Going on walks and hikes is a great way to get out, be amongst nature and wildlife and it is shown to have numerous health benefits. It is essentially universally recognised that spending time in nature can help with anxiety, stress, boost your endorphins levels and dopamine production, making you happier. Also, walking is an activity, which is obviously healthy for you. I also believe there is so much to learn in the wilderness, there is so much to interact with and find out just outside your front door. I have also developed a passion for nature and wildlife and enjoy challenging myself to name the wildlife and plants I discover and I want to encourage others to get out and experience nature too. This I hope will lead more people to have a greater appreciation for our planet and to do more to protect it. Therefore, I will always encourage you to go out on walks and see beautiful scenes. Here are my top 5 Scottish Highland walks that I have discovered so far:
Bruar Falls
This is a great day out for all your family. The short 30-50 minute walk is located behind the House of Bruar, which is an upscale department store that sells classic tweed, outdoor wear, gifts, cashmere and has a food hall. You can spend a nice amount of time there and then go on the walk in your own time. Just behind the House of Bruar are the Falls of Bruar and a great walk to start this list. To me this is a stunning and gorgeous walk up a deep gorge seeing the numerous cascades of the falls. It is a relatively easy walk, though a little steep but one I believe most could do. The journey takes you up the well trodden path in a loop, over stone bridges following the waterfall and numerous plunge pools. You cannot really get lost on the walk as it is a single track that follows the waterfall through the gorge and back down to the House of Bruar. It is one I always recommend to any of my friends and family who will drive past it.
Randolph’s Leap
You start the walk at Logie Steadings Visitor Centre, which at the time of writing this has a cafe, whiskey shop, book shop, art gallery, craft stores and more. From there you can make your way to the river walk, which has a map at the beginning and is clearly sign posted (you can also use google). The path takes you along the Findhorn River, where if in the right season you can see salmon swimming upstream. The walk is easy to follow but fairly narrow and a bit rocky. I enjoyed this walk as it is full of trees covered in moss, rocks surrounding the wide river and numerous amounts of wildlife. The walk leads you to Randolph’s Leap where you can see the rocks on either side of the river come close together forming a small waterfall. I imagine it gained its name due to the fact the rocks are close together it was a popular location to leap across the Findhorn River. It was such a nice walk that even when it began to pour it down we were not fazed by the great walk we had just had. I would highly recommend this walk, as it immerses you in nature and wildlife.
Loch an Eilein
This was one of the first walks I went on and one of the longest on the list. I believe there are multiple routes to Loch an Eilein, so I am sure you can take a route that suits you. We started the walk at Rothiemurchus in The Barn and headed east out of the estate then followed a track through the Rothiemurchus Forest that leads to Loch An Eilein. Along the way you come across the stunning Lochan Mor and a number of wildlife and plants. Either side of the path is littered with Bilberries and pines immersing you into the scottish forest. On this walk I was also fortunate enough to see a Scottish Common Lizard, so keep your eyes peeled. It took us to Loch An Eilein where there were a number of ducks, a small shop (bring cash) and the iIsland castle ruins. You can loop around and head back through the pines and bilberries to Rothiemerchus.
Fairy Glen Falls
This walk is a little further north than the other walks, just above Inverness where you can take the short stroll to see the Fairy Glen Falls. The falls are pretty but certainly not of any great stature but the walk is a beautiful one. The walk starts in the little village of Rosemarkie following the stream in the woods to the falls before returning the same way. It is a short walk but one where you go through what feels like an ancient woods bustling with wildlife. The walk itself is on a fairly rocky and rooty path, so make sure you are mobile enough to handle this. There is a little pond on the journey to take a break and at the end you come across the pretty little falls.
