Protect Our Winters (POW) is a nonprofit organisation that focuses its efforts on legislation regarding climate change. The primary objectives of this great movement mirror the same very same ethos which ZIA was founded on. Striving to turn outdoor enthusiasts into climate advocates.

We would strongly recommend having a look through their website and some of their policies.

POW focuses its efforts on legislation regarding carbon pricing, solar, public lands, and transportation.

Carbon Pricing

• POW believes in setting an economy-wide price on carbon
• Instead of fighting individual legislative battles for one regulation at a time, POW believes that by putting a price on carbon we can reduce emissions more efficiently.

Solar

• POW believes in transitioning to a clean energy economy by investing in solar energy.
• To realistically reduce our reliance on fossil fuels as a source of power, the group believes in utilizing clean sources of energy.

Transportation

• POW believes in utilizing innovative transit solutions to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
• POW believes there is a clear need for strong advocacy of innovative solutions to transform the transportation sector.

Public Lands

• POW believes in reducing fossil fuel emission from our public lands.
• The extraction and burning of fossil fuels release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, including methane. POW believes that by protecting public lands, it will, in turn, protect the climate.

Plastic has become so pervasive that if we want to have any chance of success, giving it up has to be a journey that brings people together, no matter what their cicumstances”  (Jamie Szymkowiak)

Our mission is to reduce the widespread unnecessary use of single-use plastics. Through both education and providing affordable alternatives.

We have a whole section of our site dedicated to reducing the prevalence of single use plastics.

Please click here for more information on the plastic problem facing our planet.

10 pieces of litter is a great initiative which started in Australia encouraging travellers to pick up 10 pieces of litter.

The Problem

You don’t have to look far when travelling the planet to find a rogue piece of litter. There is an abundance of single-use plastic and litter in our natural environment and often as a result of increased tourism. Not only does this negatively affect the eco-system but also detracts the natural beauty

The Solution

Through harnessing the collective power of travellers the aim is to make a difference and have a positive impact on the environment. The ’10 Pieces’ community are also working to make litter collection a global movement and help educate local communities about the benefits.

How to participate

Grab a bag (preferably reusable), hand sanitiser, and if you like – a pair of gloves.

Pick up 10 pieces of litter wherever you choose

Take a photo and share it with #ZeroImpactAdventures and #10piecescleaner to inspire others to do the same.

Dispose of the litter in the best way possible for the area.

Make sure you apply hand sanitiser and keep your bag for next time.

Ecosia is the search engine that plants trees.

If the internet were a country it would rank number 3 in the world in terms of electricity consumption.

Wouldn’t it be great if all the time we spend searching the internet each day was helping the planet?

Well ECOSIA does just that. It is identical to your usual search engine except they use all their generated profits to plant trees and preserve our planet.

Change your default search page from Google to Ecosia, and every search will be making a positive difference.

Leave No Trace is a set of outdoor ethics promoting conservation in the outdoors. It consists of seven principles

• Plan ahead and prepare,
• Travel and camp on durable surfaces,
• Dispose of waste properly,
• Leave what you find,
• Minimize campfire impacts,
• Respect wildlife,
• Be considerate of other visitors.

1. 1. Plan ahead and prepare: Poorly prepared people, when presented with unexpected situations, often resort to high-impact solutions that degrade the outdoors or put themselves at risk. Proper planning leads to less impact.

1. 1. Travel and camp on durable surfaces: Damage to land occurs when surface vegetation or communities of organisms are trampled beyond repair. The resulting barren area leads to unusable trails, campsites, and soil erosion.

1. 1. Dispose of waste properly: Trash and litter in the backcountry ranks high as a problem in the minds of many backcountry visitors. This will greatly detract from the naturalness of an area and could potentially cause greater environmental damage. If no trash receptacles are available, visitors should carry out all trash from what they have brought in. Furthermore, backcountry campers create waste water from certain activities and fecal waste which requires proper disposal according to Leave No Trace principles. (Urinating in the woods is not a violation of Leave No Trace. However, if defecating one must not leave any toilet paper, and the waste is to be buried a certain distance from both paths and water sources).

1. 1. Leave what you find: Leave No Trace directs people to minimize site alterations by avoiding actions such as digging tent trenches, cutting branches from live trees, hammering nails into trees, permanently clearing an area of rocks or twigs, or removing other natural items.

1. 1. Minimize campfire impacts: Because the naturalness of many areas has been degraded by overuse of fires, Leave No Trace teaches to seek alternatives to fires or use low-impact fires.

1. 1. Respect wildlife: minimizing impact on wildlife and ecosystems.

1. Be considerate of other visitors: Following hiking etiquette and maintaining quiet allows visitors to go through the wilderness with minimal impact on other users.

Fast fashion is one of the leading contributors to climate change. 

In fact as an industry it is second largest polluter in the world, just after the oil industry.

However it doesn’t always need to be so damaging, and there plenty of solutions and alternatives which allow us to make sustainable choices.

One such alternative we found was a small company ethical T-Shirt company called Good-Joe.

Good Joe T-shirts actually care about the supply chain of their products, ensuring that there is no labour exploitation and they give back to communities within the UK. All their T-Shirts are made within the UK, reducing the harmful impact of producing and shipping from huge factories in the Far-East.

In addition to keeping it local, for every t-shirt you buy from their site they will donate another item of clothing to someone in need.

Hopefully it goes without saying too that Good Joe’s T-shirts will last you much, much longer than any of the fast fashion shop’s (brand beginning with ‘P’) alternatives and you’ll be supporting British manufacturing with a significantly smaller carbon footprint!

The plastic used to make a television is very different to the plastic used to make a grocery bag.

The team at Wristband Resources have put together a great selection of links and further reading to help get to grips with all the frequently asked questions about recycling plastic.

We strongly recommend spending a bit of time reading through their page and clicking through the informative links.

https://www.wristband.com/content/how-to-properly-recycle-plastic/