Trail litter-Do you pick it up?

[LavaFalls]

Over the years, I have/we have seen trail litter from the cigarette butts to "avian", "Poland Spring" water bottles, to sleeping bags, etc. I have been on club hikes and see folks walk past the litter and no effort to collect it. These are the same folks that call out for trail preservation, maintenance, etc. So my question is....to all reading this...you pack out the glass/plastic bottle, the other bits of litter/garbage you see on the trail? I am curious as to how much of this takes place, picking up the junk left behind by the lazy, the drunk, the apathetic. The overwhelming majority of folks out there pack it out. I am just curious on why the same folks would walk past the beer bottle, plastic food containers, etc. What is the issue of just picking up one item and carry it out?
LavaFalls

 

[Scubahhh]

I usually carry a plastic shopping or trash bag in the stretchy front pocket of my pack and p[ick up little stuff like TP (lots of that right on the trail in the spring!), candy bar wrappers, Bud Light cans, etc. I think a lot of people will tell you they would but are worried about infection; I'd also submit their concerns are largely unfounded.

HYOH & Have fun!

 

[TCD]

I'm also surprised that most people seem to walk right by things. People seem to want to just keep moving, and not stop to pick up litter, or to toss a small blowdown off the trail. I'm always surprised when I see a beaten path that has developed around a downed branch, that I easily pick up and toss off the trail.

Regarding trash specifically, I think we've had prior threads on that. I pick up what I can. I do NOT pick up toilet paper, bandaids, etc. based on potential for contamination, but I have no problem with cans, bottles, candy wrappers, etc.

By number of objects, the largest category seems to be the corners of energy bar wrappers. I think it's an unfortunate feature of the packaging of these, that when opening them, a small corner tends to tear off. Even the attentive my not notice that they have dropped the corner piece, so I don't think all these folks are necessarily slobs. But there's no excuse for cans and bottles; you can't drop those without noticing it...

 

[sierra]

I do not pick up litter. I do move blowdowns and have a fetish for cleaning water bars.

 

[Mike P.]

Do's: Some water bars, candy & food wrappers, a plastic bottle or two, some glass, some blowdowns.

Sometimes: tissues if they look clean & I don't have a pocket full of trash

Don'ts: butts, TP

Usually one pocket in my shorts or pants is for trash, an empty bottle may end up in my pack.

 

[hikerbrian]

Sometimes. I'll almost always pick up litter on trails that are off the beaten path. There's usually not much litter, and I place a lot of value on keeping those areas pristine. On other trails (Lonesome Lake trail, for instance, which I hiked this past weekend) it just feels like a lost cause. I rarely do daytrips (I'm almost always out at least one night), and I'm not keen to carry someone else's trash for more than a day. I also rarely have a free pocket - one pocket contains shell mittens, another has my face mask, a ProBar, map, etc. In the summer, different story, I usually carry out whatever I see (short of used TP and bandaids). Everything is just easier in the summer.

 

[Tom Rankin]

I am more likely to remove litter on the way down. I do have my limits, as others have said. I move a lot of sticks off the trail, it's quite easy with a pole. Sometimes I even tackle a blowdown, but you have to be careful, I've had a couple of close calls and even 1 minor injury!

I must confess my latest piece of 'litter' was a nice pair of sunglasses!

 

[DayTrip]

I have to say I don't generally pick up trash. When I do it is generally the stuff that seems like it was an accident, like the corners of energy bar wrappers, bottle caps, hiking pole tips, old spikes, etc. Feel like I "got someone's back" who meant well when I pick up these types of things. Stuff that was obviously dumped like a huge pile of orange peels, toilet paper, etc I almost never pick up because it infuriates me and I don't want to be inconvenienced by it in any way,which I get is not rational but in my mind it is like I'm rewarding the bad behavior by taking care of it. Seems like you never see the person in the act though. And to hikerbrian's point there are definitely trails where it seems to be a futile effort to even bother.

Definitely something I need to change my attitude on. Feels hypocritical to whine about litter and not do anything but at the same time it feels like effort to change the behavior of the people dropping the trash is what should be done, not being a clean up crew for the inconsiderate. Easier said than done though.

 

[sierra]

A recent curiosity, for example, is why a person would assume a rather rude false dichotomy while being ignorant of their subject matter and then not apologizing when called out. Ah well, nothing to lose sleep over![/QUOTE]

Some people refuse to pick up their own trash, even when people see them throw it. You should sleep well tonight.

 

[RichS]

I pick up the small bits, and the larger ones if I'm on the way out.
The interesting thing about masses of trash is that you'll usually soon find a plastic bag that will hold a bunch of it. Nature provides.

 

[Scubahhh]

I'm just playing Devil's Advocate here and don't pick up every piece of trash I see. I'm surprised that on a forum such as this the general consensus seems to be not picking up trash, or at least not the gross stuff like cigarette butts, toilet paper, and band aids.

