Leave No Trace Principles for Parks, Playgrounds and Beyond
Leave No Trace Principles for Parks, Playgrounds and Beyond
Many outdoor enthusiasts are increasingly aware of the impact that their actions have on the environment. In order to minimize their negative footprint, they know they should take certain basic steps whenever they camp, hike, or otherwise engage in outdoor activities. Unfortunately, the steps that people often take aren't enough. When it comes to human interaction with the environment, even seemingly harmless actions may cause significant damage. Before embarking on an outdoor excursion, it's important to understand what one should and should not do.
What Is "Leave No Trace"?
Leave no trace is a set of seven principles that minimize one's negative impact on the environment when engaging in outdoor activities. The seven leave no trace principles are:
Plan and prepare.
Travel and camp on durable surfaces.
Dispose of waste properly.
Leave what you find.
Minimize the impact of campfires.
Respect wildlife.
Be considerate of others.
People should follow these guidelines whenever they are enjoying the outdoors, regardless of whether they are engaging in activities that are reachable by car or backcountry activities that are only reachable by hiking, climbing, or boating.
Low-Impact Camping Trips
Whether a camping trip is a weekend-long event or a simple overnight excursion, campers need to have more than just a tent and camping supplies. They need a plan for how to safely coexist with their natural surroundings and minimize their impact. Fortunately, camping can be both fun and low-impact. There are several simple steps that can help campers successfully accomplish this.
Learn as much as possible about the campground in advance, and get a map to better navigate the area during the trip
Camp with a small group, ideally six people or fewer. This reduces both noise and any physical damage to the campsite.
Try to plan and prep meals that don't require cooking and won't create excess waste.
Always remember to "pack it in, pack it out." This means that anything brought into the campground should be taken back out at the end of the trip, regardless of what it is.
Dispose of human waste properly by either bagging it and taking it when one leaves or burying it in a cathole. Before digging catholes, one must understand where to dig them and how to do it.
Limit activities to areas where there's no vegetation, particularly areas of high use. One should also only walk or hike on designated trails and paths.
Don't alter the campsite or the vegetation surrounding it. For example, one should not cut or break off branches from trees.
When creating a campfire, try to use existing campfire rings and wood that's on the ground. If there's no loose wood in the vicinity, skip the fire entirely.
Carry a portable stove for cooking. Stoves have less of an environmental impact and create less smoke.
Practice campfire safety by extinguishing fires completely before retiring at night and before leaving the site.
Stay away from wildlife. If animals are in the area, watch them cautiously from a distance.
Don't disturb the animals or other visitors. Avoid loud music and other loud noises that may annoy neighboring campers and disrupt nearby wildlife.
How to Hike and Leave No Trace
On every hiking trip, people must adhere to the leave no trace principles. That said, one can still have a fun trip without disrupting nature. To successfully accomplish this, hikers should know how to put these principles into action.
Hikers should plan and educate themselves about the area they'll be hiking in. This includes learning about the predicted weather and the terrain.
Pick up any trash, even trash left by other hikers. Even biodegradable items like banana peels should never be tossed aside and left behind.
Avoid taking shortcuts off of designated trails, as this can cause damage to the land. For instance, cryptobiotic soil is a type of soil found in certain desert areas that contains organisms that one can easily destroy if they go off trail and accidentally step on it. Walking in a single-file line can help prevent this as well as the trampling of plants, and it will also prevent hikers and climbers from inadvertently widening trails.
Leave rocks as they are, and don't stack them. Building rock cairns can lead to soil erosion and the disruption of micro-ecosystems.
Don't pick wildflowers or any type of plant while hiking. Picking flowers is a destructive behavior that disrupts birds, small animals, and insects that may depend on them.
While hiking, follow posted trail rules and signs. These are in place to protect both hikers and the environment.
Try to go without a campfire. If a campfire is necessary, keep it small and within an existing fire ring.
If hiking with pets, keep them on a leash to protect them from wild animals and from disturbing other hikers.
Hikers should always keep their distance from wild animals and make just enough noise to avoid startling any that may be nearby.
Don't feed human food to wildlife. Human food can make animals sick, and feeding them can lead to the spread of disease from animals to humans. Giving food to wild animals may also make them overly comfortable or aggressive toward humans, which can lead to the injury or death of either.
Additional Reading on Environmentally Friendly Practices
Indoor and Outdoor Residential Water Conservation Checklist: Checklists are a useful way to ensure that any task or goal is met. People can keep up with their water conservation goals with this checklist of indoor and outdoor water conservation steps.
Water Conservation: Summer droughts have a huge impact on one's landscape. Visit this page for quick tips on landscaping and water conservation.
25 Ways to Save Water: Conserving water is a step that everyone should take to help prevent water shortages. This page gives its readers 25 ways to reduce their water usage.
Environmentally Conscious Purchasing: Visit this page to learn more about environmentally conscious purchasing, green products, and whether they actually make a difference.
How to Recycle and Why: Recycling is one of the most familiar eco-friendly solutions around, yet it is still confusing for many. This page explains why, how, where, and what to recycle.
Recycling Basics: The United States Environmental Protection Agency presents basic information regarding the benefits and steps associated with recycling.
What Is E-Waste Recycling, and How Is it Done? Anyone who uses electronics has had or will have electronic waste. To learn more about how it is recycled and the challenges involved, click on this link.
The Four R's: Read about or listen to brief explanations of what it means to reduce, reuse, recycle, and rethink.
How to Build a Pollinator Garden: This U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service page explains how gardeners can build a garden for pollinators.
Pollinator Gardens: On this page, people interested in creating a pollinator garden can read how to choose plants and plant them.
Pollinator Gardening Guide: This guide is meant to explain pollination, why pollinators need human support, and how to choose plants that will attract them.
Pollinator Garden: Even people living in desert areas can help feed pollinators. This document provides readers with useful information regarding plants that are drought-tolerant and ideal for desert landscaping. It also discusses which plants best attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Green Cars: Quick Guide: Anyone who has ever wondered what makes a car green will find the answers to their questions in this article. The page offers answers to questions such as what powers green cars and what kinds of green cars are out there.
Why Buy Green? There are a lot of choices that a person has to make when buying a new car, including whether to buy a traditional car or a green one.
How Riding a Bike Benefits the Environment: Riding a bicycle has positive benefits for one's physical health and the environment. On this page, readers will find four green reasons to ride a bike versus a car.
12 Ways to Live, Work, and Play More Sustainably: Visit this page for a list of 12 ways to live sustainably. Each item on the list has a brief description that will help readers better understand how to accomplish it.
