Sustainability

Sustainability has become a popular word. Everything is supposed to be sustainable. But isn’t friluftsliv automatically so? After all, you are just walking around in nature?

It is more complicated than that. The walk itself is rarely the problem. It is what surrounds the trip that counts most: where you travel, what you wear, how long you keep it, and how you behave at the campsite.

At Besseggen the traffic is so heavy that both soil and rock are being worn down. The journey to and from can be a larger CO₂ footprint than everything else on the trip. A jacket you replace every other year is not sustainable — no matter how “environmentally friendly” the manufacturer is.

Leave-no-trace travel

Leave-no-trace travel: only two things should be left behind us — thanks and nothing.

The concept of leave-no-trace travel (in Norwegian sporløs ferdsel, in English Leave No Trace) is about moving through and living in nature without leaving visible signs. Rubbish, toilet paper, fire remains, tent pegs left in the ground, cut vegetation — anything that tells someone has been here.

Friluftsloven (the Outdoor Recreation Act) §11 states that we have a duty to ensure the place is not left “in a condition that may appear unsightly or cause damage or inconvenience to anyone”. It is a legal requirement, not just good manners.

Friluftsloven and the right to roam (allemannsretten) →

Three dimensions of sustainability

FN-sambandet (the Norwegian UN Association) defines sustainable development in three dimensions. All apply to friluftsliv too:

1. Environment and climate — vegetation we tread on, animals we disturb, CO₂ from transport, microplastics from the fleece
2. Economy — production and disposal of equipment, travel costs, tourism economy
3. Social and cultural — community, access for everyone, consideration for other users and local people

Friluftsliv is most often linked to the environmental dimension, but the three are connected. A friluftsliv that only survives for those with good finances is not sustainable.

The practical side: camp routines

In popular areas you should use existing campsites rather than make new ones — even if “your” spot becomes a little less beautiful. The wear from the first time a spot is used always outweighs living there many times over.

For pitching camp:

• Choose grassy flats, not moss or lichen (they take decades to grow back)
• Avoid wet bog areas — a group’s trampling makes new paths that last
• Keep the group together in a small area rather than spread out
• Never cut fresh branches or fell small trees for drying racks or stakes
• For a tarpaulin/tarp — use cord, not nails or screws
• For a hammock — use flat straps that do not chafe the bark, not ordinary cord or belts

When you leave:

• Pick up all rubbish, including food waste (a banana skin takes months to break down in the mountains — birds carry them off, and mice become invasive there)
• Put the fire out completely — cold ash all the way through
• Arrange the stones back where you found them
• Check once more — you always find something

Open fires

The open-fire ban (bålforbud) in Norway runs from 15 April to 15 September in utmark (uncultivated open country). Exception: when it “obviously does not cause a fire hazard” (after a lot of rain or a lot of snow). When in doubt — do not light.

When fires are permitted:

• Use an existing fire site if there is one — every new fire site leaves traces
• Stones are used only temporarily, put back afterwards
• Upkeep — do not cut living vegetation. Dead wood from the ground or twig-burner-friendly material
• Put it out thoroughly — water through the ash until it is cold

Find firewood and a suitable fire site →

Vegetation and the animals

Norwegian types of utmark withstand wear differently:

• Grass — withstands a lot, grows back quickly
• Heather — takes years to grow back
• Moss — vulnerable, takes a long time
• Lichen — extremely vulnerable, crumbles when dry and may need decades to grow back

Lichen is central: when you are standing in a lichen-rich area, every footprint may be visible two or three years later.

For wildlife — especially vulnerable species such as wild reindeer — travel along marked trails is a gift. Studies (NINA) show that wild reindeer avoid areas where more than around 30 people use a trail per day.

More about animals and tracks →

The difficult part: choosing equipment

The least comfortable part of sustainability in friluftsliv is about the consumption of equipment. Norway’s outdoor industry is growing, and large parts of the growth come from more stuff, not necessarily better.

Think about:

• The second-hand market covers most of it — Finn.no, mountaineering groups on Facebook, clubs’ rental schemes. This is often cheaper and dramatically more sustainable
• Repair before disposal — Snuitide has its own articles on how to fix shoes, clothes, skis and tents. Maintenance of outdoor equipment →
• Wool and natural materials before synthetics — they often last longer and are biodegradable
• Quality over volume — one good jacket over 15 years beats three middling ones over five
• Local production where it exists — Bergans, Helsport, Devold, Brynje, Helly Hansen and Aclima all have Norwegian production lines

Borrow, hire or buy second-hand →

Transport — the big one

The journey to and from the trip is often the largest CO₂ item on a weekend trip. In practice:

• Local trips — walk from home or from a public-transport stop. The best trip is the one you actually carry out
• Public transport where possible — DNT (the Norwegian Trekking Association) gathers trip groups, and many train and bus lines run to the classic outdoor areas
• Car-share — fill the car
• Less frequent long trips can beat many short ones in the CO₂ budget
• Longer stays per trip reduce the travel per day out

The Environmental Code

DNT has formulated the Environmental Code (miljøvettreglene) as a counterpart to the Norwegian Mountain Code (fjellvettreglene):

The Environmental Code (miljøvettreglene) →

Learn more

• The Environmental Code (miljøvettreglene)
• Exercises — sustainability and leave-no-trace travel

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Text: Linda Hallandvik and Gina Wigestrand, Snuitide (2022), revised 2026.

Key resources: FN-sambandet — bærekraftsmål · Norsk Friluftsliv — sporløs ferdsel · DNT — miljøvettreglene

Sources: Friluftsloven (1957). · FN-sambandet (2022). FNs bærekraftsmål. · Norsk Friluftsliv (2021). Sporløs ferdsel. · Norsk institutt for naturforskning (NINA), studies on wild reindeer’s reactions to traffic.