If it doesn’t make your life easier and the planet’s life better, leave it at home!

Our golden Eco rule when packing for a hiking trip: pack light, think practical and choose sustainable! When it comes to what to pack for a hiking trip, it can sometimes be an overwhelming task and causes you to overpack your bag with things you don’t actually need. Of course what you bring and how much you pack depends on the specific trail, but we have compiled a list of our Eco-essentials for any hiking backpack that are light, practical and sustainable! A triple check of our Golden rule!

Firstly, you will need somewhere to put all your hiking essentials and carry them along with you on the trail. A comfortable, spacious, durable and lightweight backpack is the most essential of all the essentials! Our 30 litre, water-resistant, multiple compartment hiking backpack fits the description perfectly. Suitable for shorter trails or longer trips, this backpack is the perfect companion for any adventure. Read more about what this backpack has to offer here. 

Next is water, duh! A no brainer for any length hiking trip, but what we don’t think about is the environmental impact of our one-use plastic water bottles. We challenge you to think sustainable and ditch the plastic for your next adventure. Introducing Kurobo! A natural charcoal filter water bottle that will purify your water daily for 3-6 months, allowing you to have endless drinking water on your next trail. Sustainable, convenient and necessary for nature! Check their page @kurobocharcoal and make the conscious switch.

Hydration is sorted, now something to snack on! And more importantly somewhere to put the snacks. A small cooler bag can come in handy on any length hike to keep your snacks fresh and portable. Our neoprene cooler bag will protect your new Kurobo water bottle from breaking and insulates your snacks on the trail. Read more about our neoprene cooler bag here.

It's the morning of your hike and the sun is shining, yay! Make sure to protect yourself from the sun, sustainably! You will need sunblock and sunglasses that shield you from the sun without damaging the environment. We love @back2nature_sa for natural zinc sunblock that is non-toxic, vegan, biodegradable, locally made and kind to both the environment and your skin! Opting for eco-friendly sunblock in your everyday life is an easy choice that will protect both our planet and your skin. For sunglasses, we have found a brand with the perfect balance between being stylish and being sustainable! @hashtag_bamboo has a huge range of top-quality sustainably made bamboo sunglasses that will protect your eyes and the environment. Check them out!

Doing a sunset or overnight trail? You’ll need a reliable source of light. Rather than relying on batteries, disposable flashlights or risking the chance of your light source dying, consider a solar powered light instead! Being solar powered, these lights require no charging, plug ports or batteries and are reliable as long as there is a sun in the sky (aka: they are very reliable). Simply attach your solar light to your backpack during the day to charge and it will provide a long-lasting source of light when the sun goes down. Browse our solar light collection here.

Once again, if it’s not going to make your life easier on the trail or make our planets life better, leave it at home! We hope this list of our Eco-essentials helps you to be better prepared for your next adventure and encourages you to make sustainable switches to minimize your environmental impact. Remember, every little switch we make in our everyday lives adds up. Enjoy nature fully, but preserve it just as much!