Sgòr Gaoith
This is the longest walk (hike) on this list and is a bit more challenging. It is a fairly easy walk to navigate, as you park the Invereshie and Inshriach National Nature Reserve and take the path east up the munroe. There are a couple of forks, which you need to make sure you go the right way but the walk is fairly straight forward. On the journey you head through a small woods that then opens up to the monroe, which you head up across the mountain. It does get quite steep but once you are at the plateau it is worth it. It took me and my partner about a 6 hour round trip and stuggled a little on the steep section that is just past the half way mark, however we do not have a ton of experience hiking, so I believe most of you could do it (just bring water). At the top you get an amazing view of the rocky cliff and stunning views of Loch Eanaich to the east of the munroe. I recommend you warm up for this one but if you do it you get a great sense of accomplishment and beautiful views of the Cairngorm mountain range.
I have not been in Scotland too long but have managed to go on many walks in the surrounding areas, which I have enjoyed. This list is just a small collection of some of my favourite walks that I would recommend to my friends and family, so I also wanted to recommend them to you. My short time up here has shown me how beautiful Scotland is and it is clearly full of beautiful walks to go on. Most of the walks on this list are relatively easy (apart from Sgòr Gaoith), so most people should be able to do them. Like I said at the start, I want more people to connect with nature to protect it, which I hope these walks help me achieve this. I am always trying to get out and see more, so if you have any walks or hiking suggestions let me know.
Eco-investing is a growing term used to signify someone investing with a conscious thought towards the environment. This type of green investing is fast growing, as with many eco-conscious people who have an interest in sustainability, the environment and hopefully creating a strong financial future through investing. Now, before I go on, to make things clear I am not a financial advisor and not very well versed in the subject of investing at all. Therefore, you should not think of any of this as financial advice. However, I am investing to hopefully make a return, whilst making a conscious effort to not negatively impact the world just to line my own pockets. Always remember you could lose all the money you invest, so you should only do so if you have money to spare and are willing to take that risk. Additionally, if you want advice on your own finances and investment goals I would advise you to speak to a finance advisor. This blog post is to give you an insight to eco-investing, some things you might want to consider when investing and what I am doing to invest sustainably.
What is eco-investing?
Eco-investing, sustainable investing or green investing is a way of investing in companies that provide environmentally friendly products and/or practices. It is also a form of socially responsible investing. Developing a conscious awareness for the environment should reach to all aspects of your life. This should reach to any endeavours you have, including investing. Therefore, looking at investing in companies that help mitigate any negative impact they have or even help the environment is crucial in this goal. Yet, as seen with many of the rich, famous and conglomerates they will do anything to further grow their own wealth with no care for the environment or even society as whole. Eco-investing is a way to potentially grow your wealth but with a conscience, helping our future to be green and sustainable.
Should you invest?
You are likely already investing through your pension plan, where eco-investing can also apply. However, if you are asking if you should invest outside your pension then this is a personal choice you need to make yourself. This is because it depends on your personal circumstance, as well as your goals and ambitions. Investing can be incredibly risky but also rewarding and only you can decide whether it is right for you. I never invest money I don’t have and understand I might lose all the money I have invested but I am also happy to take that risk in the hopes that it will increase. Most of the research I have found shows how if you invest for the long term, you will typically end up in the positive and if you do it for long enough it can drastically increase your wealth. As I have mentioned, you should do some research, be aware of the risks and your opportunity cost and if you believe it is right for you, give it a shot. I also advise if you are not sure or want specific investing advice relevant to you to seek a financial advisor.
Why does investing concern the environment?
Essentially, where you put your money dictates what companies do. This goes for where you store your money, what you buy, as well as where you invest. The more that people buy eco-friendly, sustainable items, products or investments and demand companies to supply them the more eco-friendly versions we will get and it is growing fast. This makes the world a better place. We do not just want our products to be eco-friendly, we want the companies making them to also be green. When you invest your money goes to helping a company grow and develop and continue to provide their product or service. Therefore, your money is going towards that company's impacts, ethics and practices (good and bad). Unfortunately, there are too many companies doing terrible things to nature, society, the environment and our planet just to make money. However, there are also companies that do care and are leading the way for a greener future. This is why you can invest to hopefully make money but also back these great companies.
What am I doing?