Here's the Devil's Advocacy: how much different is seeing trash and DECIDING not to pick it up, as opposed to actually littering oneself?

Food for thought!

 

[Hillwalker]

My most interesting incident of trash collecting was heading up the Glen Boulder trail one fine summer day. I was just at the point where you can look into Slide Ravine and see its headwall when I espied a Spruce Grouse on the trail ahead. The little feathered person kept just ahead of me for several yards when it hopped off the trail to the right. As I caught up where she left the trail I could see a fairly large quantity of trash about 10 meters down in the woods. I made my way down to where someone had tried to bury a bunch of stuff (all trash). Although it was almost more than I had room for, I packed up everything, cursed the people who had left it there, and thanked the Grouse for showing it to me. It was almost as though the resident Grouse was showing me the pile of trash that was despoiling her home. I will always believe that was the case. But then, I'm weird.

 

[LavaFalls]

We are all pretty consistent in response to the comments: No to TP, facial tissue, sometimes band-aids (put into a zip lock bag), pick up on the way out, cigarette butts sometimes, wrappers, plastic lids to water bottle. Do I stop to get every last piece, I admit I don't, but a small dent was made. And yes some trails are over-loaded with junk. It's the big stuff (water bottles/cans larger stuff, that folks walk past/ignore. Oh well. Thanks to all for the response.
LavaFalls

 

[Stan]

If you think there are slobs on the trail, just imagine how they live. As a landlord, I've seen the best and worse of it.

I often wonder, what makes slobs and what makes those who "leave no trace" on or off the trail? One factor I think is indolence and I expect a high correllation, but not perfect, between a person's habits and that person's success. There are some who will need picking up after all their lives. We seem to oblige such kind, and even enable them, litter-ally and figuratively.

Another factor harkens back to how many times I, and I assume others, have heard the expression, "What do you think, you live in a barn!?" Actually, I'd rather muck a stall than pick up after some people. Its more sanitary and the mess is not the result of a conscious choice.

I know a commanding officer of an air station who, upon arriving at his command, picked up litter as he went about his day. His staff told him, "Don't worry about the litter, we'll get it cleaned up." His reply was that as long as he saw a piece of litter he was going to pick it up. That soon became the standard of the base and he never had to pick it up again. High expectations yield high results.

As for my picking up litter on the trail, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, depending on the circumstances. But when I don't, I feel guiltless. After all, you might say I gave at the office.

 

[John H Swanson]

I pick up more than my share of litter. But not all of it. I am more likely to pick up isolated pieces vs. clean up a big mess. I prefer to take a near "wilderness" area and move it closer to wilderness vs. cleaning up a trash dump only to find it return to trash dump status before my next visit. So, I don't pick up litter by shelters. I enjoy picking up glass shards because many others don't and there is less and less glass litter making its way into the woods. Generally no TP, tissue. And I also will skip some litter removal if I'm tired. Most often I just tuck it in a pocket while moving along. Glass goes in the bottom of my waterbottle pocket

 

[Raven]

Yes. I take a lot of the litter I see out. I periodically adopt random trail heads to clean as well. See thread buried in the archives on such. Exceptions for tissue of any kind. It's biodegradable and not something I want to touch. Thanks to everyone who helps out in any of these ways, whether litter, blowdowns, or water bars. It takes a village.

 

[richard]

When I hike the Uncanoonucs or the Massabesic trails, I take along a plastic shopping bag. I often fill it with cans & bottles. I throw it into my recycle bin when I get home.

 

[ChrisB]

I always pick stuff up, even if I have to off trail to get it

The last time I did Potash I crawled under bushes at the summit to retrieve a Bud Lite can someone had "hidden."

When I trash pick on a hike I assume it makes the mountain happy. And a happy mountain is less inclined to trip me, turn me around, or do other mischievous things while I'm walking on her back.

Simple Karma really.

How many time have you passed litter and then ended up on your ass? Think about it!

cb

 

[Amy]

When I trash pick on a hike I assume it makes the mountain happy. And a happy mountain is less inclined to trip me, turn me around, or do other mischievous things while I'm walking on her back.

Simple Karma really.

How many time have you passed litter and then ended up on your ass? Think about it!

cb

I LOVE that! I am not going to be able to NOT think of that the next time I go hiking!

 

[Mike P.]

and then.....

so not to change my earlier view on trash. I was in Day Pond State Park today and a trail that was built as an Eagle Project by a scout and the South loop are being used by a couple of motorcycles or ATV's and on the upper section of the South loop, mountain bikers. These trails are for foot travel only. (there are trails/roads & utility & gas easements that permit bikes & likely motorized vehicles)

So I began putting stuff downed limbs back into the trail that are easily stepped over.