The Yukon 1,000 is a challenge that has been on the cards for the last few years but is now seemingly rather apt as Im about to turn 40 in September.

This event will see me seek to paddle 18 hours per day, continuously for up to 10 days, to complete 1,000 miles self-supported in an open canoe from Canada up into the Artic Circle in Alaska. All with the unceremonious finish being the Dalton Highway Bridge, the last road crossing of the Yukon.

Completely self sufficient, using poorly mapped channels and sleeping rough where we stop, this will be a unique adventure in the most isolated grizzly and black bear territory in the world. More people have been up Everest than past Dawson City.

So why do it? This is something personal and is about maintaining a sense of adventure. I wanted to show that youre never too old (or too stupid to push oneself) and to inspire my own children and hopefully others in the wonderment of exploration, and the beautiful vast natural world of ours in which we are so fortunate to live. That and in doing so, the importance of understanding the impact we have upon the environment and our carbon footprint throughout the course of our lives.

As part of this I will be offsetting my lifetime carbon footprint and you can do the same too. £3,125 will enable Reduce Our Carbon to plant 1,250 trees which at 20 kg per year offset conservative over a 40-year lifespan (800 kg per tree) equates to 1,000,000 kg of CO2, or 1,000 tonnes of carbon.

It is estimated that in the UK, our yearly impact is an average of 10 tonnes of carbon per person. Hence that equates to my own footprint of 400 tones to date, and seeing as I like round numbers Im targeting to offset 1,000 tonnes of CO2, which would see me through until the ripe old age of 100. I am going to do the hard work for you, but whilst my hands are ripped raw, blistered and Im in the wilderness with extreme fatigue questioning my rationale behind this, why dont you think about hitting a tonne and offsetting a centurys worth of your carbon footprint?

Or whatever you can to help make a diffence and hopefully making me think this is somewhat of a good idea!

The charity dear to my heart is Reduce Our Carbon Charitable Foundation. We set up and support community-led sustainable reforestation and smokeless stove projects in Central America. Planting trees and reducing indoor open fire cooking in poor communities is one of the best ways to combat climate change and health inequalities. The agroforestry and smokeless stoves programme is contributing to the achievement of four of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal Three - Good health and wellbeing, Goal Seven - Affordable and clean energy, Goal Eleven - Sustainable cities and communities and Goal Thirteen - climate action. It is quick and affordable and will buy additional time for humanity to move to a low-carbon economy and reduce CO2 emissions. With our model, donors can use the carbon sequestered by the trees and stoves to offset their carbon footprint while at the same time providing direct support to families most impacted by deforestation and climate change. Our community agroforestry model helps to improve the lives of our participants, and our smokless stoves elongate lives.

For £3,125 you can do so yourself through Reduce Our Carbon planting 1,250 trees and one smokeless stove for every family household involved in the community. Or alternatively, please give what you can to help make this a worthwhile undertaking and raise all that we can to make a positive impact in the fight against climate change.

The time to make a difference is now.