Well I hope to invest in several ways that of course meet my ethics of being green and environmental, which I will be sure to continue to track and blog on here. However, due to my limited time to properly search individual stocks and shares I wouldn’t know where to begin, at least yet. As I mentioned above, I am thinking of the long term. For me this is 20-30+ years and I understand that one of the easiest ways to do this is with index funds. This should help outperform inflation and can often outperform the top investment banker. Therefore, this is going to be my strategy, to simply invest into index funds, which meet my personal ethics and which I hope creates the foundations of my investment portfolio.
What I needed first was an investment platform that allows you to buy stock, funds and indexes. I have chosen Vanguard, as I have heard it mentioned by many to be a good platform with relatively low fees. Through this, I have then looked for two key phrases, this is Social responsible Investing (SRI’s) and Environmental, Social Governance (ESG’s). This is what I am going to invest in ESG and SRI funds. To be exact I have invested in several funds that track these, one ESG Index fund, one ESG emerging markets index fund and one SRI Stock fund to name a few. I have gone into depth these terms below:
What is ESG?
Now, when thinking of sustainability and looking at a group of stocks or an index that allows your investments to be spread across multiple industries, locations but with ethics you might want to look for ESG funds. ESG stands for Environment, Social, Governance, which are three broad categories that are also linked with “socially responsible investors” (more below). It is a general term used by investors that looks at evaluating corporate behaviour to determine if a company meets social and environmental criterias, better than other typical stocks. ESG is a growing term and is quickly growing interest, especially in the younger generation of investors. Some of the things ESG funds focus on when evaluating a company's sustainability is the following;
Environmentally a number of categories might be reviewed such as the company's carbon footprint, water disposal, climate change policies, energy consumption and recycling efforts, etc.
Socially a company will be reviewed in regards to how it addresses issues with its employees, suppliers and customers etc. This will be looking at compensation, benefits, training, consumer protection, ethical supply chain and safety precautions to list a few.
Governance wise it will look at the ethics of the business, the management and business independence. This will look at the history of the company's legal issues, shareholder voting rights, addressing conflict of interest, and other ethical business practices.
What is SRI?
SRI stands for Socially Responsible Investing and is another term to note ‘green’, ethical and sustainable developments. Like ESGs it looks to create a financial return but also environmental and social good, creating a positive change. This again has a rigorous investment standard to identify those companies that can meet this criteria but still give a competitive return. The goal is about making a positive social impact, so again better than your generic stocks that could drastically harm our planet and in the long run does not benefit society.
My Strategy
I have chosen to passively invest into index funds as they are a collective of stocks/companies that overall reduce your risk by spreading your investment. There are also many to choose from including ones that are ESGs and SRIs. To do this I have used Vanguard as it appears to be a well known investment platform and they offer a number of funds that meet my criteria. I am then going to invest in several of them using pound cost averaging (dollar cost averaging, etc.) This is when you invest regularly (drip feeding) into your investment. I am using this strategy as I do not have a large sum of money and it allows me to slowly build up my portfolio over time. Also, as it is nearly impossible to accurately time the market it allows me to continue to buy across multiple years giving me an average purchasing price. As the market typically heads upwards this will hopefully show a positive that outperforms inflation. My strategy is long term to either boost my pension, allow me to retire early, and possibly even create generational wealth for my family, so we are talking 20-40 years. It is a patience game but one that I believe will work out.
What’s Next?
Well, I hope to do some more posts about eco-friendly, sustainable and green finances, so you can make your own decision about what to do with your money. I also intend to continue updating on my financial achievements and goals to hold myself accountable and hopefully prove it can be a viable option to grow your wealth, while caring for the planet. I want to look into more areas of my finances including the banks I use, the pensions I have and potential other investments I might undertake. My goal in all of this is to highlight the potential way to grow your wealth, while not backing companies that destroy the planet. This post is to show one of the ways I have begun investing consciously based on my own research. However, I would love to hear the companies or industries you have backed or believe are worthy of investing taking ethics, sustainability and society into account.
