

INVEST IN ALIGNED BRANDS. While enjoying the clean air and water on your hike or splitboard mission, don’t let the cost be the toxification of air and water where your gear was manufactured, or indentured labour to put it together. No products are perfect—to make anything, we need to extract raw materials from somewhere, someone has to assemble it, and it has to go somewhere when we’re done with it. Weigh the inevitable trade- offs according to what is available to you, and make the best choice possible. Choose brands that acknowledge and make an effort to address the social and environmental impact they have at home, in their place of manufacturing, and for end of life handling.

GET INVOLVED WITH THE HABITAT YOU INHABIT. Cities are nature too, we just built stuff on top and around it. See what organizations are in your community to restore surrounding ecosystems and increase green space in your urban area. Even five minutes in a park has beneficial mental health effects, and allows those who aren’t able to leave the city to experience the benefits of being in nature while also providing habitat for pollinators and removing CO2 from the air.

VOTE—WITH YOUR DOLLAR, WITH YOUR OPINION, WITH YOUR BALLOT. Find out where your local politicians and business owners stand on ecosystem protection, natural space preservation, species protection and waste handling. Not just at home, but in the world as well (as our offshoring of waste responsibility to South East Asia has been exposed in the past few years). As we work towards a post-disposable world, let’s try to put in government and business policies that take responsibility for the garbage we create. Individual choices, business practices and government policies all have a reciprocal and mirroring effect on each other, which makes what we use, buy, and advocate for at work critical to continue the momentum for healthier systems.

LEAVE NO TRACE. It’s an old but worthwhile tenet to pack out what you put in and stay on designated trails. Keep in mind it’s not just you on that path, but you plus every other person who wants to have that experience. So even the small things will add up.