Sustainable and low-impact camping

Camping gives you fresh air, proximity to nature, and very little between you and the outdoors. It's inherently quite simple — and keeping it that way means less stuff, less waste, and a lighter footprint on the places you visit.

Why camping can be low-impact

A camping trip avoids many of the highest-impact elements of conventional tourism: air travel, hotel heating and cooling, restaurant supply chains, daily linen washing. A tent has a far smaller footprint than a hotel room, and cooking simple meals on a small stove uses a fraction of the energy of a commercial kitchen.

That said, camping is only low-impact if you approach it thoughtfully. A campsite reached by a long solo car drive, cluttered with single-use disposables, lit by diesel generators, and leaving a trail of litter is not especially green. The good news is that a few consistent habits make the difference, and most of them also make the experience better.

• Choose sites closer to home to reduce travel emissions — see our guide to a sustainable staycation for inspiration on finding great places nearby.
• Prefer established, managed campsites over ad-hoc camping in fragile areas; land managers know how to minimise cumulative impact.
• Keep groups small; smaller groups cause less ground compaction, noise and disturbance to wildlife.

Leave No Trace principles

Leave No Trace (LNT) is a widely adopted set of outdoor ethics, originally developed in North America and now used around the world. The seven principles apply whether you're camping in a national park, a forest, a beach or a field.

• Plan ahead and prepare. Know the rules for your area, check fire restrictions, bring the right map or navigation tools, and plan for weather. Good preparation prevents most of the bad decisions that lead to damage.
• Travel and camp on durable surfaces. Stick to established paths and pitches rather than trampling new ground. Hard-packed earth, rock, gravel and dry grass recover far more quickly than soft, wet or vegetated ground.
• Pack it in, pack it out. Everything you bring, you take away — including food scraps, fruit peel and tissues. Inspect your pitch before you leave and pick up anything that isn't naturally from that place.
• Leave what you find. Don't pick flowers, move rocks, or take natural souvenirs. Leave the landscape as you found it.
• Protect water sources. Camp at least 60–70 metres from streams, lakes and other water bodies. Wash dishes, yourself and clothes well away from water and use minimal soap, because even biodegradable soap affects aquatic life.
• Respect other visitors. Keep noise low, especially at night. Let wildlife and other people experience nature without your intrusion.

Gear that lasts

Outdoor gear has a significant manufacturing footprint — making a tent or sleeping bag involves materials, energy and often long supply chains. The most sustainable approach is to use what you have, borrow what you don't, and buy secondhand before buying new.

• Borrow before you buy. If you camp rarely, borrowing a tent or sleeping bag from a friend or family member makes much more sense than buying new. Some outdoor clubs and gear libraries also lend equipment.
• Buy secondhand. Camping gear holds up well to secondhand purchase because it tends to be robust. Check outdoor gear resale platforms, charity shops, local classifieds, and end-of-season sales from outfitters. Secondhand is almost always both cheaper and lower-impact than buying new.
• Choose durable over cheap. A well-made tent or sleeping bag that lasts ten or fifteen years has a lower lifetime footprint than cheap gear replaced every few years. Look for repairable designs — taped seams, replaceable poles, zips that can be fixed.
• Repair rather than replace. Tent fabric, sleeping bag baffles and zips can usually be repaired with patch kits or tape. Most outdoor brands sell spare parts. A repaired piece of gear costs almost nothing and keeps working for years.
• Avoid single-use or disposable camping kit. Disposable cutlery, paper plates, single-use barbecue trays and individually packaged camp meals generate a lot of waste and cost more per use than reusable alternatives. A lightweight titanium spork, a small pot and a reusable plate do the same job indefinitely.

Low-waste food and cooking

Food is where camping can generate a surprising amount of waste — packaging, food scraps, single-use cookware — but also where a little planning goes a long way. See our full guide on reducing food waste for meal-planning principles that apply just as well outdoors.

• Plan meals carefully. Work out what you'll eat for each meal and bring only that. Overpacking food means carrying weight you don't need and generating scraps you'll need to pack out.
• Repackage before you leave. Decant food from bulky shop packaging into lightweight, reusable containers or zip-lock bags. This reduces volume and packaging waste at camp.
• Choose food with low packaging. Dried grains, oats, nuts, dried fruit, pasta, rice and lentils have excellent calorie-to-weight and calorie-to-packaging ratios. Bring hard cheeses, cured meats and fresh vegetables that travel well and need minimal cooking.
• Use a reusable water bottle and filter. If camping near a natural water source, a lightweight water filter or purification tablets let you refill from streams, eliminating the need for bottled water entirely.
• Store food safely from wildlife. Keep food in sealed containers, hung from a tree or in a bear canister where required. Never leave food accessible in or near your tent. This is important for your safety and to prevent animals becoming food-conditioned.
• Pack out all scraps. Fruit peel, eggshells and food scraps should be packed out, not buried or scattered. They attract wildlife, take longer to break down than people expect, and disrupt natural foraging behaviour.