If you asked me if you “should move to a ‘green’ job?”, my answer would be an equivocal, yes and I am going to tell you why. A little background on me is I work in the construction field in the UK. I have recently transition from my previous workplace that focused on offices, residential and retail, primarily for private clients to a leader in my country for producing clean and what I would call green energy (currently on an offshore windfarms). I keep saying this and I am sure most people know this, but ‘Green’ is the future. For the sake of the planet, equality, our own lives and more. Therefore, we all need to transition to it and every job should be ‘green’ or at least ‘green’ conscious in some way. I strongly believe this and it is one of the reasons I will always say you should go for a new job that is eco-conscious and sustainable but here are some of the reasons on why I moved to a green job.
Firstly, what are ‘green’ jobs?
There is no true meaning to the term ‘green’ job, at least in the UK. However, the United Nations System of Environmental Economic Accounting define it as part of the “environmental Goods and Services Sector”, further detailing it as areas that produce goods and services for environmental protection purposes, as well as those engaged in conserving and maintaining natural resources. The International Labour Organisation also define ‘green’ jobs as reducing the consumption of energy and raw materials, limit greenhouse gas emissions, minimising waste and pollution, as well as protecting and restoring ecosystems and enabling communities to adapt to climate change.
I do not believe there is a single clear definition of what is a ‘green’ job is but I believe the International Labour Organisation define it fairly well. I essentially see it as any job that works towards a cleaner, greener and fairer world that supports and protect people, the environment and nature.
Why Take on a ‘Green’ Job?
I have always been interested in sustainability and nature. Therefore, most of my hobbies and past time would be around it (much of it seen on this blog) but unfortunately not my job. Therefore, I was keen to transition to a eco-friendly career. I understand not everyone is as passionate about the environment as me or even if they are they might be nervous about taking on a new challenge in a new career in a new(ish) growing field. Well here are some of the key reasons you should take on this challenge and transition to a ‘green’ job:
Conscience
You will feel better about your job and in turn yourself. We spend most our awake life in our jobs, so feeling happy about you career should be an important consideration when accepting or moving to a new career path. For me and I believe most will agree moving to a ‘green’ job will make you feel better about your life. There are several reasons for this; you are moving towards something that is meaningful, impactful and actually benefits people without destroying the planet for pure monetary gain. Any job that either benefits the planet or helps mitigate any negative impact will ease your conscience and even give you a moral purpose.
Prospect
Sustainability and the care for our environment is a fast growing and exciting industry. I have seen more and more sustainable and ‘green’ job, which clearly shows they are in demand. There is a great push for sustainable and 'green' jobs and therefore there are great number of opportunities meaning there are many lucrative jobs for the taking. Some of which are a whole new field that is new and exciting that you could be a pioneering. Also, as it is a growing field getting into a ‘green’ job now will most likely make you better equipped for the future.
Company Ethics
Although I have not been at my current ‘green’ company too long but from my time there I believe a greener company have better ethics. To me it feels as if the company do not just care about the bottom line. 'Green' companies want to make a profit but doing it in a way that cares about the planet. To do this they look at sustainability in all aspects economically, socially and the environment, even to the buildings they are based in. This also comes down to you as an employee, who will often get better benefits, fairer opportunities, fairer pay and more activities that coincide with your ethics (Charity events, volunteer days, environmental events, sustainable events). They are also likely to offer or encourage further training in the sustainable field. Most 'green' companies are at the forefront of change. This includes the changes they make for the business and the benefits for the workers making this another reason to transition to a new job.
If you cannot guess, I think being 'green' is great and is also the future. I will also admit I am slightly bias in this field (I am writing a sustainable blog in fairness). I am passionate about nature, the environment and being sustainable, so I hope the future is ‘green’. Therefore, I am always going to advocate for ‘green’ jobs, as they are essential for the future. If you are to listen to the scientists about our impacts on global warming and wildlife decline, then we need to do something about this. Therefore, as a planet we need to transition to a greener, fairer and sustainable future. Essentially, this means all jobs should be ‘green’, so for me getting on the band wagon sooner than later will just help with this transition and put you at the forefront of a better world, where the sky is the limit.
