Thanx for the tree ideas. HD and Lowes has old tree drop offs that go to compost and chipped mulch in some counties. Counties and municipalities then provide these materials free to residents. The compost soil can be "black gold" as good or better as store bought compost. After needles have drooped some counties will weight the discarded trees and sink them in reservoirs for fish habitat for bass, crappies, fish forage, etc. As Gator suggested doing on one's own property Wilderness Area and Game Lands sometimes use old Christmas tree piles for small animal habitat.
Umm, on the AT are growing apple trees and banana 'trees' - Appalachian banana.
About 53 years ago my father decided it would be a good thing for me to pick up trash between our house and the neighbor down the road.Every kid should have a chance to do that because there would be no litter anywhere,period.I have never littered anywhere and I do make a point to pack out my tp in a special sanitary bag which gets hung at night with everything else.However,I will cut a briar out of my way when pitching my tarp,hope that's not too extreme.(I figure it will grow back anyway)
I have walked on a trail and tossed my orange peel on the ground right off the trail. I was on the Florida Trail standing beside an orange tree with about 50 oranges rotting on the ground around me. They appear to decompose easily in Florida. I've watched deer eating apples, in Grayson Highlands Park not far from the AT, under apple trees. I didn't eat an apple and toss the core but it wouldn't have made a difference to the deer. We used to have a mountain home on an old abandoned farm. There were apple trees everywhere and we were never overrun by wild animals. They ate apples while they were there and then moved on. We live just outside a very big city and deer frequent our home and eat just about every plant we put out, especially hostas. Maybe we shouldn't expose them to such a diet (they seem to like it) but maybe they will hang around our area and not be killed during hunting season in the woods. But I don't leave orange peels on the AT or the MST because they don't belong there. There are sections of the Florida Trail where orange peels don't belong but don't tell the growers!
When I passed through Grayson Highlands I was shocked to discover that another hiker, whom I heard complain about hunger, had yogi-ed an apple and was packing out the core. I was so hungry I couldn't fathom throwing away a perfectly good core.
Dropping stem and seeds don't seem to create the same issues. Just don't try to eat too many of the seeds and never toast them as they can be fatal.
John McPhee wrote an interesting book called "Oranges," published in 1967. Not too long and worth reading.
"It goes to show you never can tell." - Charles Edward Anderson Berry
Plant life has been migrating for all of time. But no one is suggesting that it would be ok to start growing new plants along the trail. An orange or banana peel buried near the AT won't grow an orange or banana, but it will provide nutrients to the plants that are already there.
No environmental damage is done, so this argument really comes down to aesthetics. Just make sure I don't have to see your fruit peelings. Simple as that.
We usually are very sensitive about dropping anything, even the tiniest piece, around heavily used areas, like along the trail, on summits, lookout points etc.
Other people do or don't care depending if there is already litter around or not.
Out in nature (away from trails) I won't hesistate to drop or maybe bury everything thats biodegradeable.
What about coffee grounds?
At the home campfire I will make a single cup of cowboy coffee and near the end give it a swish and toss the grounds into my bushes. Would this be okay on the AT or totally inappropriate? Rather than tossing off into the bushes what about burying in my cathole with the other brown stuff?
If a Sasquatch slips on a banana peel on the trail, it's going to come looking for you.
I bury my banana peels 50 feet under the ground.
I throw them as far off the trail as I can.