Hiking Backpacks

We don’t want you stop vacationing (we don’t want to stop doing it, either), but the environmental effects of the trips we take can be huge. One way to limit that impact — that you can begin at home — is by choosing eco-friendly travel gear. Since camping is the number one outdoor activity for vacationers in America, we’ve compared a traditional pack to an eco-friendly one.

Sometimes the greener choice is simple. Other times, it might not work for you.

Traditional Hiking Backpack

Hemp Hiking Backpack

Do the math

Coleman’s Kwanzan X40 women’s backpack = $99.99

Gaiam Women’s Hemp Hiking Pack = $120

What you’ll miss

$20 and the use of environmentally sustainable materials.

More pockets, loops and lash points.

A Weight off Your Shoulders?

The materials that make up standard packs aren’t designed with a focus on biodegradation, or, for that matter, much thought toward how many resources are used in their production. Unfortunately, they are often only used a handful of times before being thrown out. Hikers know to tread carefully when it comes to the environment, leaving things as they found them, but their gear, in this case, just doesn’t do the same.

Hemp is a wonder plant for its wide variety of uses and sustainability. Alongside bamboo (see our recent Face-off on bamboo fiber shawls for more info on the environmental impact of bamboo), it is probably one of the fabric sources that excites environmentalists the most. For this bag, it’s combined with recycled polyethylene to be naturally water-repellent and resistant to mold, bacteria, and UV degradation.

Why your grandchildren will care

These packs can add to the strain of already heavily taxed resources (usually petroleum-based fabrics), add toxic solvents to our environment, and release pollutants into our air — all before they even make it to the store.

The more we make use of sustainable resources now, the more likely it is that our grandchildren will still have something to sustain. And somewhere to camp.