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bamboo bob
12-11-2011, 18:48
I have my own rule for dealing with trash found on the trail. I pick it up and pack it out! If every hiker did the same we would put a real dent in the mess and save the Ridge Runners for more important work. I pick up 10 pieces a day, that's it. I will not pick up cigarette butts or "paper flowers" or any trash at shelters. So that's my two cents. Anybody have an idea. As far as my own tp goes, I still have a tough time packing out that really bad "accident" tp but I try to stick to the privys.

Mike2012
12-11-2011, 18:56
Cool! I am planning on picking up trash too. It makes a big difference and is an easy way to give back. I guess there is a theory that people don't chuck things out as much when no one else has. Cigarette butts are a killer PITA. When doing spring roadside cleanups in Maine the most common cigs were red Malboro packs and beers were Budweiser cans. Hard to figure....

Pedaling Fool
12-11-2011, 18:59
Your most productive work would be at Rainbow gatherings:sun

weary
12-11-2011, 19:04
Cool! I am planning on picking up trash too. It makes a big difference and is an easy way to give back. I guess there is a theory that people don't chuck things out as much when no one else has. Cigarette butts are a killer PITA. When doing spring roadside cleanups in Maine the most common cigs were red Malboro packs and beers were Budweiser cans. Hard to figure....
It's more than a theory. I've been picking up trail and shelter trash now for several decades. A clean area tends to stay clean. A trashy area accumulates even more trash. Though the rule applies only to hikers, shelters and trails.

Motorists seem to obey no rules. Those so inclined throw stuff out their windows, regardless of the cleanliness of roadsides.

bamboo bob
12-11-2011, 19:30
Your most productive work would be at Rainbow gatherings:sun lol to that. When doing the FT we hiked through a Rainbow Gathering. It was Occupy Ocalla ahead of its time. Definitely could have used a dumpster.

Another Kevin
12-11-2011, 22:29
I think that Bamboo Bob is preaching to the choir!

I'm just a dayhiker and weekender, but I always pack out trash at least equal to the weight of my consumables. On dayhikes, I lash a big kitchen trash bag to my daypack and often manage to fill it before I go home. A lot of places, especially near the road, are just pigsties.

A word of advice. Do it when nobody's watching, don't try to set an example. I've had some high-school boys who were looking for trouble pitch partially-empty beer cans at me while guffawing, "look at the garbage man! Here, pick these up too!" when I picked up trash near them. Came home stinking like a brewery.

(I'm also tempted to move the lighter blowdown and clean water bars, but around here the trail stewards don't want the civilians doing that. And right now, real life doesn't let me make the consistent time commitment that a trail steward needs to make.)

rocketsocks
12-11-2011, 23:01
I brought a TV out this fall,found it one day and sized it up,and returned with hammer,pliers,4in1 screwdriver,tin snips,and cheese saw.Mostly used the hammer,got some old tube valves out of it I plan to fool with.Put in a garbage bag and an old back pack I have.It was easy and I felt good to do it,try it some time

jacob_springsteen
12-12-2011, 02:45
I pick it up and pack it out! If every hiker did the same we would put a real dent in the mess and save the Ridge Runners for more important work. I pick up 10 pieces a day, that's it.

Now, if we can get every other hiker that hikes though PA to move a few of those sharp-edged rocks out of the way while they hike, then PA's portion of the AT could be fit to hike in 20 years.

hunter121
12-12-2011, 04:15
Ahh! I stand corrected then, Thanks for clearing that up.
http://www.primeaffiliate.com/track/images/20.creation.jpg

Avalanche1
12-12-2011, 11:33
It's great to pick up trash. If only we could get people to stop dropping it on the trail!

Jim Adams
12-12-2011, 16:32
I've spent alot of time on the A.T. and I pick up every piece of litter that I find. I don't think that I have ever seen 10 pieces of litter on the trail in 1 day....the shelters and shelter areas are a different story.
geek

bamboo bob
12-12-2011, 16:42
The further you go in the back country the less litter but not always true. Also litter from thruhikers is not any less than people climbing a hill for an hour. I notice in some places that have been used for decades as high school beer spots, there's plenty of broken bottle debris from the good old days. Another increase in bulk trash is at trail heads. I've seen houshold trash and mattresses, TV's all sorts of stuff. I think that in the last maybe 15 years there's been an increase in dumping fees. $10 for bringing an old mattress to the dump is enough to motivate some people to drive into the woods. Construction debris can be nasty. Some moron dumped a dozen old aluminum storm windows into a creak 200 yards from my house. My brother-in-law picked it all up and we drove all around looking for a local house with new windows. We found one, but couldn't prove anything. But I think that was a result of increased dump fees.

sbhikes
12-12-2011, 20:52
I take pictures of the trash before I pick it up. Then when I write a blog post about it on my website, I'll show the trash and complain about what pigs those people were for leaving it.

I draw the line at TP/kleenex and dog poop in a bag. I just don't understand the dog poop in a bag. For crying out loud, if you're going to leave it there, just let the dog poop without the bag. And no, you are all lying if you say you pick it up on the way back. I've never seen anyone do that. The poop is always still there on the way back and I always go further up the trail than everybody else, so I know there's nobody coming to get their poop bag.

JAK
12-12-2011, 21:25
The road to hell is paved with best intentions, and littered with poop in plastic bags.

hikerboy57
12-12-2011, 21:33
why do people carry their dogs poop?why arent the dogs carrying ours?signs of intelligent life out there?

rocketsocks
12-13-2011, 00:08
I pick it up and put it in my pocket......................keeps my hands warm;)