Do you take time to leave it better than you found it?

[theBROFESSOR]

In the last week the wife and I have been over just a small portion of the Ozark National Forest and I have found that there is so much trash everywhere! I have filled up my trasharoo about 3X this week, maybe more. From beer cans to dirty diapers to socks and shoes...its crazy. From deer hunters to moms it seems there are so many people out there who do not care about trashing up our beautiful earth.

Does it matter to you to take a little time to leave it better than you found it? Do you pack latex gloves or some other protection in your rig for this? I have not up to this point but probably will from now on.

Show your pics of taking care of our earth that we are blessed to have!

 

[Kevin108]

We always pack out more than we pack in. People like us will never be plentiful enough to keep up with the people who leave messes, but coming home with the pride of having left the place better than you found it is always worth the effort.

 

[slomatt]

I've had friends tease me for stopping suddenly in the middle of a trail to jump out and pick up a beer can.

 

[Quicksilver]

Yup. I have a Plano box for the roof that's just for trash. We use yard bags with the cinch ties, and even though we don't generate a lot of trash ourselves, we can usually fill a bag in a couple of days between our own stuff and what we find.

 

[TerryD]

We take the time to pick up and I try to carry some kind of trash bag with me. Everywhere you stop you'll find enough trash to fill a bag. The forest service road up behind my house is less than a mile from the transfer station for our counties trash and I'm always amazed at the volume of trash people haul up there and dump. Couches, big screen tv's, and bags and bags of household trash that these people already pay the county to pickup at their houses!!!

 

[theBROFESSOR]

I stuff the top zippered pocket of my Trasharoo with plastic bags from WalMart or Kroger. Make sure it easier to stop and pick up things instead of using a larger bag. I also carry some larger bags in case they are needed. It’s just amazing how much we have found even going back to the same places. I guess it’s worse now since it’s deer season and many people are living in the woods. Not sure why the Forestry Commission doesn’t police these camps a little better.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

I've had friends tease me for stopping suddenly in the middle of a trail to jump out and pick up a beer can.

Yeah I get that too. Why is it always beer cans? Why don’t people who drink Dr Pepper or Come throwntheir cans out? I’ve always wondered this. Lol

 

[Stone74]

I always carry out what I can of other peoples trash.

 

[phxdsrtrat]

I learned it from my dad and I'm passing those ways onto my son. Any place you go leave it better than you found it. Whether we are hiking, camping or in the truck on a trail if we see trash we grab it.

-Curtiss

 

[Stone74]

I learned it from my dad and I'm passing those ways onto my son. Any place you go leave it better than you found it. Whether we are hiking, camping or in the truck on a trail if we see trash we grab it.

-Curtiss

Same here. My dad as told my brother and I to always try and leave it better than the way you found it, both trails and camp sites.

Sent from my VS995 using OB Talk mobile app

 

[Flipper]

We pick up trash everywhere we go in our travels.

 

[adventure_is_necessary]

Leave it better than you found it. That was something that we stressed in Boy Scouts.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

Put this thing to good use again this past weekend. The Trasharoo is perfect since I have picked up a ton of dirty diapers in the last couple weeks. Sure don't want them inside stinking up my vehicle. Also love these huge caribeeners I picked up at Lowes that hold everything at the campsite including the kitchen sink, dish towel to dry out and Kroger sack in which I used to pick up other peoples trash who left it for me at the campsite.

 

[Six Actual]

I think that most of the folks that signed up to be part of this community share the same philosophy on the outdoors in general. I think we all have it to be good stewards of the areas we travel. It really is a bummer for me to come up on a site where someone has camped and left it a mess. Diapers or other loads buried 1" below the surface (then dug up by critters), broken glass from target shooting, long term camper's dump sites... we've all seen it. I even found five misfired 9mm rounds in a fire pit someone left as a nice surprise for us. I wish everyone respected the outdoors, but as with everything in life, there are always a few that don't get it.