Eco toiletries and washing up

Personal care at camp is easier and lower-impact than many people expect. A few solid swaps eliminate a lot of plastic and make your bag lighter at the same time.

• Use solid toiletries. Shampoo bars, conditioner bars, solid soap and solid toothpaste tablets work well outdoors, eliminate plastic bottles, and are lighter and more compact than liquid equivalents.
• Wash well away from water sources. Even biodegradable soap affects aquatic life if used directly in or very near a stream or lake. Carry water at least 60 metres from the source to wash yourself or your dishes.
• Minimal soap for washing up. A small amount of washing-up liquid goes a long way. Use a dry cloth to wipe most food residue from pots before washing; this significantly reduces the amount of soap needed and speeds up the job.
• A small microfibre towel dries fast, takes up very little space and lasts for years.
• Leave no grey water near your pitch. Scatter diluted washing water widely, away from natural water sources and other pitches, so it absorbs into the ground without concentrating.

Waste and toilet practices

How you handle waste and human waste at camp matters more than almost anything else for protecting the places you visit.

• Carry out all rubbish. No exceptions: food packaging, wrappers, tissues, bottle caps and cigarette butts. Carry a dedicated rubbish bag and check your pitch thoroughly before leaving.
• Recycle where possible. Many campsites have recycling facilities. If yours doesn't, carry recyclables home separately rather than binning them.
• Toilet practices. Where toilet facilities exist, use them. If camping somewhere without facilities, dig a cathole at least 15 cm deep and well away (at least 60 metres) from water, paths and your camping area. Pack out used toilet paper in a sealed bag — it takes far longer to break down than most people realise and is one of the most commonly found pieces of litter on trails.

Getting there low-carbon and choosing nearby sites

The biggest single environmental impact of most camping trips is often getting there. A long solo car journey to a remote site can dwarf all the careful choices you make at camp.

• Choose a site you can reach by train or bus — many excellent campsites are within walking distance of a rail or bus stop. This is also less stressful and gives you more to drink at the campfire.
• If driving, fill the car — carpooling divides the emissions and the cost. See our guidance on sustainable holidays closer to home.
• Look for campsites closer to home. A two-hour journey beats a five-hour journey on emissions, cost and the number of hours of your holiday you spend in a car.
• Some campsites have sustainability certifications (Green Tourism, David Bellamy Conservation Award and equivalents) that indicate genuine environmental management. Worth checking, though your own practices matter too.

Respecting wildlife and quiet

Wildlife encounters are one of the real pleasures of camping. Keeping them positive requires some restraint on your part.

• Observe wildlife from a distance — don't approach, feed, or try to handle wild animals. Feeding them is harmful even when the animal seems happy about it, because it conditions them to seek food from humans, which often ends badly for the animal.
• Keep noise down, especially at dawn and dusk when many animals are most active.
• Keep dogs on leads in areas where ground-nesting birds or sensitive habitats are present; check local rules.
• Lights at night — including campfires and torches — disturb insects, birds and other nocturnal animals. Use a low-powered headtorch pointed at the ground rather than bright lanterns.

Low-waste camp setup: step by step

1. Pack a rubbish bag first. Before anything else goes in, add a sealed bag for waste. Making it easy to bin things properly means you actually will.
2. Repackage your food at home. Decant everything into reusable containers or lightweight bags before you leave. Less packaging in, less packaging to deal with at camp.
3. Fill your reusable bottle. Bring a full bottle and a filter or purification option if you'll be near natural water. No need for single-use plastic bottles.
4. Swap toiletry bottles for bars. Solid soap, shampoo bar and toothpaste tablets go in a small washbag — no risk of leaks, no plastic, lighter than liquids.
5. Choose your pitch carefully. Opt for an established pitch rather than new ground. Set up where the ground is already durable — hardpack, gravel or existing worn areas.
6. Keep the campfire decision honest. Check local fire rules before you arrive. If in doubt, use your stove. If a fire is safe and legal, keep it small, use fallen wood only, and have water ready.
7. Check out as if leaving no sign. Walk your whole pitch before you leave. Look for micro-litter, food scraps, any damage to vegetation. Leave it exactly as — or better than — you found it.