Years ago I started a thread that challenged people to come up with a working deffinition of what it means to LNT. There was a lot of thoughtful discussion. What I took away from it all was that trying to apply a strict and literal deffinition of leaving no trace is futile. Instead, I was drawn to the principle that one should try to enjoy nature in a way that does not diminish others' ability to enjoy nature now and in the future. By that standard I would say that tossing an apple core may or may not be appropriate, depending on how it is done.
This is a confessional, not a prescription to others:
Apple Cores: I toss them where no one is going to see them. Honestly, after a day on the trail I get hungry enough that I can gnaw those things down to a sliver anyway.
Banana Peels: Don't bring them, would not toss them if I did.
Orange Peels: Take them home, they do not belong in the Northeast woods
Sunflower Seed Husks: Errrr, you guys have not noticed what I have been doing with those, have you?
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
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Some people naively think the shortest answer is always the only answer. "Pack it in. Pack it out." But those people don't pack out their poop. They bury it because 1) Poop decomposes and actually adds nutrients, and 2) When buried and 200+ feet from the trail it rarely impacts anyone.
The same applies to plant life you carried, such as that being discussed in this thread. It's unsightly, so don't throw it on the ground as you hike. When you go 200 feet from the trail with your trowel you aren't going to harm the environment by making the hole a bit bigger for your organge peels. That orange peel, like the other decaying vegetation on the forest floor, creates rich top soil. You RECYCLE responsibly this way. Don't throw it in the next garbage can so someone can pay to take it to a big hole (landfill) they paid someone else to dig.
Someone asked how we might feel if others dumped all their fruit peelings in my front yard. Bring it! Finding good compost material is time consuming. Please, bring me truck loads of that stuff.
This ^^^
Apples are part of a natural diet for many wild animals. Apples (although not Golden Delicious etc) are found in the natural environment, they degrade quickly or are eaten. Bananas are not natural (here) and the skins take forever to break down, as do orange peels, and they are not eaten. My only thought with apple cores is to make sure they are discarded far away from view and from the trail/water source/camp. I have thrown the occasional one into large patches of brush.
I think trash ends up on the ground because we don't forward think about where some items would go if uneaten, like extra pasta, or orange rind, etc. Not everything can or should go into a fire. Guess we should all be taking the equivalent of doggie poop bags to account for whatever trash we have that needs a proper home somewhere down the line?
"I wonder if anyone else has an ear so tuned and sharpened as I have, to detect the music, not of the spheres, but of earth, subtleties of major and minor chord that the wind strikes upon the tree branches. Have you ever heard the earth breathe... ?"
- Kate Chopin
Some people subscribe to a more rigid code of LNT than others. Strict interpretation suggests anything one brings discarded into the woods is in conflict with LNT tenets. The degrees of interpretation cascades all the way down being ok to toss aside food remnants or grind cigarette butts into the dirt since they "eventually break down".
It can be surprising how long "perishable" food waste like orange rinds and banana peels last in the open environment. It can also be surprising what type of wildlife are attracted by casual disposal of food remains, the chief reason rodents cluster around camping areas. On a more broad scale, tossing food remnants alongside a trail corridor will encourage wide ranging foraging animals like bears to walk the trail for ease of movement and some treats along the way.
Buried, these items tend to break down much faster, which is the best solution if packing that stuff out is an inconvenience.
So the answer to the question if it's OK to toss food remains into the woods comes down to where one's interpretation of LNT tenets are.
Last edited by Traveler; 01-04-2019 at 08:40.
So if you had a banana peel or orange peel, is it OK to bury it, or should you pack it out and put it in the trash (and thus, landfill)?
[QUOTE=Tipi Walter;2233205]I get your vehemence so here's a question---Do you therefore pack out all your urine and feces???
Urine is more than 95% (sterile) water (unless you have UTI). Feces is already a decomposed matter.
I leave them in the backyard out of the way. This creates microhabitat for different species, in particular some pollinators. I've got a branch pile next to my compost bin for that purpose. I toss small branches into the compost bin after trimming trees and bushes then pull them out once the leaves drop off. I used to burn the branches and an occasional Christmas tree in the garden but I have raised beds now.
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Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
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I so wish I had taken a picture of the sign or knew exactly how far north on the AT I was; but I saw a LNT sign that referred to this thread. It started with the typical, “Don’t feed the Wildlife” sign showing a Black Bear. However, this one went on to explain that “Wildlife” included much more than one species and had pictures of birds, squirrels and Chipmunks. It specifically addressed Orange peels and processed nuts. The biggest issue is that it provides easy non naturally obtained food that isn’t part of that areas specific ballanced ecosystem. I must admit I had occasionally thrown Cutie Orange peels far into the woods because I hated seeing them dropped right on the trail; which was way to common of an occurrence. After this sign I tightened my LNT definition. I also noticed that the chipmunks were worse than mice when eating at Northern shelters. I wondered how they would fair when easy dropped human food became scarce. I tend now to believe that “if you pack it in, pack it out”.
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Generally NO.
People have been disqualified from trail running events in the Western USA for dropping a banana peel. When they objected the RD answered "Do you see any banana trees around here?"
So go ahead and drop them under apple and banana trees, but nowhere else please.
Pistachio shells make great starting tinder for a nice fire. Then burn the apple core and banana peel. Problem solved. Although I'm sure the anti-campfire crowd will disapprove.
We live on the edge of a deciduous hardwood swamp. We have LOTS of branch pile habitat, and lots of cute little critters wandering through the yard. We have a wonderful time early in the morning, out on the porch with a thermos of coffee, watching the little fellas play. Since the evergreen is a foreign species, and only once a year, I figure the "torch" isn't going to hurt anything. Love what you're doing, though! You're creating for yourself what nature created for me!