Pack It in Pack it Out
We all need an attitude adjustment occasionally. Leave No Trace (LNT) is not just an
organization dedicated to keeping all outdoors pristine; it is more than
anything an “attitude”. It is a concern
for the individual coming after finding no evidence of our having been there.
As an AT Ridgerunner in the Great Smoky Mountain National
Park for the past eleven seasons, I have encouraged all to practice LNT and
cleaned up after those who have been less inclined to do so.I have packed out hundreds of lbs of trash per season, from sleeping bags and tents, to food wrappers and everything in between. I have found no better way to contain quantities of accumulated wrappers and food containers than ordinary plastic bottles. Please note the collection of some of the beverage bottles I filled to bring out, clean, odorless and sealed.
The preferred bottle is an empty Gatorade which has a large enough lid and spout to put smashed cans in along with foil, plastic and paper wrappers, etc. A 33oz Gatorade bottle can hold a week’s worth of trash from several people.
The photos I have uploaded represent weekly trash accumulations and representative trash packed in a bottle, in this case a 16oz water bottle cut open to show its’ contents on the ground, in a plastic grocery bag and in the bottle, right hand upper corner prone on a rock of the final picture.
Do you have an attitude?
Keep hiking and pack it in pack it out!
