Walk the Walk should be praised for merchandise decision

Minimising our waste

At Swizzle and friends, there are various elements that create the values by which we work.

Among these are doing things for other people and having as waste-free a life as possible.

This includes the likes of taking product bags when we go to the market each week to get our fruit and veg. They need an occasional wash but other than that, maintenance is easy – they just get stored away again for use later.

Equally, with the rest of our grocery shopping, we always have a shopping bag available, so we don’t need to buy one in a supermarket each time, and we have a shopping trolley to carry it all home in as well. In our case, the shops are all within walking distance, so there is no need to take the car, so we save on fuel as well as the emissions that are associated with the internal combustion engine.

Stepping in the same direction

So, when you tie these two things together - minimising waste and exercise - it was good see that the organisers of Walk the Walk are following similar lines.

We agreed to take part in the 2020 event and we were looking forward to walking around the streets of London overnight in May last year. The atmosphere would have been great, with all the mutual support among those taking part, as well as seeing all the landmarks as we made our way through the streets of the capital.

Of course, that event was cancelled due to the coronavirus, and the 2021 edition has become a virtual event, so we will be walking through the lanes of East Devon instead of the streets of London – but the organisers have said that rather than waste what had been prepared for the 2020 event, they will be issuing it for the virtual Moonwalk event.

No need to waste merchandise

In an answer on the Walk the Walk website, it said: “It is our constant ambition to be as environmental as we can be, without impacting on the funds we grant for breast and other cancers. Because our 2020 MoonWalk is literally 'the one that got away' we have decided that it would be unthinkably wasteful and non-environmental to consider disposing of thousands of T-shirts and caps just because of date. So, we have decided to use all those items that we already had prepared, it will be all of the benefits and none of the waste... and that is why we are promoting Waste Free Walking!”

In the FAQs, the organisers also said: “So, we really are heading back to the future, caring for our planet, as well as our health and have decided to use all those items that we already had prepared, for the one that got away... apart from the medals, they will be Unique to 2021! I am sure you will agree, it will be all of the benefits and none of the waste... and that is Waste Free Walking!” 

Response deserves recognition

We very much applaud this move as reducing waste is just one of the things we can do to help maintain the planet’s resources.

Wherever possible, we always aim to reduce, reuse and recycle and it’s great to see the Walk the Walk organisers are doing the same.

And while writing about the event, we are still in training and we have started following sections of the route we will be using in May, so when we take on the overnight challenge, we’ll know where we are going, even though it will be dark.

And just as this blog was due to go live, the first package of merchandise arrived, so child two is all set for May.

Further reading

For anyone wanting to find out more about Walk the Walk, which makes donations to cancer charities, click here.

If you would like to support our fundraising, just click here and make your donation.

And to read what we wrote about it before, you can see our previous blog on the subject. Just click here.