Guide · 4 min read
How to run a low-waste glow walk
How to light a glow walk with less waste. Compares single-use glow sticks with reusable LED lights and lanterns, and shows how to collect what you hand out.
A glow walk that leaves the path scattered with plastic the next morning undoes some of the good it did. With a little planning, most of the light can be reused or collected.
The problem with single-use glow
A classic glow stick lights once, for a few hours, and is then thrown away. It is made of plastic with a small glass capsule and liquid inside, and in most places it cannot go in household recycling. For a walk of several hundred people with two each, that is a large bag of waste for one evening.
They are also the cheapest option and children love them. The aim is not perfection. It is to use fewer, and to get back every one you hand out.
Options, compared
| Light | Reusable | Good for | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glow sticks and bracelets | No | Low budgets, young children | Collect at the finish |
| LED wristbands | Yes, if batteries can be replaced or recharged | Events that will repeat | Ask for them back, or sell as a keepsake |
| Clip-on LED lights | Yes | Adults, dogs’ leads, buggies | Many walkers already own one |
| LED tea lights in jars | Yes | Remembrance walks | Jars can be decorated beforehand |
| Head torches | Yes | Marshals, longer routes | Point them down, not into faces |
| Reflective strips and vests | Yes | Being seen by vehicles | Needs a light shining on it to work |
| Fluorescent and white clothing | Yes | Everyone | Free; just ask walkers to wear it |
Five ways to cut waste
- Ask walkers to bring their own light. Many people own a head torch, bike light or fairy lights. Give a prize for the best home-made glow.
- Hand out one, not three. One wristband per walker at registration is enough when the route itself is lit.
- Buy reusable for the crew and the route. Marshals’ lights and route markers are used every year. This is where reusable lights pay for themselves.
- Lend, then collect. If you buy LED wristbands, tell walkers at the briefing that they are borrowed. Put a clearly lit collection box at the finish, before the refreshments.
- Put bins where the lights die. A glow bin at the finish and at the car park exit catches most of them.
Batteries
Reusable lights mean batteries. Choose lights with replaceable or rechargeable cells, remove batteries before storing, and take dead ones to a battery collection point. Button cells are dangerous if swallowed, so keep lights with loose battery covers away from small children.
Avoid sky lanterns and balloons
Released lanterns and balloons come down somewhere as litter, and sky lanterns are a fire risk and a danger to animals. Many landowners and councils do not allow them. Lights that stay in walkers’ hands look just as good.
After the walk
Walk the route with bin bags before you leave, and again in daylight the next morning. Tell the landowner you have done it. It is the difference between being welcomed back and being politely declined next year.
Budgeting for lights? See charity walk budget.