Sustainability

MKMC’s Committee have discussed various topics within sustainability. The biggest sustainable impact we can make as a Club is to reduce the number of cars used for travel on our trips. To support the BMC’s sustainability initiatives MKMC wants to encourage use of public transport, were possible, and car sharing. The Club realises that this may not be practical for travel on all trips due to the locations people live, their travel times and the size of cars being used need to be considered. We are gathering data about car usage in 2023 to enable us to make informed decisions in the future.

During trips local trains or bus are ideal for transport to the start/end of point to point walks. If cars are used to travel to activities then we want them to be as full as possible.

Progress

Committee Meeting

All MKMC Committee meetings are now held online.

Car Occupancy on trips

January 2.57, February 2.5, March 1.83 (Scotland), May 2.2, September 2 (Scotland – two members did travel both ways on the train)

Public Transport Usage

There has been two backpacking trips that have used public transport to/from Milton Keynes.

Local trains were used to get to the start of a walk during our April Peak District trip.

Buses were used by a number of members to travel around Arran. Even with a bouldering mat; founding a new climbing discipline – ‘Bus Bouldering’!

Two members took the train to/from Scotland for the September 2023 trip.

As a BMC affiliated club, MKMC is an organisation committed to managing the impact of our activities on the environment.

The BMC, acknowledges the climate crisis as fact.

“Last year the IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report featured a chapter on the impact of climate change in high mountain areas, which painted a bleak picture of the places we know and love. Tourism and recreational activities such as skiing and mountaineering have been negatively impacted by declining snow cover, glaciers and permafrost. This decline has also altered the frequency, magnitude and location of natural hazards with more people being exposed to its impacts.”
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/your-climate-checklists

Environmental damage is not just something that we experience, it is unfortunately something we contribute to.

Sustainability means taking a responsible attitude. It means learning about the economic and social consequences of our activities. It means using our understanding to take a more compassionate approach.

As well as seeking to ensure our children and grandchildren have access to the mountains, our obligation is to learn more about our global impact through the products we use, how they are made, the materials they are made form and the working conditions of those in manufacturing.

We are a social club, bringing people together to enjoy the outdoors. This gives us the opportunity to learn from each other and take measures collectively to achieve our aims.

Where we go and how we get there is important. Mindful that freedom is an integral philosophy in our sport, we aim to be practical and at the same time have fun doing it.

 

Taking action, our next steps:

  • MKMC will follow the BMC sustainability guidelines
  • We will make sustainability a primary consideration in organising meets
  • We have created a WhatsApp group, where members can continue the sustainability discussion

Please join the conversation. Below we have collected a few links, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Share what you know, learn and use these skills, let’s enjoy the mountains together.

BMC Your day to day checklist
BMC Events & meetings checklist
BMC/Moors for the future
Protect Our Winters
Mossy Earth
Patagonia – Activism Stories