We typically skip over a site that has been jacked up and look for better options on our way in. Only because I don't want to have a Trasharoo or other sack of people's trash in my camp, especially in areas with high bear traffic. Instead, we stop by those spots on our way back out and collect as much as we can.

I'd be down to head out on a dedicated trash run. Take a day (or two) and hit a trail to scoop up any trash we find. Be a good way to meet folks in our region too. If we don't try to fix it, who will?

 

[theBROFESSOR]

I think that most of the folks that signed up to be part of this community share the same philosophy on the outdoors in general. I think we all have it to be good stewards of the areas we travel. It really is a bummer for me to come up on a site where someone has camped and left it a mess. Diapers or other loads buried 1" below the surface (then dug up by critters), broken glass from target shooting, long term camper's dump sites... we've all seen it. I even found five misfired 9mm rounds in a fire pit someone left as a nice surprise for us. I wish everyone respected the outdoors, but as with everything in life, there are always a few that don't get it.

We typically skip over a site that has been jacked up and look for better options on our way in. Only because I don't want to have a Trasharoo or other sack of people's trash in my camp, especially in areas with high bear traffic. Instead, we stop by those spots on our way back out and collect as much as we can.

I'd be down to head out on a dedicated trash run. Take a day (or two) and hit a trail to scoop up any trash we find. Be a good way to meet folks in our region too. If we don't try to fix it, who will?

I like it. Dedicated trash runs. We need to see more of these on the calendar. We will discuss that at our next meet and greet here in AR.

 

[Tyler.W]

I am about to order a Trasharoo for this purpose. It is heartbreaking to see how much trash is left on the side of the trails we drive.

 

[Dario Carrera]

Every time I go out I take huge trash bags, maybe 20-30 of them. My friends and I always try to leave it as pristine as possible. When there are other people camping around us we usually approach them to hand them out trash bags so they pick it up and take it with them. The sad truth is most people who venture out to campsites don't pick anything up. We try to pick ours up and more...

 

[soonersfan]

Yeah I get that too. Why is it always beer cans? Why don’t people who drink Dr Pepper or Come throwntheir cans out? I’ve always wondered this. Lol

I live in the country and I've often wondered this same thing because every time I mow, I find them outside my front fence. My conclusion is that beer cans/bottles are evidence. I think the classy people who drive around drinking while driving like to dispose of the open containers as efficiently as possible wherever they happen to be when they become empty. Eventually it becomes a habit, like throwing your cigarette butts on the ground.

That is easily my biggest pet peeve when it comes to littering. Many smokers seem to be under the impression that throwing their butts out isn't even littering. In Oklahoma, it seems that a large grass fire is started every year from a cigarette butt. I've seen smokers who I would consider responsible people do this and think it's completely acceptable. Drives me nuts.

 

[theBROFESSOR]

I live in the country and I've often wondered this same thing because every time I mow, I find them outside my front fence. My conclusion is that beer cans/bottles are evidence. I think the classy people who drive around drinking while driving like to dispose of the open containers as efficiently as possible wherever they happen to be when they become empty. Eventually it becomes a habit, like throwing your cigarette butts on the ground.

That is easily my biggest pet peeve when it comes to littering. Many smokers seem to be under the impression that throwing their butts out isn't even littering. In Oklahoma, it seems that a large grass fire is started every year from a cigarette butt. I've seen smokers who I would consider responsible people do this and think it's completely acceptable. Drives me nuts.

I couldn't agree more. Im not a smoker per se but I do enjoy a cigar on occasion. Two of my all time pet peeves are people that throw trash out the windows of their vehicles and those who throw cigarette butts out. As a police officer I can't tell you how many times I have had the opportunity to "educate" people that this is littering. When they find out in our city that the citation carries with it a $700 fine and a mandatory 2 days in jail they are more than willing to promise to never do it again. How can you really not think this is littering or care when you do it? I don't understand.

 

[Kent R]

Ever since our group adopted a trail in the El Dorado National Forest we have made it a point to bring our Trasharoo's with us on every trail run just so we can bring what we find out.