Jay - Detox Wales walker. © Greenpeace | Malcolm Carroll
My name is Jay and today I’m studying a map of Wales, as I prepare to walk across the country on Saturday for the Greenpeace Detox campaign. That’s my walk, #whatsyourwalk?
Why walk across Wales? Not just because it’s there, but to raise awareness about the Greenpeace campaign to Detox outdoor clothing, challenging brands to ditch PFC chemicals that are damaging our environment.
I’m from Lincolnshire, which is famous for being flat. Wales is not. This walk is going to be the challenge of a lifetime. Even at its thinnest point the county is 42 miles across, which is a long a day’s hike. But with local knowledge from Malcolm, my Welsh Sherpa (and Greenpeace network developer), I’m confident we'll do it in 14 hours.
I'm expecting the weather to be hot, cold, dry and wet, often at the same time. I’m relying on my outdoor gear to protect me from the elements. However, much of the outdoor gear on the market is considered toxic because of the PFCs used to make the gear waterproof and breathable. The production of PFCs releases persistent organic poisons into to the environment; the very environment the gear is supposed to help us enjoy.
So I’m instead kitted out with high-tech, high performance gear, PFC-free gear, from Páramo, which does less harm to the environment and enables me to enjoy it. All 42 miles of it. Especially the hilly bits... ok maybe not the hilly bits. I’m from Lincolnshire, remember.
If you’d like to see how far I get, follow me on #whatsyourwalk
That’s my walk, what’s yours? Whatever the weather, if you’re out on the hills or flats this weekend, join me in walking for a PFC free future. Share your exploits on #whatsyourwalk, and please make it a PFC free one. Together we can Detox the outdoors.
Finally, if you’d like to drop The North Face a line, and ask them why they aren’t doing more to Detox their outdoor clothing lines, please include @TheNorthFace in your tweet and/or you can sign the global petition to their CEO.
Jay is a volunteer with Greenpeace UK.
This blog originally appeared on the Greenpeace community site Greenwire.