Trail Guardian - Leave it Better Than You Found it

[BrianP]

Before:

After:



In total picked up 15 beer cans, quite the party.

And tomorrow, helping in the 4WDBC cleanup at Triangle Beach.

 

[Murphy Slaw]

Slobs.....

 

[EddieWM10]

Wow this is the greatest idea for a law that is have ever heard. I'm kind of jealous that the first pin was already given out. but I can't wait until I get my own pin.

 

[Kevigizmo]

The whole scheme is a fantastic one as Michael had mentioned in the original article that it is our responsibility to help maintain the trails so that others can enjoy them,

If you spare 15 minutes before or after a trail to help clear up any rubbish you find you will be aiding in the conservation!
Sadly there are many trails which get trashed quite literally due to inconsiderate people dumping rubbish but also fly-tipping larger objects
There are schemes like Tread Lightly and GLASS-UK which promote the trails and how to assist in looking after them - Highly recommend joining them #DoYourBit #TrailGuardian

 

[Neil Q Smith]

I have been involved in Conservation Projects for a long time, which commonly includes rubbish collection and removal.

Also have my own personal policy of cleaning up campsites, so that they are better / cleaner then when we arrived.
I simply hate seeing all the trash "floating around" campsites, due to idel folks.

It's a philosophy and policy that I am trying hard to impress upon my 2 teenage girls, so that they take over this mind-set when they leave home.
It seems to be working...

Perhaps I should look into the idea of organizing a local "Clean-Up Day" with OB Members (and potential future OB Members) located in this part of SW Norway.

Norway coastline suffers from plastic debris "wash-up" - mostly from Europe via North Sea currents.
This has been recently publicised by Sky News, with their "Ocean Rescue" campaign.
http://news.sky.com/feature/sky-ocean-rescue-10734494

If anyone would be interested in joining me for a "Clean-Up Day" in locations around Sandnes, Rogaland, SW Norway, I would like to hear from you.

Working together, to build a better / cleaner future......

 

[B_the_GXdude]

Lol, my family cracks up at me when we stop to 'relax' and I'm walking around filling up the Trasharoo....great program BUT I feel like we should be doing this as Overlanders and lovers of nature, regardless if a coin is involved! I do it once a week EASILY...but you won't find me taking pictures of it all because I'm not looking for praise...just looking to enjoy the areas I trail in a little more. NOTHING against those taking pics of it of course but its our DUTY (in my personal opinion) to do our part in trail clean-up.

 

[Kelso]

I think the coins are a great idea to be given out to those who take the time and dedication to organize and get a group together for a clean up day. As far as cleaning up your camp site and along the trails you run, I agree with the notion that it is essentially our duty and I'd be disappointed if anyone here didn't. I've filled garbage bags with other peoples cigarette butts, bottle tops, toilet paper and much worse just about every time we go camping and often post about it to help spread the message. I think those willing to take it a step further deserve a cool reward, thanks OB!

 

[Anak]

This thread is due for a bump...

I took The Varmints on an AAT run this weekend.

We started at the trailhead for Bailey Canyon. We are supposed to be working on the National Forest lands, but there is county land at the trailhead which people seem to use as an illegal dump site. The county is supposed to clean it up. We still went to work on a bunch of broken glass that used to be someone's aquarium:

Then we went up the trail about a quarter of a mile and went to work on this slope:



We couldn't haul off the concrete rubble, but we got it to look like this:



With a trailer that looked like this:




Then we went another quarter mile up the trail to clean out this little gully:



We put The Varmints to work:



There was one sack that was thoroughly buried and was working to hold back erosion, so we left that one, but we got everything else we could get:



At that point we turned around and went back down the mountain because we knew there was a bunch of roofing material dumped on Cleghorn and we needed to leave room to pick up all that. Little did we know how much was actually there...

 

[Anak]

We found the I-15 entrance to Cleghorn was shut down due to an ATV accident. We split up our crew, sending the truck and trailer around to the Silverwood side of Cleghorn because that was where the roofing was, and the other half of us stayed at the I-15 side to work on cleaning up in the parking area, with intentions of taking the trail across as soon as it opened up.

The parking area was plenty due for some cleanup:



The Varmints were happy to clamber all over the rocks:



And we made a bit of a difference:



But again, we couldn't get it all. That is a pile of roofing, and the gas can is full of used motor oil, but has no cap. And the truck and trailer were on the other side of the mountain.




The pile of roofing at the other side was not just a pickup load. Somebody dumped an entire dump truck of roofing, and right in the middle of the trail too. My guess is that a contractor gave one of his employees cash for dump fees and the employee decided that a weekend's worth of beer was of more value than his own integrity plus however many tires he might ruin:




In order to move this stuff we had to bag it up:



We only had room for a few bags on Saturday, and we came back and hit it again on Sunday and got another 15 bags out. We were at least able to create an open lane. I would estimate we need to get another 40 to 50 bags worth loaded up. This last step was to send a Varmint through with a magnet to collect as many of the nails as possible. And no, the box of bags was not left behind.




There is still plenty more to do.

 

[Ripley1046]

It's amazing what some people feel is acceptable. There aren't many trails in my area, in fact, none that I'm aware of, but my family always cleans up parks and hiking trails when we are on them. We also organize the cleanup days at our local State Forest.

That looks like a big job Anak, but I imagine you had some fun too. Good on you for taking on that project.

I love the Guardian coin idea. Not sure if I'll have a chance to get one, but I'll keep cleaning up what I can as I always have!