Kate Hall: Sustainable tramping & hiking

Kate Hall shares her tips for environmentally-conscious hiking, making sure that New Zealand's hiking tracks remain green for those who follow.

Sustainable tramping & hiking 

• Borrow or hire gear instead of buying for one trip if you don't hike frequently.
• Buy second-hand outdoor clothing and equipment.
• Choose durable, repairable gear over ultracheap options.
• Pack food in reusable containers or beeswax wraps.
• Avoid single-serve snack packaging where possible.
• Take all rubbish home, including food scraps.
• Stick to tracks to protect ecosystems.
• Use biodegradable soap and only away from waterways.
• Choose merino or natural fibres that don’t shed microplastic

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks, that'd be.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Time to catch up with our sustainability expert Kate Hall's
here with us this morning. Killed her.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
You've chosen a subject close to my heart this morning.
Or though it has to be said, I haven't been
doing a whole lot of tramping over the last year
or so since our family expanded a little bit. Has
been a great sell to my wife to say I'm
just going to pop off for three nights and just
go and go. Bush, I'm going to be uncontactable. But
you have tip for us this morning on sustainable tramping
and hiking.

Speaker 4 (00:39):
Yes, yeah, and like you, I haven't done as much
as I would have liked to have the last little while.
But I just got it one of those that carry
kind of hiking pack carry things. So I hope to
do more. Yeah, more hiking.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
I've got I've got one of those.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
We were we were gifted a second hand one buy
some some friends and oh it's so good, it's so yeah. Yeah,
it's even got like a little got like a little
sun slash rain hood. Yeah, you put like a little
canopy that you put over. It's so good.

Speaker 4 (01:13):
It's like I wish they had those little sunshades like
for you know, to put on your pack so you
could you could have fun. Yeah really handy. Yeah speaking,
I mean that's great. You got that, you know from friends, right,
So that's what i'd say by freaking hand outdoor clothing
and equipment, borrowing or hiring as well. I think a
lot of people go, oh, I'm going to go tramping,

(01:36):
that's going to be my new thing, and they go
and you can spend you know, a thousand bucks on
like buying all the stuff and then you may not
even you know, use it at the cost per where
may be really really quite high. So yeah, borrowing or
hiring is really really important. But that's why there is
such a great secondhand market for outdoor tramping stuff because

(01:59):
you can find people who thought they're going to get
into tramping, bought all the gear but haven't actually used it.
So yeah, it's a really great kind of section of
your life to get second hand because there's just so
much good like new stuff out there on the online
sicken hand platforms. Choosing durable and repairable gear over the

(02:22):
old cheap options. I know it might be hard if
you're just starting out and you're wondering if you're actually
going to get into trampi or not. But that means
it's also a bit more resellable. So yeah, the durable
good stuff, the brands you know and trust rather than

(02:43):
the cheap.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
So funny you mentioned that my parents, you know, when
they were you know, when they were kind of first married,
they loved doing a bit of tramping themselves, and they
went kind of backpacking around the world. And this was
in the early nineteen eighties. They both bought bought Macpack
canvas packs, and so my dad when he goes into

(03:05):
the bush now and he said, a few ups and
downs on the bush over the years, but he still
has the same pack, a nineteen eighty one canvas macpack
and a key word, Wow, it's like it's actually just
it's like a thing of beauty to see the brush
canvas after all this time. Yeah, I mean it's yeah,
it's got a few holes and bit some pieces, but
you can appear it.

Speaker 4 (03:24):
That's the key exactly. Yeah. No, I think some of
the best outdoor yet again now is from that kind
of era because they just made them differently about then.
Isn't that a classic cliche saying I don't make them
like they used to.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
No, exactly, but there's a reason it's a cliche, A
good reason. Yeah, what about it? What about food if
you're on the track, Yeah, so.

Speaker 4 (03:44):
Pet food and reasonable containers or even you know, reuse
your ziplock bag. So these vax rats are really good
one because they're quite a lightbeight option. That's what I
do in like when I've done some hikes then and
they are trying to walk the talladeer trail top to
one of New Zealand, but in sections, oh yeah no,
we'll often try to like dehydrated jates and meals and

(04:07):
then pop them into a yea resealable, reasonable little bag.
Things like that is really helpful. Obviously, if you do
have any rubbish, not leaving that anywhere on the track,
I think everything everything back with you. Just avoiding that
singles oft snack packaging where possible also means that you

(04:27):
don't have to worry about, you know, accidentally dropping your
rubbish here and there and carrying it all home.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I mean,
I'm a big fan of the salami option.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Now, I just feel like salami does everything when you
when you're tramping, and like you get a.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
Good stick of salami and you know, it doesn't even
need to be in plastic or anything, but you can
just you can take that and that'll get you through
every meal over over a few days.

Speaker 4 (04:49):
Yeah, and some good scruggin go to a bolting store
and pick you all the little parts that you want to. Yeah,
how you want to make it up?

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Yeah? Nice.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
Obviously you should be taking a rubbish home, including food scraps,
because otherwise that gives the rats and the ferrets and
that starts and everything that gives them food as well.
And you should be sticking to the tracks as best
as possible so that you kind of protect the ecosystems.
But what about cleaning yourself when you're on the way.

Speaker 4 (05:17):
Yeah, So using a biodegradable soap one that you know
is often when they say that they're gray water or
septic tanks safe, or they may even say that they're
safe for the outdoors is really important and making sure
that you're not you're kind of using that away from
main waterways and just I think it's about trying to

(05:38):
impact the environment as little as possible, even if you're
using things that you know aren't toxic, it's still an impacts. Yeah,
so just being cautious about that. I mean, when I
go hiking for three days, I don't need a shower,
you do, Yeah, but when you're washing dishes and things

(05:58):
like that. Yeah, just making sure that the products you
have and the spaces you're using it. I guess using
your common sense is a big one.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
And Marino Marino Marie, it was a great option for Clyde's.

Speaker 4 (06:08):
Oh my gosh, so good. She did a test once.
I wore a Marino top for I think it was
forty five wars. Yeah, and I actually like I tested,
I asked people like it didn't smell like when it
started to smell a little bit kind of musty, like
not terrible.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Yeah, it is an amazing fabreak. Yeah. Yeah, incredible. A Hey,
thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (06:33):
We will make sure all of those tips are up
on news Talks, EDB, dot co, dot n Z and
we will catch again very soon.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
Okay, awesome. You can find Kate on social media as well.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
She's Ethically Kate on the main platforms.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio