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As a Green and Wellbeing initiative for the Division we walked to the moon. We invited all of our community - staff, students and alumni - to take part.
#PALSMoonWalk Universal Trotting Announcement...
We did it!!
We have walked from the UCL Bloomsbury campus all the way to the moon. As a community, we've taken 477,710,000 steps to walk a whopping 238,855 miles since we launched our #PALSMoonWalk sustainability and wellbeing initiative.
Many thanks to everyone that took part - every step made a big impact.
Previous announcements
How can I get involved?
Simply enter the number of steps you have taken (as regularly as you'd like) on the PALS MoonWalk Dashboard by clicking here.
We will keep the total number of steps up to date on that page, and will also post on social media with our progress using the #PALSMoonWalk hashtag. We would love to have your support, both steps and promoting our mission to the moon.
How can I record my step count?
There are a number of ways you can monitor the number of steps you are taking.
1. Manually count them.
You may have some spare cognitive capacity to keep a count of your every step. However, this could become cognitively cumbersome. A tip here would be to work out the distance you've walked and then convert it into steps.
2. Use the in-built software on your smartphone.
If you have a smartphone, then it is likely that it will have an in-built step counter. For example, iPhones have a built-in pedometer that counts your every step and will display the count in your 'Health' app. Click here to watch a Youtube video explaining how to find out your step count on an iPhone. Note that other brands of smartphones are available ;-)
3. Download a 3rd party app onto your smartphone.
There are lots of amazing activity tracker apps that you can download if you don't like the in-built step counter in your smartphone. For example Google Fit, Nike Training Club, Strava and Runkeeper are just a few.
4. Use an activity tracker.
Activity trackers (e.g. smartwatches, Fitbit, Garmin and Apple Watch) are wearable technology devices that measure data such as the number of steps walked, your heart rate and other personal metrics involved in fitness. They will all have an in-built step counter.
Tips and tricks to increase your step count
- Don't take the lift, take stairs!
- Walk during your next phone call.
- Walk to somebody instead of emailing/calling them.
- Take a walk during your lunch break.
- (Moon)Walk your way into UCL at the start of the day, and (moon)walk home too (or just MoonWalk one way).
- Start a competition with a colleague, friend or family member to see who can walk more steps in a month.
- Set yourself a daily or weekly target... and go for it!!
PALS have reached another significant milestone: PALS MoonWalkers have literally walked around the world. We have now taken over 49.8million steps since we launched our #PALSMoonWalk sustainability and wellbeing initiative. 49.8million steps is a whopping 24,901 miles (40,074km) - enough to walk the circumference of the Earth!
If we'd have:
- flown by aeroplane we'd have used ~7.5 metric tons of CO2.
- driven that distance by car, we'd have used ~12 metric tons of CO2.
- flown in SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket we'd have burned ~400 metric tons of kerosene and more carbon dioxide than an average car would in more than two centuries.
We just wanted to say thanks to everyone taking part - every small step is making a big impact.
... and to those that haven't yet signed up... it's not too late! We'd love you to help us reach the moon. You too can be a PALS MoonWalker, and you can make a huge impact by backdating your steps to October 2019!
