Trash on the Trails

As someone who frequents parks and trails on a regular basis, I run across trash on the trails from time to time.  Some trails are more kept up and cleaner than others.  One of the things that I have been doing for a number of years now is picking up trash when I see it on the trails.  I know that it is not necessarily my obligation to pick up the trash, but I feel that it’s the right thing to do.  Yes, there may be park or forestry rangers and staff that will pick up the trash, but as you probably know, it’s not their primary job and they can’t get to all of it.

Why pick up the trash you ask?  The amount of effort it takes to pick up a piece of trash is very minimal. There are times when the trash is too big for you to carry on your hike, but typically it’s a small wrapper or piece of paper. When litter bugs (the offenders) see trash on the trail, they see it as an open invitation to add to the mess. There is no sign that says please throw trash on the ground, but for many people, if they see one person doing something, they often think it’s ok for them to do the same.  If you see a piece of trash and pick it up, you can sometimes end or prevent the vicious cycle of people thinking it’s ok to litter.

Now some people don’t want to pick up a wrapper or piece of trash because it’s gross or there are germs associated with the trash.  Trust me, I’ve been picking up pieces of trash on the trails for a long time now and I have never gotten sick.  All you really have to do is pick up the trash, through it in your pocket or pack and forget about it until you get back.

There are a few groups of outdoors people that are bigger offenders than others when it comes to littering. And while I hate to stereotype, hunters and fishermen are often the biggest offenders.  For some reason, when people are close to the water, they think the beach or shore is their personal trash can.  This is not the case, so if you find yourself in this category, please do us all a favor and pick up after yourself. Hunters, the same goes for you.  I imagine after you take a shot, the last thing you think about is to picking up your shell.  I hate to break it to you, but the plastic, metal, steel, etc. doesn’t compost easily and the shells are an eye sore.  I know that I am stereotyping a tad, and I am sure there are a number of fishermen and hunters that clean up after themselves.  Thank you for that if you are in this group.

One of the programs that is very good with cleaning up litter and helping educate people about the effects of trash on the trails is Leave No Trace.  This organization does much more than talk about littering and I highly suggest taking a look at their principals.

Next time you’re out at the park or on the trail and you see a piece of trash, please do the right thing and pick it up.

Sincerely,

Kevin Fonger
Founder – ActiveGearReview.com