Travel climate neutral
As a geocacher, you have probably already asked yourself how you can get to the sites as climate-neutrally as possible. It has long been known that we humans live beyond the conditions of our planet and that we absolutely have to act. This applies to the great world stage of politics as well as to our everyday activities, which include the hunt for geocaches. What can we all do to travel as climate-neutrally as possible without leaving a harmful ecological footprint?
How do I calculate my ecological footprint?
As soon as we are in the world, we already leave traces. Maybe you are also interested in what your ecological footprint looks like and how much influence you have on the climate through your everyday life. But what is behind this term? The authors on wikipedia.org currently summarize the term "ecological footprint" as follows: "The ecological footprint describes the biologically productive area on earth that is necessary to enable a person's lifestyle and standard of living (under today's production conditions) to be sustained over the long term. The ecological footprint is therefore an indicator of sustainability.”Wow, that sounds very complicated at first. In principle, in short, it is about how much earth surface each of us humans uses for the current way of life. This includes i.a. the production of food and clothing, waste disposal, energy consumption, the binding of the carbon dioxide we emit and much more. The practical thing about this illustration is that we can quickly see where the shoe pinches. Curious how big your footprint is?
You can have your personal ecological footprint calculated by several providers on the Internet. Our tip for you: Enter your details on several different portals so that you have a good comparison. The truth certainly lies somewhere in the middle of the results. Here are a few websites that will take you to your ecological footprint in German with an input mask:
- www.footprintcalculator.org
- www.fussabdruck.de (with improvement tips)
- WWF climate calculator
- footprintcalculator.henkel.com
Search for geocaches in a climate-neutral way
Anyone who follows our SecretPoint social media channels knows that we are very committed to sustainability issues. Many of our geocaches, events and geo tours deal with the 17 sustainability goals and climate protection. At a local and regional level, we can all adjust our own consumption patterns so that hopefully our home planet will be better off very soon.Climate-neutral action does not directly mean doing without. It is much more about reflecting on one's own actions with reason and a solidary orientation. An example so that you can better visualize our concerns. If you want to complete some GeoTours in one go, you sometimes have to cover quite a lot of kilometers.
The GeoTour "GeoTürle" is a good example of this. Who of us doesn't want to collect all the geocaches and score properly. But where there is a will, there is a way: some sections of the route are really not easy to master on foot. But why not just carpool with other geocachers and go hunting together?! Or plan an extensive bike tour with stops and even overnight stays in order to be able to discover all the treasures.
However, some destinations are not so easy to reach by public transport. A clear case for cacher trips! Because here you will experience an adventure together with other geocachers that you will certainly not forget.
Climate protection with adventure fun
Clear! Anyone who flies consumes an enormous amount of energy and releases CO2. When it comes to climate protection, however, it is also about proportionality and a sense of responsibility. And swimming across the pond to America for the USA Celebration Tour 2022 is certainly not a realistic option for most of us. So what to do if you want to keep your ecological footprint as small as possible and still want to take part in a cacher trip.So far there are no climate-neutral planes that fly us from A to B without leaving their mark on nature. First ideas for a climate-neutral aviation industry already exist, but unfortunately it will take some time before they are implemented in everyday use. However, it is possible to make compensation payments or compensation for your own flight.
What options are there to compensate for the flight? Lufthansa offers compensation under the motto "mindful travel". In this way, innovations within the aviation industry are to be initiated together so that the climate is relieved as quickly as possible. You can get more information here:www.lufthansa.com/de/de/flug-kompensieren.
Also the well-known series of broadcasts by the West German Broadcasting Corporation Quarks provides properly researched information on the subject and critically questions how sensible voluntary CO2 compensation is. We think it's important that you deal with it before your cacher trip and form your own opinion. After all, we all want this ingenious geocaching planet not to become a lost place anytime soon.
How can I support the climate as a geocacher:in?
Is there already a group “Geocachers For Future”?! For more than 20 years people have been caching all over the world. The contact with nature and fresh air is almost always there. And so it is not surprising that geocaching events likeCITOs work for nature conservation. But this blog post is actually about climate-neutral travel.Good stories and interesting storytelling also offer other geocachers an insight into your adventure trips and excursions. We would like to encourage you to report about yourself and your cacher life. Send others on journeys with your photos and videos and show how you are committed to a healthy life on this planet. As the saying goes: Do good and talk about it!
The community power among geocachers should also not be underestimated and so you are welcome to research activities related to climate protection in relevant cacher forums. In our SecretPoint blog post "Geocaching online communities and social media" you will find numerous links and tips on how to reach the geocaching community worldwide. There are many ways to get there, and if you have any other ideas or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Only together can we manage to preserve our home planet as a wonderful place. So then: See you soon in the forest!
Leave a comment