Camping locally is a great way to have an eco-friendly holiday, whether that’s in the summer, winter, with or without kids.
Here are some tips and tricks on how to be sustainable and eco-friendly whilst camping in the great outdoors:
1. Stay Local
Firstly, your carbon footprint is reduced significantly by not travelling by airplane.
Staying local will help reduce pollution in the air, so try and find somewhere that is local to you for your camping holiday. This will also come in handy if you accidentally forget something!
Sumners Ponds is based in Barns Green near Horsham (West Sussex). So if you’re a local, come and say hi!
2. Minimise Car Use When Camping
If you have brought your car with you to a UK campsite, we recommend using it as little as possible. Park up, pitch up and relax!
If you want to do something different, Sumners Ponds have many beautiful country walks, a working farm, fishing lakes/ponds and a Cafe by the Lake. As well as miles of fantastic footpaths and bridleways to explore around the site and local area.
3. Borrow Camping Equipment
Before you go out and buy a tent and all the equipment, ask around to see if any of your friends and family have anything they can lend you. If you’ve never been on a camping trip before, you may not know you love it (like we do!), so before you splash the cash, ask around or have a look in charity shops.
4. Buy Local
Support small local businesses by buying local. Sumners Ponds is close to a lovely village shop that stocks all the essentials.
5. Eco-friendly Bathroom
‘On average, a single person uses about 10 bottles of shampoo and 5 bottles of conditioner per year.’ Pelacase.
Ditch the single-use plastics, like shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bottles, and use bars instead (such as Grüum)! Not only will they last longer, but they will also save on space.
6. Leave No Trace – Pick Up Your Rubbish!
No one likes a litterbug, especially when someone else has to pick it up, so do mother nature a favour, and leave the campsite as you found it – clean and tidy!
Leaving rubbish not only looks dirty and untidy, but it’s also dangerous to animals – wild and domestic.
7. Reuse and Recycle
Instead of bringing paper plates and plastic cutlery (plastic waste), try using bamboo alternatives (they’re super sturdy and reusable!)
Most wet wipes aren’t biodegradable and can take 100 years for them to disappear from landfill, meaning they’re really bad for the environment! The UK alone flushes 9.3 million wet wipes down the drain EVERY DAY, so if you can avoid bringing wet wipes, then mother nature will thank you (and so will we!)
Made too much food? Use alternatives to foil, such as beeswax wraps, cedar wraps, silicone food covers or glass containers.
Sumners Ponds
Excited to book a staycation? Have a look at what Sumners Ponds can offer you on our “Staying at Sumners” page.
