I wonder how many of us can remember the first really big hill we climbed? That experience of wonder and passion as you look down from the summit to see an expanse of greens and blues below and above. There is no doubt in my mind that whatever our personal beliefs, feeling the beauty and power of landscape unencumbered by machines and human noise is one of life’s great spiritual connections. It’s about love.

The first big hill I climbed, at about 12 years old, was Snowdon. Subsequently, I have had the privilege to visit the Andes and walk up to a point near Machu Picchu. I could look down 3,000 metres to a river bed and lush tropical forest, and up 2,500 metres to massive snowy peaks, all the while knowing that it had taken me four days on foot just to get there. What a sensation! The fact that you sweated your way up the hill and burst your lungs to arrive at that point becomes an integral part of the experience. It was all worthwhile.

It’s entirely natural that we would want our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren to be able to feel that same wonder. And therein lies the core of sustainability: we want to keep the world for future generations. But do we stop to think at any point on our hikes about the fuel we burned to arrive at the start of our walk, or the energy and materials consumed in the clothing we wore to protect us from squalls and downpours? Or the wear on the pathway that we used to bring us to that point, that may be destroying the very hills that we care for so much?

Walkers are as concerned with the bigger picture of global warming and environmental manufacturing as they are with footpaths and countryside protection. We all want to be green, but we need to tread a path between being an environmental Taliban or eco-puritan and being an irresponsible outdoor hedonist. We must not ban the music of trekking in wild places, but equally we should keep 4×4 drivers out of irreplaceable avian habitats in wetland national parks.

So here are my top five steps for going greener:

• Get yourself more informed, and therefore motivated. Become more aware and you will become more motivated to act. I was spurred to act when I attended an international conference in Perth in 2005 about change in the mountains. That was when I first appreciated the scale of the problem through listening to informed scientists from the Mountain Research Institute. If you want to read more about environmental change, the BBC News, Met Office, and New Scientist websites are excellent.

•Start small and improve. Continuous, small improvements are infinitely better than no improvement. Just getting a few more waste bins for your kitchen is a small investment which makes recycling easier. At Nikwax, we have reduced our energy consumption and are now putting in solar panels and using rainwater for some of our production.

•Support companies that take the environment seriously. A retailer once told me: “We want to be seen to be green, so you need to make your label greener.” I nearly boiled over! Look deeper than the eco-label – progress is about empirical, measurable, verifiable action. Starting questions might be: Does the company have a corporate and social responsibility document? Are they audited? Do they declare how they measure their environmental impact? If any of the answers are no, then you may as well ignore their environmental claims.

•Support people who communicate the importance of the environment and work on protecting it. Get involved in spreading the word: sustainability is not about pain and self-flagellation, it’s about intelligent living and looking after the global family. Working with a green organisation is a good idea. Nikwax and Páramo support the World Land Trust and use them to offset carbon emissions. I am on the governing body of EOCA, the European Outdoor Conservation Association, which collects money from outdoor companies to support conservation projects.

•Don’t get stuck in the past. We’ve already changed our environment and massive change is now inevitable. But a sustainable approach is about adaptation and conservation in a changing world, and approaching life in this way will ensure a brighter future for our global family.

Finally, remember that none of us can be perfect. But if we aim for continuous improvement and positive compromise, there is a chance of a better future for the generations to come.

Where did your passion for walking come from?
The light bulb moment happened 40 years ago when I was a transport planner in London. I realized every time you travel, it’s an economic and environmental cost, and the least cost of getting about is on foot. After that, I saw mainstream transport planning as increasingly crazy and out of line with what was needed.

How well regarded are walkers by today’s urban and transport planners?
It’s only been in the last five years that planning for walking has been acceptable and not caused people to fall about laughing. I was an adviser to the House of Commons Transport Committee inquiry into walking in 2001, and the minister thought it was a complete waste of time. Politicians were worried that if they produced a plan for walking they would be labelled the Ministry of Silly Walks by the media – and they probably would’ve been! That’s been overcome now as a result of concern over carbon emissions and global warming, which walking can help to tackle.

Are Britain’s towns and cities still planned around the car?
You still get new shops with more parking and fewer footways, but the prevailing culture is changing, and policies to regenerate town centres and make them more walkable have worked to some extent. Even the supermarkets are now opting for smaller stores to slot into traditional urban centres. The problem is there hasn’t been a sufficient clampdown on car-centric developments. So you’re getting an increasingly divided community: those looking to walk and those wanting to park – and the two are completely opposed. You have to decide which way you want to go; there’s no middle ground really. A compromise ends up being a bit of no-man’s-land, like Croydon.

What’s ‘largification’ about?
It’s the process by which the facilities people want are becoming larger in size but fewer in number. So three swimming pools close and one large multi-purpose leisure centre is created in their place. It’s a similar story with hospitals, schools and shops, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the fewer and larger facilities there are, the longer the distance to travel to them will be, and the harder to make the journey on foot. That’s the process that’s leading to the decline in walking. It’s not driven by planning policy but by the silo style of accounting in the public sector, with each department looking to cut costs by economies of scale and capitalizing on surplus land. They’re not thinking about how they can best serve or create a sustainable community.

Do you think cyclists have gained at the expense of walkers in sustainable transport plans?
There’s no doubt that when you’re walking, cyclists are a nuisance, and vice versa. There’ll always be a conflict between the two, so we need a strong walking lobby to ensure an effective debate. I’m a member of the advisory group for Walk England, and we’re trying to figure out how to raise the profile and attract funds to walking on the same scale that cycling has. Hopefully the Ramblers can be a key part of that.

Do you think changing the environment is really enough to change people’s habits and encourage more walking?
No, we need to win hearts and minds too. People have to see that walking is innately better than other modes of transport. For example, if a parent takes their child to school by car, they may get there more quickly, but they’ve lost that opportunity to talk while they walk, to smell the flowers in the gardens they pass, or to engage with other people. There’s an array of experiences that you’re shut off from if you’re in a car.

Has this government shown a lack of political will to get people living and travelling more sustainably?
It’s shown the will but is too willing to be distracted by other considerations. ‘Planning by Tesco’ is still very much part of the British scene, and until government and local planning authorities start standing up to powerful vested interests, we’re going to struggle. It’s the naturalness of walking which has led it to be ignored as a mode of travel and the government still underestimates the public’s willingness to walk more.

Should we really have needed to wait for environmental pressures to force urban planners to change their habits?
I’ve learnt that good things are often done for the wrong reasons! You need to garner all the reasons available to you to get the outcome you think is right. Travel experience is the main reason I promote walking and the avoidance of mechanized transport. Walking is primeval and our enjoyment of the natural world – even just a tree in the street – plays a very large part in our well-being.

As a member of the Ramblers, how can it help promote your vision?
We tend to separate the idea of walking for recreation from commuting, but why not do both? I want to see the Ramblers championing everyday walking more and integrating it with the more rural, recreational walking it’s traditionally represented. The rural-urban division needs to be taken away: the lines don’t stop at the town boundary!

What’s your favourite…

…city walk?
The Thames Path, particularly the Kingston to Hampton stretch. It’s full of interest and is very well maintained.
…countryside walk?
Leith Hill in Surrey. The views are staggeringly beautiful and there’s
lots of circular walk options.
…piece of walking kit?
My boots. I always get them fitted abroad; you get a lot more choice and attention on the Continent.
…view?
Greenwich Observatory. I love the combination of both open space with the hint of capitalist mayhem from Canary Wharf.
…post-walk tipple?
A real ale, the more local the better.